Teacher's Performance Indicators And Students Academic Achievement In Lagos State Public Secondary Schools

ABSTRACT

It was observed that students' performance for more than a decade both in internal and external examinations had been deteriorating even though the schools were staffed with qualified professional teachers. Thus there was a need to examine the relationship between teacher performance indicators and student academic achievement in Lagos State public senior secondary (SS) schools which is the concern of this study. Using the school as a unit of analysis, the entire population of SS 2 teachers of Biology, English and Mathematics on the one hand, and ten per cent of this category of students were the study group. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in this study. Schools were randomly selected; while purposive and stratified techniques were used for teacher selection (SS 2 teachers), and student-participants were selected through systematic random technique with special cognizance taken of academic streams (Arts, Commercial and Science). Thus a total of 150 teachers and 1,200 SS 2 students chosen on a pro-rata basis from 35 schools were the study sample. Teacher performance was measured by the Teachers' Personal Data Inventory (TPDT), Teacher Performance Indicators (TPI) filled by Heads of Departments and students, and Teacher Appraisal Form (TAF) filled by school administrators (principals/vice principals). Also, on the spot assessments of teachers and classrooms were done using the Classroom Observation Scale and Classroom Environment and Climate Scale respectively. Student academic achievement was measured by the self-rated Students' Personal Data Inventory (SPDT) and the Achievement Tests on the three core subjects plus two electives (Economics and Yoruba). Ratings were done on a 4-point Likert response format ranging from strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree to measure the effectiveness of the teachers on the performance variables - teacher preparation, subject matter knowledge, teacher characteristics and interest in teaching. The data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation, t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression. The study found a significant positive relationship between each of the following teacher preparation, subject matter knowledge, teacher characteristics, interest in teaching and teacher classroom performance while a no-effect verdict was given concerning teacher qualifications, marital status, teaching experience, age and teacher performance. Thus, 4 two-variable model emerged to show that the linear combination of these two accounted for 12.9% of the variance in teacher classroom performance. As a result, a model of two dimension teacher commitment based on some of the research findings was proposed to help raise teacher classroom performance level in our schools. Stepwise selection results revealed the best overall significant predictors of teacher classroom performance to be interest in teaching and profound subject matter knowledge. One of the recommendations was that teacher educators, education administrators and those charged with the responsibility of managing personnel in the various personnel departments of Lagos State Education Districts should encourage more qualified individuals to enter the profession. Also, they are to assess the credentials of beginning secondary school teachers on an ongoing basis. Finally it was recommended that additional research should be carried out to validate and expand upon the findings of this study.