Influence of Principals’ Instructional Leadership Practices on Learners’ Performance in Secondary Schools in Murang’a and Kirinyaga Counties, Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, as in many other countries of the world, academic performance in national examinations determines a student’s life. Despite the fact that Kenyan children have more opportunities to attend school, there still remains large gaps in learning outcomes. This stagnation in learning is confirmed by results of national examinations such as Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education (KCSE). Examinations results analysis from Murang’a and Kirinyaga counties of Kenya shows that performance is still below expectations and this trend is worrying. Evidence adduced point to, among others, a dearth of principals’ instructional leadership in schools which is significant in fostering teachers’ instructional practices and subsequently students’ learning and achievement. The aim of this study was to examine principals’ instructional leadership practices and their influence on learners’ performance. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to establish the relationship between principals’ communication of school goals and learners’ performance; to assess the relationship between principals’ supervision of teaching and learners’ performance; to examine the performance of the principal’s role in promoting teachers’ professional development and learners’ performance and finally, to evaluate the influence of principals’ promotion of collaborative practices on learners’ performance. Weber’s Model for Instructional Leadership guided the study as the principal theory. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design with a target population of 436 principals and 8,049 teachers from secondary schools in Murang’a and Kirinyaga counties. The study employed Krejcie and Morgan’s Table of Sample Size to determine the sample size of 205 principals and 367 teachers. Purposive sampling was used to select 205 principals while 367 teachers were selected using stratified and then simple random sampling methods. Data from the two sets of respondents was derived from a normal population and this was established using Kolmogorov- Smirnov test statistic (KS-Test) and Shapiro-Wilk Test (SW-Test). The researcher used open and closed-ended questionnaires to collect quantitative data from the teachers and semi-structured interview schedules to gather qualitative data from principals. A pilot study was conducted in two schools in Kiambu County and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient with a threshold of 0.7 was used to determine the internal consistency of the items. The instruments yielded an aggregate reliability coefficient of 0.962, hence were considered reliable. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Hypotheses were tested at p>0.5 level of significance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and t-test to determine whether or not the means were statistically significant. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether the principals’ instructional leadership practice is a predictor of learners’ performance and which was proved in the derived regression model Y=3.884+0.204X1+0.101X2+0.94X3+0.124X4. Qualitative data was analyzed using qualitative analysis software ATLAS.ti and reported in narrative form. The major findings of the study were that a positive relationship exist between principals’ communication of school goals, supervision of teaching, promotion of collaborative practices and learners’ performance. However, promotion of teachers’ professional development had no significant relationship with learners’ performance. The study concludes that there is need to emphasize on instructional leadership in the endeavours to strengthen learners’ performance. The research findings are significant to school principals in designing instructional strategies to improve learners’ performance. The study recommends that educational policy makers in Kenya design policies that support and promote continual teacher professional development.