| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT
Teachers play a key role in pupils' academic achievement in any education system.
Academic achievement is measured by pupils' performance in KCPE. Nationally, in
2012 out of 839,759 who sat for KCPE 467,353 scored below 250 marks. In
Kakamega Municipality from 2007 - 2012, the KCPE results have indicated a
downward trend, with a declining mark of 3.4786. The literature reviewed suggests
that teacher related inputs are the main determinant factors in academic achievement
of learners. However, most research work have used teacher variables together with
other school variables to get their influence on academic achievement of learners.
This study sought to establish if teacher input has influence on academic
performance of pupils. The purpose of the study was therefore to establish the
influence of teacher input on academic achievement of pupils in primary schools’ in
Kakamega Municipality. The objectives of the study were to: determine the influence
of teacher qualification on academic achievement; determine the influence of teacher
experience on academic achievement; establish the influence of teachers' workload on
academic achievement; establish the influence of teacher pupil ratio on academic
achievement and the influence of teacher attitude on academic achievement of pupils
in public primary schools in Kakamega Municipality. The study was based on
Education Production Function by Psachouroupolos and Woodhall (1985) theory. It
helped in determining how teacher input influenced the pupils' performance in KCPE.
The study employed descriptive survey research, ex-post facto and correlational
research designs. The study population consisted of 403 teachers and 25 head teachers
from 25 primary schools. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 197
teachers who presented pupils for examination in 2010-2012. Saturated sampling
technique was used to select 23 head teachers from schools which were not part of the
pilot study and the Area Education Officer. Questionnaires and interview schedule
were used to collect data from teachers and A.E.O. Face and content validity of the
instruments were ascertained by experts in the Department of Educational
Management and Foundations, Maseno University. Reliability of the instruments was
established by a pilot study in 2 schools which were not part of study sample. Pearson
r was computed and gave coefficients of 0.75 and 0.80 for teachers and head teachers
at a p value of 0.05 respectively. Qualitative data was transcribed, categorized into
themes and sub themes as they emerged, coded and analyzed. Quantitative data from
questionnaires were tallied using descriptive statistics in the form of means,
percentages and frequency counts and inferential statistics in form of Pearson’s rand
regression. The study established that all independent variables had a significant j
regression co-efficient with a linear model that fits.the data. The correlation between
the dependent variable and independent variable (R) was 0.753. R Square was 0.5672
meaning that the independent variable explained 56.72%, unexplained factors
contributed to 43.28%. In conclusion, academic achievement was influenced by
teacher inputs. The study recommended that cost effective interventions to address the
quality of teaching such as employing more teachers, balanced staffing of teachers,
evaluating programs for teacher incentives should be addressed by stakeholders. The
findings of this study provide information that is significant to stakeholders on
influence of teacher input on academic achievement of pupils and unearth some root
causes of low performance in KCPE. | en_US |
