School based factors influencing students' performance in KCSE in public day secondary schools in Nairobi Province, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the school based factors influencing performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations in public day secondary schools in Nairobi Province. The objectives of the study were to establish whether the public day secondary school head teachers' internal supervision, qualifications and experience had effect on performance; determine whether teachers' academic qualifications, experience and age influenced students' performance; examine whether students' gender influenced their performance; and determine whether availability of learning facilities affect performance in KCSE examinations in Nairobi Province. This study adopted Fayol's administration theory.

The study targeted all the public day secondary schools in Nairobi province which sat KCSE between 2006 and 2010. A sample of29 head teachers, and 54 teachers was selected using purposeful stratified random sampling. The filled questionnaires were coded and cleaned for data analysis. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft's Excel and data presented using tables.

Findings revealed that headteachers' internal supervision, qualifications and experience alone did not have a significant effect on performance in KCSE ; that teachers' academic qualifications experience and age also did not have a significant effect on performance in KCSE; that students' gender did not have a significant effect on performance in KCSE; and that learning facilities alone did not have a significant effect on performance in KCSE examination in Nairobi province. Nairobi being a major urban centre and an economic hub, other non school based factors could influence performance given that most of the schools studied were day schools and students were exposed to the city on a daily basis.

The study found a shortage of teachers in the province and recommended that more teachers be recruited into public day secondary schools in the province. The study also found a high mobility rate among teachers and recommended that an investigation be conducted to establish the causes of teacher's transfers and any mitigation measures that could be available. Since the study revealed that school based factors discussed did not have any effect on performance, the researcher suggested that a study be done on factors other than school based factors that affect students performance in KCSE in Nairobi Province. It further suggested that, a study be carried out in public boarding secondary schools to investigate whether school based factors influenced students performance in KCSE.