Influence of headteachers' leadership styles on students performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Nandi South district, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of head teachers' leadership styles on KCSE performance in public secondary schools in Nandi South district. The study was guided by the following objectives: to establish the effect of headteachers autocratic leadership style on student's performance in KCSE examinations in Nandi South District in Kenya, to examine the influence of headteachers democratic style in students performance in KCSE and to establish the effect of Laissez - faire leadership style on students' performance in KCSE in Nandi South District. The study was based on McGregor Theory X and theory Y which was put forward by McGregor (1960) to describe how managers view their subordinates. The study used descriptive survey design. Target population in this study consisted of 35 principals and 420 teachers. Simple random sampling was employed to select 20 schools from the 35 secondary schools in Nandi South District to participate in the study. The study sample comprised of20 head teachers and 80 teachers' from 20 secondary schools. The study used a questionnaire for data collection. To validate expert judgment was needed, as such the researcher sought assistance of : the supervisor and other university lecturers who were experts in research who helped improve validity of the instruments. The test re-test technique of reliability was used to assess the reliability of the research instruments. The reliability of this study was 0.80 which was accepted as reliable.