Transactional Leadership Style and Their Influence on the Learning Motivation and Student's Academic Performance in KCSE Examinations in Migori County, Kenya

Abstract

Effective leadership in a school has been widely noted as a factor that makes a difference between achievers and non-achievers. Majority (50,183 out of 55,272) of the students who sat for (KCSE) between (2011-2015) in Migori County had average marks (B- and below) which did not guarantee them direct University entry through Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service. This means that only 5089 made it to the university between (2011-2015), despite the fact that the schools had qualified teachers, adequate resources and facilities to enhance effective learning and good performance. This had caused concern among educational stakeholders in Migori County. What was not known was the Principals' transactional leadership styles and their influence on the learning motivation and students' academic performance. Motivation by the principal for both teachers and students was perceived as imperative in achieving this.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Principals' transactional leadership styles on the learning motivation and students' academic performance in K.C.S.E examinations in Migori County. Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey and correlation research designs. The target population was 189 Principals, 3,780 teachers' and 32,710 students in all the secondary schools in Migori County. Stratified random sampling was used to select 127 Principals, 350 teachers and 400 students for the study. The study revealed that there was a positive relationship(r=.268, p<.05) between transactional leadership style and levels of students' performance. This implied that transactional leadership style had some significant influence on learning motivation and student's academic performance in KCSE examination highly qualified principals applied transactional leadership style compared to their less qualified counterparts.