Influence of Target-Setting on the Performance of Public Secondary School Teachers in Kenya

Abstract

The performance of teachers in Kenya, measured from their learners' performance in KCSE, has remained wanting for a long time. In order to address this challenge, the teachers' employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), adopted initiatives to manage the performance of duties of her employees. However, there seems to be no positive impact of these measures. This study sought to establish the influence of performance management initiatives on the performance of public secondary school teachers in Kenya. It sought to establish the influence of target setting on the performance of public secondary school teachers in the Country.

. The study utilized a mixed-method research design. The study population comprised 122310 public secondary school teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission and 295 Sub-County TSC Directors, who are the immediate supervisors of the teachers. Multistage sampling was used to cluster the Country into eight geographical regions administered by TSC regional directors as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs). Each region was again clustered into counties as Secondary Sampling Units (SSUs), and then each county was clustered into sub-counties as Ultimate Sampling Units (USUs), where schools were stratified into National, Extra County, County and Sub County schools where teachers were purposefully selected according to how long they had taught students up to form four per subject and a sub-county director from each sub-county selected. Slovin's formula was used to select 399 respondents from teachers and TSC sub-county directors. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect primary data from teachers, and interview schedules were done for principals and sub-county directors. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS, and descriptive, inferential, and regression statistical techniques were used. Frequencies, Means and Standard Deviations presented the descriptive data, while inferential statistical tests were presented using Pearson Product Moment Correlational Coefficient and regression analyses.

Null hypotheses were tested using the Pearson Product Moment Correlational Coefficient. The hypotheses' results indicated that there was a moderately significant relationship between performance target setting and the performance of public secondary school teachers in Kenya. It was recommended that teachers should involve learners in target setting and set realistic targets in relation to the entry behavior of their learners.