The Relationship between Public Secondary School Principals' Leadership Styles and Students' Performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE Examination in Guchasub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The overall education goal of the Government of Kenya his to achieve education for all (EFA) by giving every Kenyan access to Quality education and training irrespective of one's socio-economic status. InGucha Sub County however, the quality of education in secondary schools, as measured by students' performances in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations has continued to be poor over the years. This poor performance has been attributed to several factors such as; learners' entry behaviour or ability, parents' influence on learners, motivation of learners and teachers, learners' environment, Government education policy and school principal's leadership Styles among others. This study investigated the relationship between school principals' leadership styles and students' performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination in public secondary schools in GuchaSub-County. The study used a correlational research design to collect and analyze data from 294 respondents from 14 public Sub-County secondary schools in GuchaSub-County. The target population consisted of all public sub County secondary schools' teachers and students in the Sub-County period two instruments were used to collect data after ascertaining their validity and reliability. These instruments included; two questionnaires; one for teachers and the other for students. The questionnaires used Likert scale in rating the responses. Both instruments had a reliability coefficient of 0.8 at an alpha level set priori at 0.05. The data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19.0 for Windows. The Pearson product moment correlation was used to test the null hypothesis of no relationship at 0.05 alpha level of significance based on the guidelines given by Ruth Ravid. The results of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between school principals' leadership Styles and students' performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (KCSE). The study was significant because its reasons might help in the process of working out strategies for improving school leadership qualities in the Sub-County and hence performance of students in KCSE. In view of the above findings the following recommendation were made; school principals to be in- serviced on leadership Styles that may motivate the learners and teachers towards better students' performance.