Effectiveness of Board of Management in Enhancement of Students Academic Performance in Public Mixed Day Secondary Schools in Bondo Sub–County, Kenya

Abstract

The government of Kenya provides trained teachers, allocates financial resources, establishes Quality Assurance Directorate and facilitates in-service training for principals and teachers. However, with all these measures in place, students' academic performance in Public Mixed Day secondary schools in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education has remained low for the last five years of 2017 - 2021. The study examined the perceived effectiveness of Board of Management in enhancement of students' academic performance. This study was grounded on the theory of Educational System planning with emphasis on Combs (1970). The study used mixed method approach and specifically concurrent triangulation research design. The study population included 38 principals, 38 Deputy Principals, 38 Director of studies, 38 Board of Management chairmen, 38 Parents Association chairmen, 1 Sub County Quality Assurance and Standards Officer, 1 Sub-County Teachers Service Commission officer and 3 Sponsor church education secretaries giving a total of 195 respondents. Saturated sampling technique was used to select 38 principals, 38 Deputy Principals, 38 Director of studies, 38 Board of Management  chairmen, 38 Parents Association chairmen, 1 Sub County Quality Assurance and Standards Officer and 3 Sponsor church education secretaries.  Data was collected by administering questionnaires and interview schedules. Validity of the research instruments was ensured by use of experts from the department of Curriculum and educational management who were also consulted and their input incorporated in the final document and it was tested using Amin's formula which gave content validity index of 0.66. Further, piloting the instruments was done on a population of 24 from 3 Public Mixed Day Secondary Schools in the neighboring Rarieda Sub-County. Reliability was tested using both split-half (r_{SB = .}808) and Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient formula (average coefficient value=.746) which indicated sufficient external and internal consistence reliability. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic Analysis.  The study found that there was statistically significant positive correlation of (r=.624, n=72, p< .05) between perceived effectiveness of BoM and enhancement of students' academic performance. This implied that the perceived effective BoM enhanced academic performance in public mixed day secondary schools. In light of the findings the study also made recommendations for further research on influence of other stakeholders, such as students and community, on academic performance, and to replicate this study on boarding secondary schools.