Influence of Head Teachers’ Instructional Supervision on Pupils’ Academic Performance in Public Primary Schools in Kitui West Sub County, Kenya

Abstract

The academic achievement of a school is appraised against its leader. Head teachers play a significant role in the determination of academic achievement in a school. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of head teachers’ instructional supervision on pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in Kitui West Sub County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish the influence of head teachers’ supervision of teachers’ time management on pupils’ academic performance, to find out the influence of head teachers’ supervision of teachers’ use of professional documents on pupils’ academic performance, and to assess the influence of the head teachers’ use of the Teachers’ Performance Appraisal Development (TPAD) to motivate teachers, on pupils’ academic performance in Kitui West Sub County. This study was based on systems theory. The study employed descriptive survey research design where data was collected by administering questionnaires to the respondents. The target population was 73 head teachers and 878 teachers from 73 public primary schools. The study employed purposive and simple random sampling techniques to obtain a sample size of 22 head teachers and 88 teachers. Teachers’ questionnaire and the head teachers’ interview schedule were employed to collect the data. Pilot testing involved two principals, and eight teachers from the neighboring Kitui Central Sub County. The research instruments content and face validity were ascertained through scrutiny by the two supervisors assigned to the researcher. The reliability of the teachers’ questionnaire was estimated through the split-half technique where a coefficient of .783 was obtained. The study’s three independent variables contributed 52.1 % of the variance in pupils’ academic performance. The head teachers’ supervision of teachers’ use of professional documents was the most potent predictor of academic performance (β = 0.487, t(77) = 2.946, p < 0.05). The study recommended that the head teachers in the public primary schools in Kitui West sub-county should develop strategies to ensure timely coverage of the syllabus without compromising depth of understanding. Further, the head teachers in the public primary schools in Kitui West sub-county should establish robust systems for managing teacher absences, including protocols for substitute teachers or subject specialists to step in when necessary.