SOME SCHOOL RELATED VARIABLES AS MAJOR DETERMINANT OF STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN IMO STATE/OWERRI AND OKIGWE EDUCATION ZONE

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The research study is focused on some school related variables as major determinants of students’ performance in Owerri and Okigwe education zone. The school variables under consideration for the purpose of this study are: teachers’ quality, the school environment climate, the remuneration system of the schools in Owerri and Okigwe zone in Imo state and the class sizes in various schools. However, recent work on differences in performance of students in various subjects like mathematics, chemistry and physics achievement have highlighted the importance of classroom, teacher and school factors. The Third International Mathematics and Science Study TIMSS (2002) focused on variables such as the student, classroom and school factors; how they relate or influence mathematics achievement in Rivers state and the Abia State. It found that classroom differences account for about one-third of the variation in student achievement in Rivers State and over one-quarter in Abia State. Most of the classroom variations in both States were due to compositional and organizational factors, very little of it due to differences between teachers. This has important implications for policy regarding the improvement of mathematics achievement. It suggests that school systems may gain little by targeting teachers only, and need to give consideration to the role of pupil grouping practices and the effects of tracking and streaming on classroom learning environment.

 Another school variable that may influence students’ performance is teachers’ quality.  The quality of education of a nation could be determined by the quality of her teachers. The most important factor in improving students’ academic achievement in school is by employing seasoned qualified teachers in all schools (Abe & Adu, 2013). Academically qualified teachers refer to those who have academic training as a result of enrolment into educational institution and obtained qualifications in various areas of endeavour such as HND, B.Sc, B.A, and Master of Art (M.A.) and so on; while professionally qualified teachers are those who got professional training that gave them professional knowledge, skills, techniques, aptitudes as different from the general education. They hold degrees like, B.Ed, B.Sc. Ed, B.A. Ed, and M.Ed degrees and so on. Onyekuru and Ibegbunam (2013) found that teaching effectiveness of teachers from secondary schools was below average. However, Akinsolu (2010) had a contrary result when he found out that teachers’ qualifications, experience and teacher–student ratio were significantly related to students’ academic performance.