| dc.description.abstract | The world over, education is recognized to have both private and social returns. This
has been the justification by individuals, groups and the states in investment in
education. Challenges of educational achievements threaten to lead to social classes
and tend to widen the gap between the rich and the poor .. Issues of performance by
students have dominated educational provision worldwide due to the resources that
are invested in education. As an investment issue, students who obtain low grades at
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) have been noted not to benefit
from the certificates awarded except from the non quantifiable benefits associated
with basic education. Students interact with the schools' internal environment whose
characteristics differ from school to school. These characteristics affect the students'
concentration in school work and contribute to performance achievement levels in the
schools.
The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of internal school environment
on performance among Busia Districts secondary school students. The strategies
developed by schools in the districts to improve performance achievements and
constraints faced were determined to suggest further measures to curb low
performance which is a sign of institutional inefficiency.
The researcher adopted Ex ':"post facto research design. This was because performance
could be better analysed by exploring the relationship between the internal school
environments of the sampled schools and the levels of performance at KCSE in
establishing internal efficiency in educational provision. The study was carried out in Busia districts secondary schools namely schools in Bunyala, Samia, Nambale, Butula
and Busia districts which were formally under Busia district.
The sample or accessible population comprised ten schools which were selected by
purposive sampling. These were schools with either impressive or improving
performance or with poor or declining performance. Five of the schools were those
that had posted high or increasing mean scores at KCSE while the other five were
those whose KCSE mean scores had been low or declining over the past five years.
Out of this population, all the deputy head teachers from the sampled schools were
used in the study. Teachers, students and Director of Studies in the selected schools
were identified through stratified sampling to include both male and female
respondents. In total the sample population was 160; ten Deputy Head teachers, ten
DOS, 40 teachers and 100 students.
The researcher used questionnaires for the selected respondents for data collection.
These instruments were personally administered by the researcher to ensure that high
response rate was realised. The collected information from the respondents were
classified according to patterns of responses. The responses were coded and tabulated
using frequency distribution tables. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics
such as frequencies, percentages, bar graphs and pie charts. -
The study revealed that the internal school environment impact on the student
academic achievement at KCSE and that the same environment must be improved in
order to realise students' achievement at KCSE. It also found out that there are
features in the environment that can be utilized to enhance improved academic
achievement thereby calling for able leadership from teachers and the general school
administration to make good use of them. The researcher recommended improvement
in physical facilities, departmental strengthening & operationalization and greater
partnership among the internal school departments in order to detect and act upon
circumstances that promote low educational achievements in secondary schools. | en |
