Perceived influence of instructional supervision on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Makurdi Education Zone of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Instructional supervision is an aspect of school administration that should not be taken for granted in schools. This is because when teachers are supervised in their teaching responsibilities, they tend to perform better than when left unsupervised.  The supervisors consider teachers’ level of knowledge, competence and experience which help to attest to their level of performance in their responsibilities in the school system.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of instructional supervision on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Makurdi Education Zone of Benue State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Methodology: Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 1768 teachers in the 89 public secondary schools in Makurdi Education Zone of Benue State. A sample of 265 teachers from 13 public secondary schools was used for the study. A 10-items structured questionnaire titled, “Instructional Supervision Questionnaire” (ISQ)” was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by two experts; one from Educational Management, and another from Measurement and Evaluation, Benue State University, Makurdi. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through a trial test which yielded a Cronbach Alpha co-efficient of 0.92. This was considered high enough to be used for field study. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions and Chi-square (χ²) test of goodness of-fit was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.

Results: The findings indicated that classroom visitation and classroom observation has significant influence on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Makurdi Education Zone of Benue State, Nigeria.

Conclusion: Instructional supervision is very important in enhancing students’ academic performance. This is because, through instructional supervision, teachers are compelled to wake up in their slumber and also make students sit up in their studies. This tends to enhance their academic performance in both internal and external examinations.

Unique Contribution: The study has provided valuable facts and ideas about the importance of instructional supervision which enhances various aspects of students’ academic performance in schools.

Key recommendations

Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that, school administrators should ensure regular classroom visitation and observation in their respective schools so as to encourage students to improve in their study habit geared towards enhancing their better academic performance.