| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of principals’ instructional
leadership practices on school academic environment in public day secondary schools in Kisii
Central, Kisii County. The objectives of the study were to: determine the influence of setting
annual academic goals on school academic environment, examine the influence of monitoring
instruction on school academic environment, find out the influence of principals’ promotion of
teachers’ professional development on school academic environments, find out the influence of
principals’ promotion of collaboration on school academic environment, establish principals’
influence on utilization of available resources on school academic environment. The study
adopted cross-sectional survey research design. Twelve schools were selected randomly from
25 public day secondary schools in Kisii Central sub-county. The sample consisted of 12
principals selected through purposive sampling, 72 teachers and 322 learners selected using
proportionate random sampling. Interview schedules, questionnaires, observation schedules
and document analysis guides were used to collect data. Reliability was established through the
test-retest method. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, standard deviation and
Chi-square at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that: Goal setting enhanced teaching
and learning environment mainly by influencing syllabi coverage while monitoring instruction
enhanced teachers' class attendance. Teachers' professional development had the least influence
on school's academic environment as it was not needs-driven. Teacher collaboration promoted
school-wide focus on teaching as teachers learnt from each other while utilization of resources
created an enabling environment for teachers to issue homework and classwork to learners. The
study concluded that: Goal setting was a common instructional leadership practice among the
sampled principals however it was marred by lack of or inadequate communication to teachers
and learners resulting in their failure to own and identify with the goal as revealed by the
incongruence in stating schools’ goals between different categories of respondents in the same
school. Although the majority of teachers rated their principals as effective in monitoring
instruction, the intended purpose is not realized as it is flawed by teachers’ fear of the measures
that the Teacher service commission may institute following unfavorable appraisal reports from
lesson evaluation. There were disparities among schools in access to facilities such as
laboratories, classes and libraries as provision of books was also not informed by current data
provided by principals. The study recommended that principals should constantly refer to set
goals to cultivate ownership and commitment by teachers and learners. Principals should design
monitoring instruction in a way that their intentions are not construed to be punitive or
influenced only by the existing Teachers service commission’s policy rather than by the need
to enhance teachers’ professional growth and learning. The Ministry of education should use
data provided by the principals in the supply of teaching-learning resources to schools. The
study recommends further studies on: Other roles of principals that influence school academic
environments, influence of distributed instructional leadership on teachers’ perceptions of
school environments and replication of this study in boarding schools, private schools in the
Sub County and in other geographical regions. | en_US |
