ABSTRACT
This research was named “The Impact of Teacher Quality on Junior Secondary School Students’ Academic Performance in Social Studies.” The purpose of the study was to ascertain the association between teacher qualification/certification and academic performance of junior secondary school students in social studies. Determine the association between the years of teaching experience of teachers and the academic performance of junior secondary school students in social studies. Establish a link between instructors’ topic expertise and student academic achievement. Investigate how instructors’ gender affects student academic achievement. Four research questions were posed and answered using descriptive statistics in the study, and four (4) null hypotheses were created and evaluated at the 0.05 level of significance. A total of 250 primary six kids were chosen at random from a population of 9,938 students in all of the city’s Junior Secondary Schools. To reflect the sample of instructors, all seventy-five (75) teachers teaching social studies in the schools were chosen. The study employed a survey design, with the tools for data collection consisting of a 40-item questionnaire for instructors and the results of a standardised assessment for students’ Academic Achievement. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and frequency count were used to answer research questions, while inferential statistics such as r-test and F-test (ANOVA) were used to assess research hypotheses. The first two hypotheses were accepted, but the third was rejected. The main findings are that teachers’ quality has no significant relationship with students’ Academic Achievement and that teachers’ “knowledge of subject matter played a significant role in student performance, leading to the general conclusion that teachers with deeper knowledge of subject matter produced better students than those with shallow knowledge of subject matter.”
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The importance of education and its advantages cannot be overstated as the foundation of economic, industrial, political, scientific and technical, and even religious progress. Education is essential to all elements of growth.
Education is a critical tool for every country’s progress. Every educational system, at every level, relies heavily on teachers to carry out its programmes. Teachers are critical to the functioning of the educational system and crucial tools for educational progress.
Teachers at all levels of school have a critical role in shaping education’s progress and direction. It is a well-known truth that the teacher is the most crucial cog in the educational machine, and that teachers are critical to the success of every educational plan launched by any government. This is due to the fact that, in addition to being at the implementation level of any educational policy, the realisation of these programmes is heavily reliant on teachers’ passion and commitment to their profession (Adeniji 1999).
According to (Kaplan and Owings 2001), teacher quality is defined by two main categories.
According to Darling-Hammond (2000), the traits of a good teacher include: linguistic skill, subject matter expertise, understanding of teaching and learning, and the ability to apply a variety of teaching tactics that are tailored to the requirements of the students.
Another important predictor of the classroom environment is the quality of the instructor (Lundberg & Linnakyla, 1993). A teacher’s traits include preparation and training, the application of a certain educational technique, and teaching experience. Mullis, Kennedy, Martin, and Sainsbury (2004) agree that teacher quality is a major factor of student achievement.
The quality of education is determined by the quality of teaching that occurs in the classroom, confirming the notion that good instructors compensate for weaknesses in the curriculum and educational resources (Anderson 1991). Teacher quality is often regarded as an important predictor of academic achievement, yet there is limited consensus on what precise attributes constitute a good teacher (Hanushek and Rivkin, 2017). This is a critical issue because the economic impact of higher student achievement can be determined by the rate of depreciation of student learning, the total variation in teacher quality (as measured by student achievement on standardised tests), and the labour market return to one standard deviation of higher achievement.
Researchers, policymakers, parents, and even teachers themselves agree on the importance of teacher quality. However, defining, evaluating, and recognising teacher quality is a far more contentious process.
Another characteristic that one would suppose is connected to teacher quality is subject matter expertise. While there is some evidence to support this hypothesis, the findings are not as powerful or consistent as one might expect. Studies of teacher performance on the National Teacher Examination (NTE) subject matter exams have revealed no consistent association between this measure of subject matter knowledge and teacher success as judged by student outcomes or supervisory evaluations. The majority of research find minor, statistically insignificant associations between teacher quality and Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social research Research for education and learning (Marzano R, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Teacher effectiveness research is rooted in the classroom and frequently employs classroom-based measures. However, the recent Aspen Institute report, Beyond NCLB (Commission on No Child Left Behind, 2018), written to guide NCLB reauthorization, defines “effective” in terms of teachers’ ability to improve student achievement as measured by standardised tests.
A qualitative teacher is one who selects appropriate teaching approaches, is knowledgeable, intelligent in content mastery, hardworking and efficient, self-disciplined, tolerant, and friendly, and who serves as a role model through good character and manner commitment, respect for profession, dedicated, loyal, and responsible. The present framework for teacher education in Nigeria is based on the NPE (2004), which emphasised teacher quality.
Students’ accomplishment, on the other hand, relates to their academic achievement. However, the study will concentrate on the qualitative aspect of teachers and their impact on student academic performance.
The most popular and least exact of all words is “good teacher.” Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, defines a good teacher as pupils who are visible, interested, attentive, and engaging in the classroom under a good instructor. Students are accountable for their comprehension in excellent teaching since they are responsible for their learning. Good teaching is passionate and elicits an emotional reaction from pupils…Good teaching begins with instilling mental habits, but it does not end there. Good education promotes practical thinking and problem-solving abilities that can be utilised in a number of contexts. Furthermore, successful teaching influences students’ ideals, commitments, and identities.
As previously said, the concept of teacher quality identifies specific characteristics that characterise a good teacher. There are several issues related with teacher quality, particularly in our senior schools. In the last five to six years, the percentage of students who pass their final examinations, WAEC and NECO, has dropped dramatically, and the number of test failures has become frightening. Some elites perceive the situation as one of supply and demand: The profession is not attracting the “right” people to teach. Some people see the quality issue as a concern about preparedness. According to this viewpoint, teachers who complete university-based programmes do not depart with the necessary knowledge and practises to be effective in modern classrooms.
1.2 Statement of the problem
According to the Federal Ministry of Education (2017) report on Nigeria, the Academic Achievement of pupils in the senior school Certificate Examinations held between 2000 and 2017 was less than fifty percent (50%). The nation’s educational performance is rapidly deteriorating, particularly in secondary institutions. Academic Achievement is a major problem for the pupils. Their ongoing evaluation is inadequate, and their terminal examination is similarly depressing (“F.C.E Staff Secondary School 2018 End of Third Term Examination” report). The performance of Nigerian Secondary School students in external examinations showed a 98% failure rate in the 2018 November/December Senior School Certificate Examinations conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO- SSCE); out of a total of 230, 682 candidates who sat for the examination, only 4,223 obtained credits level passes and above in five subjects including social studies and Mathematics (Bello – Osagie & Olugbornila, 2018).
In the 2018 May/June Senior School Certificate Examination administered by the West African Examination Council (WASSCE), only 25.99% of the total number of candidates obtained credit level passes and above in five subjects including social studies and mathematics, whereas in the 2010 May/June WASSCE, only 337,071 (24.94%) of the 1,135,557 candidates who sat for the examination obtained five credit level passes and above in subjects including social studies and mathematics. (2010) (Owadiac).
Mathematics is one of the required courses that students in Post Primary School must offer, regardless of whether they are in Science Commercial, Arts, or Social Science classes. According to the National Policy on Education (2004), there are essential topics as well as electives that students must provide in secondary school.
Following the annual announcement of the West African senior school certificate test results, public discontent becomes increasingly visible.
Students’ results do not correspond to government or family investment. All stakeholders are worried about why the system produces graduates with bad outcomes. To them, it is debatable if instructors in our secondary schools, the most essential aspect in school performance and the quality of a child’s education, are qualified to teach successfully. According to the national education policy, “no educational system can rise above the quality of teachers in the system.”(FGN, 2017)
Nigeria’s federal government has made various initiatives and established legislation to promote educational growth. Among such efforts is the law governing teacher recruitment, which is carried out in order to attain educational goals and objectives. This might be accomplished if suitable teachers were available to teach at the proper level. This study is necessary in order to reach educational goals and objectives. This could only be accomplished by having qualified teachers teach at the proper level. There is a need for this research to determine whether there is a link between teacher quality and student accomplishment, especially in light of the nation’s catastrophic failure of the (SSCE).
The purpose of this study is to see if there is a link between teacher quality and academic performance of junior secondary school students in social studies.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
This study is set to achieve the following objectives:
- Determine the effect of teachers‟ qualification on the Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social studies.
- Investigate the effect of teacher‟s years of teaching experience on the Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social studies.
iii. Establish the impact of teacher‟s knowledge of subject matter on the Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social studies.
- Find out whether teachers Gender affect the Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social studies.
1.4 Research Questions
The study sought to provide answers to the following research questions:
- What is the effect of teachers‟ qualification on the Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social studies?
- Does teachers‟ year of teaching experience affect the Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social studies?
iii. What is the impact of teachers‟ knowledge of the subject matter on the performance of students?
- Do teachers Gender affect students‟ Academic Achievement ?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were raised for this research;
HO1: There is no significant relationship among students Academic Achievement in social studies taught by teachers of different qualifications in Junior Secondary Schools.
HO2: There is no significant relationship among students Academic Achievement in social studies whose teachers have different years of teaching experience .
HO3: There is no significant relationship between students Academic Achievement in social studies whose teachers possess knowledge of the subject matter and those whose teachers do not possess knowledge of the subject matter in social studies in junior secondary Schools.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The purpose of any educational research is to contribute to the development of knowledge. The research findings would be of great help to the government and other stakeholders by revealing the relationship between the quality of teachers and students‟ Academic Achievement in our schools. This will consequently guide the ministry in adopting a new policy of recruiting teachers i.e. to make sure they recruit qualified teachers who are highly effective i.e. those with knowledge of content, teaching experience,professional certificate and overall academic ability.
The findings will be of benefit to students, most especially those in the post graduate studies, to add more, or to contribute from where the researchers stopped or what is left to be done in the area of study.
The research findings will be of benefit to any individual who is interested in knowing the relationship between teachers‟ quality and students‟ achievement. The findings will be of great importance and help in conference writing related to the area. It will make teachers plan and present their lesson excellently and also those unqualified teachers to go and further their studies so as to meet the minimum required qualification for teaching.
The research findings will help the society to dictate what is to be included in the curriculum so as to improve the quality of the teachers as well as the students. This study will be of significance to curriculum planners. The information from this study will be of benefit to the curriculum developers of the National policy on education to forestall all the lapses during the course of building.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study is concerned with teachers‟ quality, gender and students‟ Academic Achievement. The researcher was restricted to teachers and students of junior secondary schools of Degema Local Government Area.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Operational definition of terms is defined as a statement of the procedures or ways in which a researcher is going to measure behaviors or qualities. The operational terms would frequently be used in the research work. Definition of the terms is very important for full understanding of the whole study.
Teacher Quality: Means attributes of teachers that reflect their competence for effectiveness in teaching learning process, for example, their professional qualifications, their experiences and communicative competence.
Relationship: Means influencing one variable over another as a result
of treatment.
Academic Achievement: Knowledge and skills of students at the end of teaching-learning process.
Professional Teacher: Teacher with teaching certification in Hausa e.g B.AEd/BEd Hausa MEd MA.Ed
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