IMPACT OF TEACHER QUALITY ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SOCIAL STUDIES
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IMPACT OF TEACHER QUALITY ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SOCIAL STUDIES
ABSTRACT
The study’s title was “The Impact of Teacher Quality on Junior Secondary School Students’ Academic Performance in Social Studies.” Its goal was to determine the relationship between teacher qualification/certification and academic performance of junior secondary school students in social studies. Determine the relationship between teachers’ years of teaching experience and junior secondary school students’ academic performance in social studies.
Make a connection between the topic competence of the instructors and the academic accomplishment of the students. Examine how the gender of teachers influences student academic progress. In the study, four (4) research questions were given and answered using descriptive statistics, and four (4) null hypotheses were constructed and tested at the 0.05 level of significance.
From a total population of 9,938 students in all of the city’s Junior Secondary Schools, 250 primary six students were chosen at random. All seventy-five (75) teachers teaching social studies in the schools were chosen to represent the sample of instructors. The survey methodology was used in the study, and the data collection techniques included a 40-item questionnaire for teachers and the findings of a standardised assessment of students’ Academic Achievement.
To answer research questions, descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and frequency count were utilised, while inferential statistics such as r-test and F-test (ANOVA) were used to evaluate research hypotheses. Although the first two theories were approved, the third was denied.
The main findings are that “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.”
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of The Study
Education’s significance and benefits cannot be overestimated as the cornerstone of economic, industrial, political, scientific and technological, and even religious progress. Education is crucial for all aspects of development.
Education is a key tool for the advancement of every country. Every educational institution, at every level, significantly relies on instructors to carry out their courses. Teachers are essential tools for educational growth and are fundamental to the functioning of the educational system.
Teachers at all levels of education have an important role in shaping the progress and direction of education. It is a well-known fact that the teacher is the most important cog in the educational machine, and that instructors are key to the success of any government-sponsored educational strategy.
This is because, in addition to being at the implementation level of any educational policy, the realisation of these initiatives is strongly relied on the enthusiasm and commitment of teachers to their profession (Adeniji 1999).
Teacher quality is classified into two categories, according to (Kaplan and Owings 2001).
Darling-Hammond (2000) defines competent teachers as having the following characteristics: linguistic proficiency, subject matter expertise, understanding of teaching and learning, and the capacity to apply a variety of teaching strategies that are customised to the needs of the pupils.
The quality of the instructor is another major determinant of the classroom environment (Lundberg & Linnakyla, 1993). A teacher’s characteristics include preparation and training, the use of a certain educational style, and teaching experience. Teacher quality is a crucial determinant in student accomplishment, according to Mullis, Kennedy, Martin, and Sainsbury (2004).
The quality of education is dictated by the quality of teaching that occurs in the classroom, validating the assumption that competent instructors compensate for curricular and educational resource deficiencies (Anderson 1991).
Although teacher quality is frequently seen as a significant predictor of academic accomplishment, there is little agreement on what exactly constitutes a good teacher (Hanushek and Rivkin, 2017).
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.
The importance of teacher quality is acknowledged by researchers, politicians, parents, and even teachers themselves. The process of identifying, evaluating, and recognising teacher excellence, on the other hand, is significantly more problematic.
Subject matter competence is another feature that one may associate with teacher excellence. While evidence exists to support this idea, the findings are not as strong or consistent as one might expect.
There is no consistent relationship between this measure of subject matter knowledge and teacher success as measured by student outcomes or supervisory evaluations, according to studies evaluating teacher performance on the National Teacher Examination (NTE) subject matter exams.
The majority of studies show small, statistically insignificant relationships between teacher quality and Academic Performance Of Junior Secondary School Students In Social Research For Education And Learning (Marzano R, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001).
Teacher effectiveness research is grounded in the classroom, and classroom-based measurements are widely used. Beyond NCLB (Commission on No Child Left Behind, 2018), a recent Aspen Institute paper created to assist NCLB reauthorization, defines “effective” in terms of teachers’ ability to improve student achievement as evaluated by standardised exams.
A qualitative teacher is one who chooses 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 commitment to good character and manner, respect for profession, dedication, loyalty, and responsibility. The current Nigerian framework for teacher education is based on the NPE (2004), which emphasises teacher quality.
Students’ achievement, on the other hand, is related to their academic performance. The study, however, will focus on the qualitative side of teachers and their impact on student academic achievement.
The most commonly used and least precise term is “good teacher.” According to Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a good teacher is defined as pupils who are visible, interested, attentive, and engaged in the classroom under the supervision of a good instructor.
Students are held accountable for their comprehension in effective teaching since they are in charge of their own learning. Good teaching is passionate and inspires an emotional response from students…Good teaching begins with creating mental habits but does not stop there. A good education fosters practical thinking and problem-solving talents that can be applied in a variety of situations. Furthermore, effective education has an impact on students’ values, convictions, and identities.
The concept of teacher quality, as previously stated, defines particular attributes that constitute a successful teacher. There are a number of difficulties concerning teacher quality, notably in our senior schools. The percentage of pupils passing their final examinations, WAEC and NECO, has declined substantially in the previous five to six years, and the number of test failures has become terrifying.
According to certain elites, the problem is one of supply and demand: the profession is not attracting the “right” people to teach. Some people associate the quality issue with a lack of preparedness. According to this viewpoint, university-based programmes do not provide teachers with the required knowledge and practises to be effective in modern classrooms.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
According to the Federal Ministry of Education’s (2017) report on Nigeria, the Academic Achievement of pupils in the senior school Certificate Examinations held between 2000 and 2017 was less than 50%. The educational performance of the country is steadily worsening, notably in secondary schools. Academic achievement is a big issue for the students. Their continual review is sad, as is their terminal examination (“F.C.E Staff Secondary School 2018 End of Third Term Examination” report).
The performance of Nigerian Secondary School students in external examinations revealed 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).
Only 25.99% of the total number of candidates obtained credit level passes and above in five subjects including social studies and mathematics in the 2018 May/June Senior School Certificate Examination administered by the West African Examination Council (WASSCE),
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. (Owadiac, 2010).
Mathematics is one of the obligatory subjects for Post Primary School pupils, regardless of whether they are enrolled in Science Commercial, Arts, or Social Science classes. According to the National Policy on Education (2004), students must supply fundamental topics as well as electives in secondary school.
Following the annual revelation of West African senior school diploma test results, public anger grows.
The outcomes of students do not correspond to government or family investment. Everyone is concerned about why the system creates graduates with poor results. According to them, it is controversial if teachers in our secondary schools, the most important part of school performance and the quality of a child’s education, are qualified to teach successfully. The national education policy states that “no educational system can rise above the quality of teachers in the system.” (FGN, 2017)
The federal government of Nigeria has launched a number of initiatives and enacted legislation to support educational advancement. Among these efforts is the statute governing teacher recruitment, which is implemented to achieve educational goals and objectives. This could be done if qualified teachers were available to teach at the appropriate level.
This research is required in order to achieve educational goals and objectives. This could only be accomplished if qualified teachers taught at the appropriate level. This research is necessary to investigate whether there is a link between teacher quality and student achievement, particularly in light of the nation’s disastrous failure of the (SSCE).
The goal of this research is to determine whether there is a relationship between teacher quality and academic achievement of junior high school students in social studies.
1.3 Objectives of The Study
The following goals are defined for this research:
Determine the impact of teachers’ qualifications on junior secondary school students’ academic performance in social studies.
Examine the impact of a teacher’s years of teaching experience on the academic performance of junior secondary students in social studies.
iii. Determine the effect of a teacher’s topic expertise on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in social studies.
Determine whether the gender of teachers influences the academic performance of junior secondary school students in social studies.
1.4 Research Questions
The study aimed to answer the following research questions:
What influence does teacher certification have on junior secondary school students’ academic performance in social studies?
Does a teacher’s year of teaching experience effect junior secondary school students’ academic performance in social studies?
iii. What effect does teachers’ subject-matter knowledge have on student performance?
Do teachers’ genders influence pupils’ academic performance?
1.5 Research Theories
For this study, the following hypothesis were proposed:
HO1: In Junior Secondary Schools, there is no significant relationship between students’ Academic Achievement in social studies taught by teachers of various degrees.
HO2: There is no substantial association between students’ Academic Achievement in social studies and the years of teaching experience of their professors.
In junior secondary schools, there is no significant association between students’ Academic Achievement in social studies whose teachers have knowledge of the subject area and those whose teachers do not have knowledge of the subject matter.
1.6 Significance of the Research
Any educational research must contribute to the advancement of knowledge. The research findings would be extremely beneficial to the government and other stakeholders since they would highlight the association between teacher quality and kids’ Academic Achievement in our schools.
As a result, the ministry will be guided in adopting a new teacher recruitment policy, which will ensure that they hire qualified teachers who are highly effective, i.e. those with content understanding, teaching experience, a professional certificate, and overall academic competence.
The findings will help students, particularly those in postgraduate courses, to add more or contribute from where the researchers stopped or what remains to be done in the field of study.
The research findings will be useful to anyone who is curious about the relationship between teacher quality and student accomplishment. The findings will be quite valuable and will aid in conference writing in the field. It will encourage teachers to organise and present their lessons well, as well as encourage unqualified teachers to continue their studies in order to reach the minimum required qualification for teaching.
The research findings will assist society in determining what should be included in the curriculum in order to improve the quality of both teachers and pupils. Curriculum planners will find this study useful. The findings of this study will be useful to the curriculum architects of the National Policy on Education in order to avoid any gaps during the construction process.
1.7 Scope of The Study
The study is focused with the quality of teachers, gender, and academic achievement of students. The researcher was limited to instructors and students from Degema Local Government Area’s junior secondary schools.
1.8 Definition of Terms
A declaration of the techniques or methods by which a researcher would measure behaviours or attributes is defined as an operational definition of terms. The operational phrases would be utilised frequently in the research process. The definition of terminology is critical for a complete grasp of the entire subject.
Teacher quality refers to teacher characteristics that represent their competence for efficacy in the teaching-learning process, such as professional qualifications, experience, and communication competence.
As a result of a relationship, one variable influences another.
of treatment.
Academic Achievement: Students’ knowledge and skills at the completion of the teaching-learning process.
Professional Teacher: A teacher who has received teaching certification in Hausa, such as a B.AEd/BEd Hausa MEd MA.Ed.
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