| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of school management styles on pupils ' academic performance and whether there were other factors constraining this performance in the UPE primary schools in Masulita Town Council, with a view of improving learner's academic performance. This was prompted by an observation that despite government effort to improve UPE schools, the learners' academic performance continued to decline to levels far below expectation in Masulita town council; yet it was not clear whether or not this was due to management styles applied in the schools. The objectives of the study were therefore to establish ( I) the types of management styles used in UPE schools in Masulita Town Council, (2) effects ofthe used management styles on the learner's academic performance, and (3) other factors constraining this performance in these schools.
The study was designed as a descriptiv~: cross-sectional survey involving a correlational design and employing both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. Data were collected from purposively selected chairpersons of school management committees and head teachers using interview guides, and from randomly selected teachers and primary seven pupils using questionnaires. Respondents were 187 in total. The collected data were analysed using the content, descriptive, data reduction, and multivariate regression methods of analysis aided by the Excel and SPSS programs.
Results indicate that the school management styles that were highly used in most of the selected UPE schools in Masulita Town Council included the laissez faire and directive autocratic style. The use of the participative and collaborative management styles was mainly between head teachers and the members of the school management committees. The classroom management styles used in these schools included the assertive, authoritarian and authoritative styles, but most teachers used the authoritarian style. The applied management styles affected learners ' academic performance significantly and strongly positive manner.
Other factors that constrained this performance included unsupportive home and school environments, low intelligence levels of 5ome pupils, high levels of teachers' demoralization government failure to build enough classrooms, and poor remuneration of teachers. From these findings, it was concluded that although management styles used in these schools significantly explained why learners ' academic performance was poor. It was therefore recommended that managers and teachers of these schools should apply appropriate school and classroom management styles and other stakeholders Iike parents and government should also play their respective roles effectively. | en_US |
