Teachers’ Quality and Peer Group as Correla...

Teachers’ Quality and Peer Group as Correlate of Students’ Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State

Author Name : Ughamadu Uju, Chike Helen Nkiru, Anagor Ngozi Agatha

ABSTRACT

The study investigated teachers’ quality and peer group as correlate of students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State.The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Correlation research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 8,958 in public secondary schools in in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw 488 students for the study. Researcher-developed instruments titled ‘‘Teachers’ Quality Scale (TQS)’’, Peer Group Questionnaire (PGQ) were used for data collection and in addition toStudents’ Academic Performance Results (SAPR) were used for data collection. The instruments were by three experts from Faculty of Education, University of Benin, Benin City. Cronbach alpha was used for a test of internal consistency of the instruments and it yielded overall reliability coefficients of 0.78 and 0.80 for TQS and PGQ respectively. The researchers and three research assistants collected data for the study using direct administration method. A 100% return rate was recorded. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to answer the research questions, t-test for correlation to test hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed thatthere is strong positive relationship between teachers’ quality and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. It was also reported that there is no significant relationship between teachers’ quality and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Ministry of Education should organize annual workshops and seminars for teachers to acquire skills and knowledge for improving their quality and students’ academic achievement.

Keywords: Teacher Quality, Peer Group, Students, Academic Performance