Abstract:
The main objective of this study was to assess the Performance of School Improvement Plans in
Government Secondary Schools of Bench Maji Zone: Its practices and Contributing Factors and
recommend appropriate intervention mechanisms. A descriptive survey design was employed
with the intention to get the general picture on the practice of School Improvement Plan of
secondary schools in Bench Maji zone. The research methods employed in this research were
both quantitative and qualitative. The data for this study were collected from both primary and
secondary sources. Student, school principals, zone educational department heads, school
supervisors, members of PTA, teachers, unit leaders, vice principals and department heads were
used as primary sources of data. Probability sampling (simple random sampling) was applied to
select 4 out of 11 secondary schools. Moreover, simple random sampling was applied to select
vice principals, unit leaders, and department heads from the selected schools. Questionnaires
were self-developed and a total of 87 questionnaires were distributed and out of which 76 (87%)
were correctly filled, returned and used for analysis in this study. The data analyzed showed that
internal environmental analyses (of strengths and weaknesses) were not thoroughly examined
before SIP was developed and implemented in the schools.Observation of school plans showed
that the schools were moderately setting realizable vision. But the visions were not set before
doing a well thought self-assessment. Principals of the schools were more or less contributing to
the practices of their school plans. On the other hand, staff members were weakly contributing
to effectiveness of the performance of School Improvement Program of the schools. Therefore, it
can be concluded that both the overall practices School Improvement Program as well as the
contribution of key stakeholders were less than the expected level. Finally, the researcher
recommended that all the schools need to initially and carefully identify their statuses and then
their key stakeholders and establish networked linkages and secure not only strong but also
consistent participation of the duty bearers throughout the entire process of their performance
plans.
