Leadership Effectiveness And Students’ Academic Achievement In Preparatory Schools Of Jimma Zone

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between leadership effectiveness and students’ academic achievement in Government Preparatory Schools of Jimma Zone. This study employed correlational research design including Quantitative and Qualitative methods. A total of 199 respondents, including 186 teachers using simple random sampling and 13 school leaders using purposive sampling were involved in this study. Among the 20 preparatory schools in the zone, 8 were selected by purposive sampling technique. Data for the study were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and document analyses. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and percentage as well as Inferential statistics such as ANOVA, Pearson r correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were applied for the data analysis The findings of the study revealed that leadership effectiveness has a significant and positive relationship with students’ academic achievement in Jimma zone preparatory schools. Defining school vision and mission, managing curriculum, supervising instruction, and promoting positive school climate were significantly and moderately correlated to students’ academic achievement while monitoring students’ progress sub scale was not. The five factors used for the leadership effectiveness as predictor variables in the regression model were shown to have a positive and significant relationship (r=0.731, p<0.01) with students’ academic achievement when viewed as a whole, but they made varied results when observed individually. Supervising instruction is the most positive predictor of students’ academic achievement (B=.213, β=.304) in Jimma zone preparatory schools; whereas, monitoring students’ progress was found to be the least significant predictor of academic achievement. It is recommended that school principals had better to use the extending of university entrance examination schedule as an advantage to teach and help their students rather than complaining about the extending of the examination program.