School culture and academic performance in selected secondary schools in Mombasa County

Abstract

The annual KCSE results for the secondary schools in Mombasa County had for many years been dismal compared to other counties nationally. From 2012 to 2016 cumulatively only 38 schools out of 166 of schools studied had a mean grade of C+ and above while 128 had below C+ grades. The purpose of this study was to determine two types of school cultures high performing and low performing and how they influence academic performance in selected secondary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya. The objectives studied were; to describe school cultures in both high performing schools and low performing schools, to analyze KCSE performance scores in secondary schools in Mombasa County from 2012 to 2016 and finally to determine if there is any relationship between school culture and academic performance. The study was informed by Cognitive anthropology theory of Goodenough and Walberg’s theory of educational productivity. Mixed methods research rooted in Pragmatism was used. Qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used concurrently. The study applied descriptive survey design. The target population was all the principals, teachers and students from selected 98 high and low performing schools. Stratified, purposive and simple random sampling were used in this study. Stratified sampling was used to select the category of schools, the 28 principals, 202 teachers and 457 students from a sample of 24,878 individuals. Questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis were used to collect data for this study. Checking of reliability and validity of research instruments was done. Descriptive statistics used were means, frequency, standard deviation and percentages. Inferential statistics used multivariate regression analysis, factor analysis, chi square and Pearson coefficients of correlation were used to test the relationships between school culture and academic performance. The research findings show that the culture in High performing secondary schools in Mombasa County are influenced by superior entry behavior for form one, the learners’ good general and self-discipline and the utilization of forming learners’ community or study groups to enhance completion of tasks for a common purpose. In contrast, the Low Performing Schools (LPS) were hindered from good performances by the lower average KCPE entry marks, the failure by their leadership to provide adequate resources, and the too low levels of general and self-discipline, and over engagement in games, which lead to insufficient time on task by the students, although they have a redeeming good utilization of the learners’ community. The culture model in HPS has four factors while that of LPS has five factors. On the basis of those findings this study recommends that HPS principals should increase supervision of teachers’ lessons, reinforce strict bedtime and rising times, provide sufficient resources, encourage more participation in games and enforce the language policy. Principals of LPS should address not only the low entry marks, poor discipline and poor provision of resources, but also limit the participation in games and sports at the expense of academic work. In conclusion differences in the school cultures in secondary schools in Mombasa are responsible for the differences in performance. This study will benefit education stakeholders, researchers, principals, teachers, and students.