EFFECTIVENESS OF SCHOOL LEADERS IN DECISION MAKING IN GOVERNMENTAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF BALE ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to critically investigate the issue of school leaders’ effectiveness in decision making process in school affairs in some selected secondary schools of Bale zone, Oromia Regional State. To accomplish this purpose, descriptive survey design was used. This study was carried out in six randomly selected secondary schools in Bale Zone. The necessary data for the study was collected from student council and PTA (six heads of students’ council (one from each school) and six heads of PTA, 12 heads of departments (two from each school), total of 36 participants were chosen by purposive sampling technique because as the researcher deem they were relevant bodies to provide appropriate information for the study due to their high intimacy with school decision making in their day to day activities.and 79 teachers were selected through simple random sampling technique in order to obtain proportional number of representatives from each population. Questionnaire was the main instrument of data collection. Document analysis and interview were also utilized to substantiate the data obtained through the questionnaire. Frequency distributions, percentage, mean, standard deviation P-value and t-test were employed in analyzing and reporting the results. Qualitative data obtained through open ended questions, document analysis and interviews were analyzed using narration. Findings from data analysis revealed that several dimensions of effective decision making were not implemented as effectively as expected in Secondary schools of Bale Zone. Weak performance have been observed in some specific tasks of making decisions in school. Moreover, the decisions were also made without tangible information and clear procedure, lack of transparency on decision making, making decision without the use of conscious rational processes, lack of effective communication, insufficient awareness about decision making to school stakeholders and inadequate environment influence decision making in secondary schools. The findings of the study also showed that school leaders were not sufficiently took part in various aspects of core decision making issues. The performance of school leaders in promoting and coordinating the task of school was inadequate. Based on these findings, it was recommended that decisions should be based on clear procedure and tangible information and creating favorable environment with adequate evaluation is necessary. The school leaders should try to actively participate in a rational manner in decision making, the selection of school leaders should be on the point of view of educational leadership performance. Moreover, school leaders should be work in collaboration with stakeholders and provide openness and trust in governmental secondary schools of Bale Zone.