Abstract:
This study sought to find out the contribution of school based supervision on students’
academic achievement in four public secondary schools of the Harari region. Three
research questions were formulated to assess the extent of supervisory roles rendered by
supervisors, principals and vice principals to teachers and identify the challenges faced
by school based supervision. All the principals (N= 8), vice principals (N= 8), head
teachers/department heads (N=48) and in built supervisors were sampled by using
availability and purposive sampling techniques whereas teachers (N=91) were selected by
stratified random sampling. The design adopted was the descriptive survey and the
analysis of the data collected using a 20-Likert type of adapted questionnaire which
involved the use of tables to display frequencies and percentages, Mean Scores, Standard
Deviation, was obtained by the SPSS. The qualitative data were obtained through the use
of semi-structured interviews that incorporated open-ended questions. Focus Group
Discussion interviews were conducted with eleven survey respondents selected from each
school. Participants’ responses were analyzed according to the research questions and
recurring themes. The findings revealed that in all the schools well authentic types of
supervisory approaches were not practiced. Supervisory activities lack participatory
decision making procedures. Results indicated that in many instances principals, given
many non instructional duties, did not have the time to undertake continuous and
meaningful supervision. The study found that principals and supervisors in public
secondary schools practice certain tasks of instructional leadership more than others.
Teacher respondents expressed the desire to grow professionally and improve their
instruction in order to provide quality education for better achievement of their students.
From the survey result, it is possible to deduce that teachers and staff should give due
attentions to what was being done in schools; and get adequate awareness about the roles
of supervision. It was found that all schools are lacking the right types of supervisory
manuals and the necessary budget and resources. The survey revealed that supervisors
are not with the necessary experience and training that could help them contribute for
teacher’s skills development and enhancement of students’ achievement. It was found that
there is a gap between the roles of SBS and the instructional processes in the schools and
that was manifested by higher number of student failures in Grades 9 and 10. Based on
the findings, a number of implications were derived for theory, practice, and further
research. Educational authorities should give due attentions to training to boost
experiences, knowledge and skills to supervisors and the teaching staff, and to allot
budget, equipments and other facilities.
