Influence of Strategy Execution on Academic Performance of National Schools in Kenya

Abstract

The role of leadership in a school is of importance to the academic performance of the school which is its core mandate. The school principal or head teacher is the head of the school and performs critical functions that dictate on the academic performance of the school. The school principals are charged with five major roles including administering the approved school curriculum, school finance and business, staff and students in the school, school plant and equipment and school community relations. The principal as the chief executive is the overall in charge of the school and is responsible for the quality of the school. S/he supervises the whole school programs and bears the ultimate responsibility for the overall school performance, proficiency and effectiveness including the competency of all school programs. The head is the secretary to the BOG, and in charge of the day-to-day activities in the school. He should understand the departmental programs and work closely with all the teachers through consultation on issues of mutual interest to the school like games and sports, other co-curricular activities and examinations. The school head should be well informed and experienced on the school system and should have an orientation to the whole school program. The school principals play the role of administrators in addition to teaching duties that they may have. In this capacity, the school principals coordinate the efforts of diverse stakeholders towards the achievement of the school educational goals. These stakeholders include the teachers, parents, students, education officials and the community surrounding the school. These stakeholders influence the academic goals of the institution in diverse ways. Amongst the stakeholder management functions or coordinating efforts that the principals undertake include professional advice to the school board, leaders of reforms, managers of resources and communicators to the public. School leadership is therefore concerned with pupils, teachers and the rules, regulations and policies that govern the school system. This study sought to examine the role of strategy execution on the performance of national schools. The cumulative effect of strategy execution metrics on the academic performance was examined using multiple linear regression analysis. The positive multiple correlation coefficient (R) indicated the cumulative effect of strategy execution is positively correlated to academic performance of national schools. There is a strong and positive correlation of 0.479 between the strategy execution and academic performance of national schools. On the other hand, the coefficient of determination (R Square) of 0.229 indicates that 22.9% of the variance in academic performance can be attributed to strategy execution in national schools.To examine if the multiple linear regression was a good fit for data, then the ANOVA of strategy Execution was examined. Since F (11, 75) = 2.030, p<0.037 then the model was considered a good predictor of academic performance as a p value of 0.037, implied only a 3.7% likelihood of a multiple linear regression model giving the wrong responses. Therefore, the multiple linear regression of strategy execution was undertaken.