RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRINCIPALS’ MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES AND TEACHERS’ JOB PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between principals’ management by objectives and teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A correlational research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised 8,187 teachers from 273 public secondary schools in Anambra State. A proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to select 819 teachers for the study, representing 10% of the population. A researcher-developed instruments titled ‘‘Principals’ Management by Objectives Questionnaire (PMBOQ)’’ and ‘‘Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (TJPQ)’’ were used for data collection. Face validation of the instruments was conducted by three experts, two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one from the Measurement and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Educational Foundations, all from the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The internal consistency of the instruments was determined using Cronbach's alpha, yielding reliability coefficients of 0.81 and 0.78 for the two Clusters of PMBOQ and 0.83 for TJPQ.  The instruments were administered by the researchers with the help of two research assistants and 97% return rate was recorded. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. The study's findings revealed, among others, a strong and significant relationship between principals’ goal-setting practices and teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. It was also found that principals’ participative management practices have a strong and significant relationship with teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the Ministry of Education develop a handbook to guide and encourage principals in setting goals to improve teachers' job performance.