Abstract:
Identifying the influence of teacher’s characteristics on students’ academic achievement has been a salient and reoccurring topic especially in Special Education. Teachers are the most important school based factor in affecting student achievement levels. Knowing what teacher characteristics influence student achievement help administrators prioritize who to hire, retain, and assign to classes. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of teacher’s characteristics on academic achievement of students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities (MIDs) in a private special primary school, HVP Gatagara Humura, in Gasabo district. The study intended to achieve the following
objectives: To investigate whether teacher’s qualification influences academic achievement of
students with MIDs, to examine whether teacher’s teaching experience influences academic
achievement of students with MIDs, and find out the effect of teacher’s attitude on academic achievement of students with MIDs in a private special primary school in Gasabo District, Rwanda.
The result of the study on teachers’ attitudes confirmed that the teacher as a person is not the merely determinant of students’ academic achievement because other factors such as students’ attitude,
parental education, nature of disability , students’ abilities, related factors have significant effect in
their academic achievement. It was found out that all teachers at HVP Gatagara/ Humura had no qualification in Special Needs Education. It was also established that teacher’s qualification significantly affects students’ academic achievement. The study employed descriptive statistics to analyze the data obtained. Quantitative data was analyzed and presented using descriptive Statistics.
Data collected from the questionnaires was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics whereas
qualitative data collected from head teacher, director of studies, and Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals analysis were analyzed in narrative form
