Head teachers’ instructional leadership practices and students’ academic achievement in selected public lower secondary schools in Nyagatare district, Rwanda

Abstract

The research was designed to investigate the impact of head teachers’ instructional leadership practices on students’ academic achievements in selected public lower secondary schools in Nyagatare district, Rwanda. According to Nyagatare Education Office,(2021),report high fail rate was observed in 2019(41.5%),while lowest fail rate was observed in 2021(35.2).Selected public lower secondary schools of Nyagatare district are not sufficient performance, and one of the root causes is connected to the school leaders who need to practice instructional leadership more effectively. The general objective of this research was to examine the impact of head teachers’ instructional leadership practices on students’ academic achievements in selected pub lic lower secondary schools in Nyagatare district, Rwanda.Specific goals are (i)to find out in structional leadership practices of head teachers in the selected public lower secondary schools in Nyagatare district, (ii) to establish the relationship between head teachers’ instructional leader ship practices and students’ academic achievement in the selected public lower secondary schools in Nyagatare district, (iii) to find out challenges head teachers face while applying prac tices for instructive leadership in the selected public lower secondary schools in Nyagatare dis trict. In this study 21 head teachers and 56 teachers were selected as informants. This research used the following instruments: questionnaires and interviews. After collecting data the research analyzed data in quantitative and qualitative. The findings were organized around the research objectives. As reported by head teachers instructional leadership practices are hindered by multi ple challenges including high work load, insufficient school infrastructures and so on. Indeed the majority of teachers (52%) denoted that it is rarely for head teachers to manage instructional programs [supervising and evaluating teaching, coordinating the curriculum and monitoring stu dents’ progress], promoting a positive school learning climate [controlling teaching time, en courage professional development, maintaining visibility and providing incentives for both teachers and students], and 41% of teachers agreed that head teachers are sometimes defining school academic goals[framing and communicating school academic goals].In conclusion, it is imperative to sensitize educational practitioners about instructional leadership practices as posi tive support mechanism in order to raise pupils academic achievements in the selected public lower secondary schools of Nyagatare district.