PRINCIPALS’ MANAGERIAL SKILLS AS PREDICTORS OF TEACHERS’ JOB PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated principals’ managerial skills as predictors of teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 4,788 teachers from the 292 public secondary schools in Cross River State. The sample for this study consisted of 957 teachers drawn using a proportionate stratified sampling technique. Two sets of instruments, “Principals’ Managerial Skills Questionnaire (PMSQ) and Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (TJPQ)” were used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts, two from educational management and planning, and one from test and measurement, all from Federal College of Education, Obudu. Cronbach's alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the instrument, yielding an overall coefficient of 0.79. Simple regression was used to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. The study's findings revealed, among other things, that principals’ decision-making skills, communication skills, and interpersonal relationship skills are strong and significant predictors of teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. It was also found that principals’ supervisory skills are strong and a significant predictor of teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among other things, that the Ministry of Education develop a handbook providing guidelines to enhance the supervisory skills of principals and improve the job performance of teachers