EVALUATION OF HISTORY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN EKITI STATE’S IKERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
For many years, educators and the general public have debated the number of students with whom a teacher can effectively work to ensure adequate learning. Although most people agree that having a low student-to-teacher ratio benefits students academically, many will argue that it does not guarantee success and would cost the school a lot of money.
Prior to reviewing the research, it is necessary to define terms related to the research context. Students achievement refers to ensuring that all students have the necessary skills and knowledge of school functions in order to succeed as adults (National Education Association, 2002). Others, however, see a much broader, richer picture. Academics, essential life skills, and community responsibility are three areas that fit into the larger picture.
Small class size will be defined as classes with approximately 30 students for the purposes of this paper, while large or regular class size will be defined as classrooms with approximately 40 or more students (Harris and Plank, 2000). The average class size is calculated by dividing the total number of students in a grade level by the number of classroom sections in that school or district.
One of the most serious issues that schools face is a lack of funding for these small classes.
Sizes are either unavailable or decreasing. Many states and school districts dealing with revenue shortfalls have smaller classes. Small class advocates believe that small class sizes allow teachers to provide more individualized attention to students, manage their classrooms more effectively, and provide more effective instruction, which leads to better results.
performance of students With less time spent on classroom management, teachers can focus more on classroom instruction and student learning. In a smaller classroom, a teacher has more time to get to know each student’s personality and academic strengths and weaknesses. Students receive more attention and are less likely to become discipline problems.
“My teaching and research experiences have convinced me that both small classes and small schools are crucial to a teacher’s ability to succeed with students,” writes Patricia A. Wesley of the University of Washington’s College of Education (Wesley, 2002). Some people do not believe that reducing class size provides an academic advantage.
Kirk A. Johnson, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis, asks, “Are class size reduction programs uniformly positive, or is there a downside to hiring and placing more teachers in its public schools?” (Johnson, 2005).
Schools are required to hire more inexperienced teachers due to state mandated classroom reductions, and there is a shortage of qualified teachers to fill the classroom (Johnson, 2005). Others argue that there is no substantive evidence that class size affects student performance and that there may be other factors influencing student performance. The evidence linking smaller classes to improved performance is inconclusive, for example, because different studies define small class size differently.
The quality of teaching and instruction is directly affected by large class sizes.
delivery. Overcrowding in classrooms has increased the likelihood of mass failure and has caused students to lose interest in school. This large class size prevents individual students from receiving attention from teachers, resulting in low reading scores, frustration, and poor academic performance.
To gain a better understanding of students’ skill levels, it may be necessary to assess the factors influencing their performance. These factors may include the following: school structure and organization, teacher quality, and teaching philosophies (Driscoll, Halcoussis, Svorny, 2003). The goal of this research is to look into “the impact of class size on history academic performance among senior secondary school students in Ikere Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria.”
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Although several scholars have proposed various factors to blame for students’ poor performance, only a small amount of research has been dedicated to the relationship between class-size population and academic performance.
The high rate of failure in public examinations demonstrates that the education sector is in poor health and requires immediate attention. Several factors have been identified as being responsible for this situation in an attempt to determine the cause of this mass failure.
The high teacher-student ratio is one of these factors. Some schools’ record books have been found to have eighty or more students in a class. This issue is especially acute in Ikere local government. Secondary school education aims to produce high-quality students capable of facing societal challenges and preparing them for higher education. Today’s history students face large class sizes, which leads to ineffective history teaching and learning.
It also results in students not being able to understand the subject correctly. As a result, students’ academic performance suffers. As a result, the purpose of this study is to assess the effects of class size on the academic performance of history students in senior secondary schools in Ikere local government, Ekiti State, Nigeria, with the goal of developing remedial strategies to improve the situation.
1.3 STUDY’S AIM
The study’s main goal is to assess the effects of class size on students’ academic performance in history in Ikere Educational Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study’s specific objectives are as follows:
to investigate the effects of class size on SSS History students’ academic performance scores
to investigate the effects of class size on male and female academic performance scores History of the SSS
to investigate the effects of class size on rural and urban SSS History academic performance scores
QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
The study was guided by the following research questions:
What effect does class size have on SSS History students’ academic performance?
What effects does class size have on the academic performance of male and female SSS History students?
What effects does class size have on the academic performance of rural and urban SSS History students?
THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
The study of the effects of class size on the academic performance of history students in senior secondary schools is significant in a number of ways. Some of them are listed below.
To begin with, the study provides valid research based on data that leads to improvements in the educational program. When the educational program has not been formally evaluated in relation to the current large class sizes, it is difficult to determine if it is doing what it is supposed to do.
Second, the research findings are important to education stakeholders such as the government and policymakers. They will benefit from the study’s findings because they will help them identify, analyze, and interpret the negative effects of a large class population on students’ academic performance in the study area and beyond. This will aid in the provision of much-needed data for planning and evaluation purposes, with special consideration given to the situation.
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EVALUATION OF HISTORY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN EKITI STATE’S IKERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA