PRINCIPALS' ADMINISTRATIVE STRATEGIES AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN OSUN STATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study determined the usage of administrative strategies and quality assurance adopted by principals in Osun State senatorial districts. Descriptive research design was used for the study. The population comprised 601 principals and 6,982 teachers in Osun State public secondary schools. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted for this study. The sample was made up of 495 respondents which comprised 45 principals and 450 teachers. From each senatorial district, three Local Government Areas (LGAs) were selected using simple random sampling technique. Five schools were also selected from each Local Government Area using simple random sampling technique. Ten teachers from each school were selected using purposive sampling technique. The teachers selected were those that had been in the schools for a minimum of three years. This was to ensure that they could give accurate information about their principals' use of administrative strategies. Two sets of researchers' constructed questionnaire were used to collect data for the study. The first titled “Principals' Administrative Strategies and Quality Assurance Questionnaire” (PASQAQ) and the second titled: “Administrative Strategies and Quality Assurance” (ASQA). The data collected were analysed using appropriate descriptive statistics to answer research questions raised and inferential statistics to test the formulated hypothesis. The findings showed that delegation (23.8%), coordinating (20.8%), discipline (20%), supervision (17.7%), organising (9.6%), and planning (8.1%) were administrative strategies adopted by principals in schools. It was revealed that the level of administrative strategies adopted by principals was moderate (64.3%). The study concluded that principals' administrative strategies were moderate and are crucial for the enhancement of quality assurance in secondary schools in Osun State. It was recommended that principals in secondary schools should intensify efforts in making sure that school administrators' strategies are used in secondary schools within Osun State.