TEACHERS' VARIABLES AS PREDICTORS OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE IN ILE-IFE, OSUN STATE

Abstract

The study was aimed at examining the predictive role of teacher variables on high school student performance in basic sciences. An associationtype descriptive survey was used as the survey design. Study subjects included a basic science teacher and secondary school students from Ile – Ife, Osun State. A sample size of 20 teachers as well as 200 students was chosen using a simple random procedure. Collection of data was done using two research tools. Basic Science Teacher Questionnaire (BSTQ) and Basic Science Preliminary Results (PTRBS). The BSTQ was used to collect information about teachers' educational background and years of teaching experience, and the PTRBS was used to assess students' academic performance in basic sciences. Collected data were analyzed using various statistical measures such as percentage, frequency, standard deviation, mean, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). These analyzes allowed the examination of the relationship between teacher variables (educational background and years of teaching experience) and basic science academic performances of the high school students. The results showed a significant positive association between teachers' educational attainment in Basic Sciences and the academic performances of the students (r=0.775; p<0.05). This suggests that better-educated teachers tend to have a positive impact on the academic performance of students in basic science. Similar to this, the study found a substantial correlation (r = 0.704; p 0.05) between instructors' years of teaching experience and academic success of students in Basic Science. This suggests that teachers with more experience help students perform better in this subject. Based on these results, the study concludes that the academic achievement of junior secondary school student' in Basic Sciences in Ile-Ife, Osun State is significantly affected by educational backgrounds and years of experience of teachers. The findings emphasize how crucial teacher training and expertise are in impacting students' subject-area learning outcomes.