Principals’ Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance and Learners’ Academic Performance in Kenya
- Catherine Muthami
- Dr. Selpher Cheloti
- Dr Janet Mulwa
- 6129-6135
- Aug 28, 2025
- Education
Principals’ Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance and Learners’ Academic Performance in Kenya
*Catherine Muthami, Dr. Selpher Cheloti and Dr Janet Mulwa
Department of Educational Administration and Planning, School o f Education, South Eastern Kenya University
*Corresponding Author
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.903SEDU0443
Received: 19 July 2025; Accepted: 25 July 2025; Published: 28 August 2025
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of teacher’s class attendance on learners’ academic performance in Kyuso sub-county, Kenya.This study was based on the system theory by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy 1969. The study objective sought to establish the influence of Principals’ Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance on students’ Academic Performance in Kyuso sub county, Kitui County Kenya. The target population included all the 23 principals from 23 schools. Stratified random sampling method was used to select a sample of 210 respondents out of a population of 440 secondary school teachers in Kyuso sub county. Further the study used questionnaires as a tool for data collection. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The collected data was analyzed and presented in form of tables, graphs and charts for easier understanding and interpretation. The findings of the study were that there was a strong positive relationship r (200) = 0.656, p<0.05 between supervision of teachers’ class attendance and Learner’s performance, strong positive relationship r (200) = 0.732, p<0.05 between supervision of teachers’ professional documents and Learner’s performance, strong positive relationship r (200) = 0.744, p<0.05 between Supervision of use learning resources and learners performance and strong positive relationship r (200 = 0.861, p<0.05 between supervision of learner’s work and Learner’s performance. From the analysed data, there is a strong relationship between supervision of teachers’ class attendance and learners’ academic performance. In this regard, the study makes some substantive recommendations that principals should make impromptu class visitations to ensure that teachers are attending classes.
Keywords: Class attendance, Influence, Learner, Performance, Supervision
INTRODUCTION
The aim of any learning institution is to provide quality education to its learners by imparting knowledge skills and attitudes. Education is one of the largest sectors in most countries, with a considerable proportion of population and employment compared to other sectors (UNESCO, 2005). The performance of students depends heavily on the principals’ supervision that prevails in the learning institutions (World Bank, 2010). The World Bank (2010) considers supervision systems to be the frequent areas of reform employed by world nations to improve their education outcomes and alleviate education challenges associated with global education policies. Extant literature has exemplified the role of principals’ supervision of teachers’ class attendance on learners’ academic performance.
According to Gregory (2011) study in the United States on institutional supervision of student academic performance, when supervision of instruction began in England it was considered as a process of external inspection. Students where supervised by teachers and the teachers supervised by the principals. Supervision by principals aimed at improving quality within the institution. Formalization of supervision occurred in the late 1830s when common schools where formed. For instance, Matthew (2019) states that when principals visit classrooms, they can positively impact on students’ achievement, teacher practice and teacher attitudes. However, the study reported that principals spend little time on this instructional leadership activity. To address this issue, the superintendent of Skyline Unified School District (SUSD) mandated all principals to spend at least five hours a week visiting classrooms.
A study by Obanya (2022) on evolution of school performance reported that school performance would improve if the head teacher got in touch with what goes on in the classroom. This would involve the individual principals being actively involved not only in the overall management of the schools but also getting to understand the teacher, the learner and generally the teaching learning process.
(Butakor,2018) states that principals’ supervisory practice that has been linked to the academic performance of the students is principals’ supervision of teachers’ class attendance on learners’ performance. Teachers’ Class attendance is identified as a factor that plays a major role in student attendance in school (Liu et al 2019). Supervision of teacher class attendance has positive influence on student attendance to class. Therefore, in every education institution supervision is identified as element of successful academic environment. (Sekiwu et al. 2020) states that, high academic performance is tied to teacher daily school attendance. This implies that heads of institution should regularly check teacher class attendance.
The constitution of Kenya (2010) emphasizes that it is the right of every child in Kenya to receive education. The quality of the graduates at the end of the education system is an indicator that the system is a success. A study by Ayot and Briggs (2000) recommended regular classroom visitations to enhance higher students’ achievement levels. Similar finding was reported by Kimeu (2020) who indicated that regular classroom visitations by the head teacher would enable the principal know what goes on in the classroom, get first-hand information such as adequacy or inadequacy of resources of resources in the classroom, potential excellence of the teacher and students. The head teacher would be able to know teacher class attendance, quality of teaching in the school. This study sought to determine the influence of principals’ supervision of teachers’ class attendance on learners’ academic performance in Kyuso sub county, Kenya.The study found that there is a positive significant relationship between Teacher class attendance and academic outcome of their students. The likelihood of students having high academic achievements is tied to their daily school attendance. Although supervised teachers’ class attendance would assist learners to improve their academic performance in public secondary schools, not all principals in Kyuso-Sub County were doing it. The study therefore concludes that to achieve good performance, principals must check all the parameters, this therefore could explain the poor academic performance in Kyuso Sub-County,Kenya.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance and Learners’ Performance
Class attendance refers to physical presence of students in class. It is the number of students present in the class. It depends on the classroom, whether attendance would be physical or virtual. Teacher attendance matters just as much as students. Students need their teacher to be there teaching.David (2018) states that teacher attendance is directly related to the academic outcome of their students. The likelihood of students having high academic achievements is tied to their daily school attendance. Sullivan & Glanz (2013) adds that principals are expected to ensure that teachers are following school set routine to ensure that learners are well guided in order to get good results in examinations. In order for principals to ensure that teachers attend class regularly as required, they have to monitor their attendance.
A study by Sabaitu and Ayandoja (2012) in Nigeria, Ondo state, sought to find out the impact of instructional supervisory activities on students’ academic performance in English Language in Senior Secondary schools. The study aimed to examine the relationship between instructional supervision and students’ academic performance in senior secondary schools. Specifically, the study aimed at establishing the relationship between checking of students’ notes, class visitations by principals, checking of teachers’ punctuality and attendances, moderation of examination questions and marking schemes on students’ academic performance in English Language. The study however used frequencies and percentages to analyse data hence did not allow for testing of the relationships between variables.
In Uganda, Bozzi et al. (2021) investigated the large class sizes on student academic performance and mediating role of peer learning. The study used a descriptive survey design, with one hundred students as the target population. The study analyzed data by use of frequencies and percentages that did not allow testing of the relationships between variables. The study recommended that supervision of teachers’ class attendance would go a long way to ensuring optimal academic performance of students. This implies that principals’ supervision on the teacher’s classroom attendance leads to improvement in performance. However, Bozzi et al. (2021) study was contextualized in private primary schools and did not empirically examine the relationship between supervision of teachers’ class attendance and students’ academic performance hence its results cannot be generalized to fill the aims of proposed study which this study was addressing.
Kimutai and Kosgei (2021) study on the influence of supervision of teachers’ lesson notes by head teachers on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Bureti District-Kenya, found that there is a positive relationship between the principals’ inspection of records of work, lesson attendance and teachers on duty giving report at the end of the week and learners’ academic achievement. From the study it was found out that, records of work were available, regularly updated and checked sometimes by the principals in most of the schools. The study used frequencies to test the relationships between the variables.
Kimeu (2020) study on the Influence of secondary school Principals’ instructional supervision practices on KCSE performance in Kasikeu Division found that head teacher should visit the classroom frequently to encourage teachers. Kimeu (2020) espoused that the head teacher should visit the classroom frequently to encourage teachers. Supervision of teachers’ class attendance through classroom visits includes walk-through and informal classrooms observations. A walk-through is an observation interlude lasting a minute or two which provides a quick look at teacher performance and environmental factors in the classroom. However, the study by Kimeu (2020) has three research gaps. First, the study focused only on instructional supervision, it did not analyze primary data hence did not allow for original finding. Further the study only focused on teachers’ perceptions.
Nguunjiri (2019) agrees with Kimeu (2020) in his descriptive survey on the influence of the head teachers’ instructional supervision strategies on pupil performance. On whether the frequency of head teacher’s classroom visitation influenced pupil performance, the study established that head teacher’s visitation when the teacher is teaching significantly influenced pupil performance. The principal data of clinical supervision is obtained from the events which take place in the classroom are analyzed between the teacher and the supervisor. The analyses form the basis of the programme procedures and strategies designed to improve the teacher’ instructional behaviors.
METHODOLOGY
The research methodology that was adopted in this study was a descriptive survey research design. A survey is an attempt to collect data from members of a population in order to determine the current status of that population with respect to one or more variables (Krosnick, 2018). This design was considered the best method for this study since it enabled the study to collect original data on supervision which is a routine activity in every school. The design also enabled the study to accurately describe the practices of the principals’ correlation to students’ performance. The target population for the study was all the 23 public secondary schools’ principals and 441 teachers from boys, girls and mixed secondary schools within Kyuso Sub Couty, Kitui County. A census of all the 23 school principals in the sampled schools was selected. To select the teacher respondents, the study used random sampling method.
The study used questionnaires as a tool for data collection. The research tools were piloted to test their validity and reliability.The sample size for the pilot study was 21 teachers and 2 principals from two schools in Kyuso sub county. These two schools were excluded from the final sample. Internal consistency of the research instrument was gauged using Pearson moment correlation formula. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics was used to answer research questions in relation to topic. Statistical techniques used included means, standard deviations and percentages to establish the relationship between variables under study.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
The study sought to determine the influence of principals’ supervision of teachers’ class attendance on learners’ academic performance in Kyuso sub county, Kenya. To achieve this objective, the respondents were requested to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the statements given in Table 1 and 2 using a 4-point Likert scale; where; Always = 1 Sometimes = 2 Rarely =3, Never= 4
Table 1: Principals’ Responses on Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance and Academic Performance
| Sn | Statement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| F % | F % | F % | F % | ||
| 1 | Checking whether teachers | 9 45.0 | 9 45.0 | 9 45.0 | 9 45.0 |
| 2 | follow timetables | 8 40.0 | 8 40.0 | 8 40.0 | 8 40.0 |
| 3 | Checking of teachers’ class | 8 40.0 | 8 40.0 | 8 40.0 | 8 40.0 |
| 4 | attendance register | 4 20.0 | 4 20.0 | 4 20.0 | 4 20.0 |
| 5. | Supervision of teachers’ | 6 30.0 | 6 30.0 | 6 30.0 | 6 30.0 |
Table 1 revealed 45% of the principals indicated that they (were) always checking whether teachers follow timetables while 25% said that they checked whether teachers follow timetables sometimes. Other 15% said that they rarely and never checked whether teachers follow timetables. On checking of teachers’ class attendance register indicated that, 40% of the principals indicated that they always did so while 25% and 20% checked teachers’ class attendance sometimes and rarely. It was also noted that 15% of the principals never checked teachers’ class attendance register. Also 40% of principals indicated that they always supervised teachers’ compensation of missed lessons 45% of principals never checked teachers’ class attendance register yet it was a TPAD requirement. It was also revealed that 40% of the principals indicated that sometimes they make impromptu class visitations while 25% indicated that this was never done. However, 20% indicated that principals always do impromptu class visitations while 15% indicated that principals rarely made impromptu class visitations. It was also established that majority 40% of the principals indicated that principals were conducting class lesson observation sometimes while 30% indicated that they did so always. On the other hand, 15% of the principals indicated that conducting class lesson observation was rarely done and never done.
Table 2: Teachers’ Responses on Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance and Academic Performance
| Sn | Statement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Supervision of teachers’ class attendance | F % | F % | F % | F % | |
| 1 | The principal visits the classroom as teaching is going on. | 50 25.0 | 39 19.5 | 44 22.0 | 67 33.5 |
| 2 | The principals ensures that the teachers follow their timetables | 87 43.5 | 39 19.5 | 34 17.0 | 40 20.0 |
| 3 | Principals observes on going lessons | 68 34.0 | 49 24.5 | 49 24.5 | 29 14.5 |
| 4 | Class secretaries are provided with teacher lesson attendance register which are checked by the principal every week. | 82 41.0 | 54 27.0 | 34 17.0 | 30 15.0 |
| 5. | The principal checks whether the missed lessons were compensated | 73 36.5 | 34 17.0 | 44 22.0 | 49 24.5 |
Table 2 revealed that 43.5% of the teachers indicated that always the principals ensured that the teachers followed their timetables while 20% of the principals never did so. Other 19.5% of the teachers indicated that sometimes the principals ensured that the teachers follow their timetables while 17% rarely did so. 41% of teachers indicated that the principals always provided class secretaries with teacher lesson attendance register while 27% of teachers indicated class secretaries are sometimes provided with teacher lesson attendance register which are checked by the principal every week. It was also revealed that 17% and 15% indicated that the principals rarely and never respectively provided class secretaries with teacher lesson attendance register which are checked by the principal every week.
It was also indicated by 36.5% of teachers indicated that always principal checks whether the missed lessons were compensated while 24.5% indicated that the principal never checks whether the missed lessons were compensated. On the other hand, 22% and 17% of teachers indicated that the principal checks whether the missed lessons were compensated rarely and sometimes respectively. It was indicated that 34% of the principals always observes on going lessons while 24.5% of teachers indicated that the principals sometimes and rarely observe on going lessons. The least 14.5% of teachers indicated that the principals never observe on going lessons. It was also revealed that 33.5% of the teachers indicated that the principal never visits the classroom as teaching is going, 25% of teachers indicated that the principal always visits the classroom as teaching is going on, 22% rarely visits while 19.5% sometime visited.
Table 3: Extent to which Supervision of Teachers’ Class Attendance influence good academic performance
| Teachers | Principals | |||
| Extent | Frequency | Percent | Frequency | Percent |
| Very great extent | 105 | 52.5 | 10 | 50.0 |
| Great extent | 49 | 24.5 | 5 | 25.0 |
| Moderate extent | 29 | 14.5 | 2 | 10.0 |
| Little extent | 13 | 6.5 | 2 | 10.0 |
| No extent | 4 | 2.0 | 1 | 5.0 |
| Total | 200 | 100.0 | 20 | 100.0 |
Table 3 revealed that 52.5% of teachers and 50% of principals respectively indicated that the supervision of learners’ work to a very great extent influence good academic performance. This was followed by 25% of principals and 24% of teachers who indicated that to a great extent supervision of learners’ work influence good academic performance.
The researcher further tested the correlation between supervision of learners’ work and extent good academic performance. The results were presented in Table 4 and 5 respectively.
Table 4 Correlation for Teachers’ Responses on Supervision of learners’ Teachers Class Attendance and Learner’s Performance
| Supervision of learners’ work | Learner’s performance | ||
| Supervision of learners’ work | Pearson Correlation | 1 | .656(**) |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | .000 | ||
| N | 200 | 200 | |
| Learner’s performance | Pearson Correlation | .656(**) | 1 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | .000 | ||
| N | 200 | 200 |
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The finding of the study in table 4 indicated that there is a moderate positive relationship r (200) = 0.656, p<0.05 between supervision of teachers’ class attendance and Learner’s performance. This means that the more the supervision of learners’ work the better the Learner’s performance and vice versa. Pearson’s correlation analysis on principal’s responses were presented in Table 5.
Table 5 Correlation for principal Responses on Supervision of Teachers’ Class attendance and learner’s performance.
| Supervision of learners’ work | Learner’s performance | ||
| Supervision of teachers’ class attendance | Pearson Correlation | 1 | .691(**) |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | .000 | ||
| N | 200 | 200 | |
| Learner’s performance | Pearson Correlation | .691(**) | 1 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | .000 | ||
| N | 200 | 200 |
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The finding of the study in table 5 indicated that there is a strong positive relationship r (200) = 0.691, p<0.05 between supervision of teachers’ class attendance and learner’s performance This means that the more the feedback the better the Learner’s performance and vice versa. This agrees with teachers’ responses.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The study found that there is a positive significant relationship between teacher class attendance and the academic outcome of their students. The likelihood of students having high academic achievements is tied to their daily school attendance. This study concludes that although supervised teachers’ class attendance would assist learners to improve their academic performance in public secondary schools, not all principals in Kyuso-Sub County were doing it. The study therefore concludes that failure by some principals to supervise class attendance has contributed to poor performance in Kyuso sub-county.
Given the findings of the research on the relationship between teachers’ class attendance and learners academic performance, the study recommends that principals should always do impromptu class visitations to ensure that teaching takes place as planned, principals should ensure the class lesson observation is conducted so as to improve learners’ performance, and the Ministry of Education (MOE) should sensitize principals on the importance of the supervision of teachers’ class attendance.
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