The Effect of Teacher Quality on Primary School Students’ Academic Achievement

The Effect of Teacher Quality on Primary School Students’ Academic Achievement

Mokilau Rudin¹, Dayang Rafidah Syariff M. Fuad¹*, Marinah Awang¹, Rosmini Ismail²

¹Education Management Department, Faculty of Management and Economics, Sultan Idris Education University, Perak

²Accounting and Finance Department, Faculty of Management and Economics, Sultan Idris Education University, Perak

*Corresponding Author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.ICAME2401

Received: 06 December 2024; Accepted: 10 December 2024; Published: 25 December 2024

ABSTRACT

This study aims to examine how the quality of teachers in rural primary schools under the supervision of the Kota Belud District Education Office, Sabah, affects the level of students’ academic achievement. This study is quantitative and descriptive and is conducted through a survey using questionnaires modified from the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale instrument, the Standard Guru Malaysia (SGM) 2010 model, as well as the Community Support model adapted from the PIBG eSarana. A total of 293 teachers from 57 rural primary schools were involved in this research. The data collection process is carried out and analyzed through descriptive statistics (centrality measures and dispersion measures) as well as inferential statistics through linear regression analysis. Based on the findings of the study, the level of teacher quality is high, and there is a positive and significant influence of teacher quality on improving student academic achievement in Sabah (p<0.05). High teacher quality can increase student commitment in their learning activities, in addition to encouraging students’ intellectual involvement in the teaching and learning process (PdP) in the classroom. This indirectly contributes to the improvement of students’ academic achievement.

Keywords: Teacher Quality, Students’ Academic Achievement, Linear Regression

INTRODUCTION

The Transformation of the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013-2025 is an initiative that aims to change and improve the education system in Malaysia. This plan includes five system aspirations and six student characteristics to be achieved over 13 years, starting from 2013 to 2025. As one of the government’s most comprehensive and far-reaching transformation efforts, this plan involves students from preschool to higher education institutions. The main goal of this plan is to produce high-quality human capital capable of driving the country’s progress in various fields. The implementation of this plan is scheduled in three waves.

The first wave, which lasted from 2013 to 2015, focused on improving the education system through increased efficiency in program implementation. During this period, the main focus is to improve the quality of teaching. This includes efforts to improve the quality of existing teachers, strengthen school leadership, as well as improve literacy levels in Malay, English, and numeracy. Towards the end of Wave 1, the Malaysian Ministry of Education strives to ensure that all teachers, principals, headmasters, and schools can achieve the minimum quality standards that have been set. The second wave, which lasted from 2016 to 2020, saw major changes in the country’s education structure. In this phase, the main purpose is to speed up the implementation of the initiatives that have been introduced in the First Wave. This includes the transition of 410,000 teachers and 10,000 principals to a new career package as well as the restructuring of the ministry. This effort aims to ensure that the education system can adapt to current changes and meet the needs of students and society. With this systematic approach, the Transformation of the Malaysian Education Development Plan is expected to have a positive impact on the quality of education in this country and further produce a generation of students who are competent and ready to face the challenges of the future.

The third wave of the Malaysian Education Development Plan Transformation, spanning from 2021 to 2025, emphasizes enhancements aimed at achieving excellence through increased operational flexibility within the education sector. All schools, educators, and administrators must attain performance levels that beyond the established minimal criteria, as the Ministry of Education intends to transition to a school-based management model. An innovative teaching methods model will be implemented to enhance students’ academic performance. This strategy seeks to enhance the autonomy of the school, with success measured by the efficacy of the system encompassing the values, beliefs, atmosphere, enthusiasm, and culture of the school’s community. The caliber of leadership, acknowledged as a significant determinant, positions leaders like principals and headmasters as catalysts for change, crucial in advancing organizational excellence inside schools, as articulated by Jamilah and Yusof (2011).

The poor and underwhelming students’ examination performance in Sabah has become a critical issue in the education sector, as reported by the Sabah State Education Department (2013). To deal with this problem, proactive action needs to be taken, and as a responsive measure, the Sabah State Education Department has introduced the slogan “GREAT SABAH, Say No to Number 16” as a commitment to improve performance in SPM or UPSR exam results. Nonetheless, despite these initiatives, UPSR performance in Kota Belud continues to be subpar, with achievement percentages from 2015 to 2019 reflecting an unacceptable average (SAPS Data). The achievement gap intensifies the challenges for kids in rural regions, hindering their ability to compete with peers from other locales for admission to boarding or specialized institutions. This circumstance may adversely affect the future employment of students. What variables contribute to the persistently low UPSR performance of these students?

Several additional factors must be considered, including the potential presence of substandard educators in local schools. The Schools Inspectorate’s results in the Malaysian Education Quality Standard 2010 indicate that the majority of schools have not embraced the notion of sustainable leadership, a crucial component for attaining high-quality education. This circumstance leads to an inability to attain the intended student outcomes as outlined by the National Education Philosophy.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Teacher quality

Darling-Hammond (2019), in her book The Right to Learn: A Blueprint for Creating Schools That Work, discussed the important role of teacher quality in achieving academic excellence and how schools can create environments that support teacher professional development and student progress. Pedagogical and content knowledge possessed by teachers is proven to be closely related to students’ academic achievement, as stated by Kunter et al. (2021). Hattie (2020) summarized various factors affecting teaching effectiveness, linking teacher quality directly to the student’s academic outcomes. Furthermore, Al-Thani (2022) provided a comprehensive analysis of the influence of teacher quality on students’ academic achievement in primary schools. Lastly, a study by Lee and McIntyre (2023) examined the long-term relationship between teacher effectiveness and students’ academic achievement, emphasizing the importance of teaching quality in shaping academic success.

The personal development of students should be complemented by decision-making skills, creative and critical thinking, initiative, ethics, as well as a culture of lifelong learning, as suggested by Marlina and Ahmad (2011). However, most adolescents tend to engage in behaviors they know to be wrong, including violating discipline, lacking motivation, being lazy, and losing focus on teachers’ instructions, as evidenced by Habibah et al. (2002) and Yahya Buntat et al. (2010). In this context, the relationship between Teacher Quality and the improvement in students’ academic achievement is defined as the extent to which Teacher Quality has a positive and significant influence on the improvement in students’ academic achievement. Several previous studies have shown that teacher quality is the main factor in enhancing students’ academic achievement. Westera (2001) emphasized that in discussing teacher competence, other aspects, such as teacher performance and effectiveness, should also be considered. Teacher quality is closely and directly related to the improvement of students’ academic achievement in schools. Westera’s (2001) findings align with Medley’s (1982) study, which indicates that teacher effectiveness is related to the impact that teachers have on students’ academic achievement. Medley (1982) proposed three key dimensions to consider when evaluating teacher quality: competency, performance, and teacher effectiveness. This study further elaborates on the dimension of teacher effectiveness, which is linked to the number of students who achieve good academic performance as a result of the teacher’s instruction, emphasizing that the quality of teaching is crucial in shaping students’ academic success.

Students’ academic achievement

The Malaysian Ministry of Education seeks to improve student outcomes in accordance with the National Education Philosophy by implementing a strategy that prioritizes the comprehensive development of students intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically, while also promoting a robust national identity (Preliminary Report of the Malaysian Education Development Plan – PPPM, September 2012). This plan seeks to cultivate students who thrive in all facets of life, utilizing the National Education Philosophy as the basis for defining student aspirations. Academic performance, denoting an individual’s accomplishments across diverse domains of knowledge and abilities, is affected by age, learning methodologies, and the individual’s educational aptitude, qualifications, and social interactions. It also include alterations in the degree of behavioral competence attained from learning experiences, which can be evaluated by verbal performance, writing, abilities, and problem-solving (Sobur, 2006). Furthermore, academic performance signifies the attainment of educational objectives through effective learning endeavors (Setiawan, 2006), while Wallman (1969) correlates academic elements with formal schooling and achievement with competence levels in subjects.

Conceptual Framework of the Study

The conceptual framework of this study aims to implement the elements measured in the independent (explanatory) variables and the dependent variables, as well as to identify the relationships among these variables. This conceptual framework is adapted and modified from a combination of the Malaysian Teacher Standard (SGM 2009) related to teacher quality. This study focuses on factors related to the practices of teacher quality in the schools being examined, with particular emphasis on three main dimensions. However, for the purposes of this study, the third dimension concerning Teaching and Learning (PdP) skills has been selected for further analysis. This will allow for a better understanding of how PdP skills influence the quality of teaching and, subsequently, students’ academic achievement.

i. Teachers need to plan the implementation of PdPc,
ii. Teachers need to control the learning process,
iii. Teachers need to guide the students,
iv. Teachers need to act as motivators,
v. Teachers need to conduct assessments.

The support factors of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and the community, based on Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Development Theory (1979, 1989), involve five systems. In the context of this study, the microsystem involved includes the school, neighbours, parents, and the local community, which play an important role in influencing the quality of education and the development of students. Additionally, this study also adapts the 6S Quality Education model introduced by Sri Halimah (2014), which consists of three main dimensions: input, process, and output. This model allows for a more detailed analysis of how support elements from the PTA and the community can positively impact teaching and learning in schools, thereby enhancing students’ academic achievement.

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the Study

In this regard, the research hypothesis based on the conceptual framework of the study is:

H1: Teacher quality has a positive and significant influence on students’ academic achievement (Students’ Outcomes).

METHODOLOGY

This study involves 293 teachers from 57 primary schools in Sabah. The sample selection was conducted according to the formula suggested by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) using stratified random sampling techniques. The questionnaire serves as the research instrument for data collection in this study, which consists of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). This questionnaire has been translated into Malay and adapted based on research by Audryanah (2007) and Lim Siew Hui (2017). The structure of this questionnaire is divided into five main sections, covering critical aspects of teaching and learning management, as well as the expected teacher quality. The questionnaire is divided into five main parts:

1. Section A: Items related to respondents’ background,
2. Section B: Instructional leadership practices of headmasters from teachers’ perspectives,
3. Section C: Teacher quality,
4. Section D: Support from the PTA and the community,
5. Section E: Academic improvement.

The instrument contains 38 items for teacher quality, encompassing 8 dimensions. The academic improvement of students in this study consists of 9 items divided into three dimensions:

1. E1: Students’ academic achievement at the primary school level: Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) 2017,
2. E2: Students’ academic achievement at the primary school level: Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) 2018,
3. E3: Students’ academic achievement at the primary school level: Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) 2019, where each dimension includes 3 items.

The study instrument utilized a five-point Likert scale for Sections B to D, in line with the approaches employed in previous studies by Audryanah (2007), Elangkumaran (2012), Jamal (2009), and Lim (2017). This scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), allowing respondents to provide more accurate evaluations of the items being studied. A reliability test was conducted on all respondents who completed this questionnaire, and the results of the reliability test indicated that the Cronbach’s Alpha value for all items was 0.987. The Cronbach’s Alpha value for constructs in this study was 0.990 for the Principal’s Instructional Leadership and 0.813 for Students’ Academic Achievement. Therefore, the instrument used in this study demonstrates a very high level of reliability, reinforcing the accuracy and dependability of the obtained data.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Demographics of Respondents

Among the 293 teachers participating in this study, 59.0% were female, surpassing the 41.0% representation of male teachers. Age group analysis reveals that 3.4% (10 individuals) of respondents belong to the 20-30 age range, 17.4% (51 individuals) to the 31-40 age range, 37.2% (109 individuals) to the 41-50 age range, and 42.0% (123 individuals) to the 50-60 age range. The predominant group of respondents in this study consists of senior instructors, predominantly within the 50 to 60 age range, likely indicative of their experience and expertise in teaching.

A majority of responders, comprising 221 persons (75.42%), possess over 15 years of teaching experience. Respondents with teaching experience of 26 to 30 years constitute the largest group, with 72 individuals (24.6%). Conversely, a mere 6 responses (2.0%) possess teaching experience of less than 5 years, while only 2 persons (0.7%) have more than 35 years of experience. The findings suggest that the majority of instructors participating in this survey are seasoned professionals, perhaps offering more profound and significant insights into pedagogical practices and school management.

Referring to the level of academic qualification, 83.6% (245 individuals) of the respondents hold a Bachelor’s degree, while only a small number have a Diploma (21 individuals, 7.2%) or a Master’s degree (27 individuals, 9.2%). In terms of professional qualifications, 68.2% (200 individuals) of the respondents possess a Teaching Certificate or Diploma (KPLI/DPLI), while 31.7% (93 individuals) hold a Bachelor’s degree. In conclusion, the majority of teachers in this study have professional qualifications in the field of teaching, demonstrating their commitment to education and teaching. Only a small portion of the respondents have qualifications in other fields, emphasizing their primary focus in education.

Teacher quality level

The findings of this study indicate that the majority of teachers strongly agree with the aspects of teacher quality, with a mean overall score of 4.43. All eight sub-scales or dimensions of teacher quality also demonstrate high scores, reflecting a consistent positive perception of teaching quality. The statistical distribution for each variable can be seen in Table 1. In conclusion, the teacher quality in this study is at a high level, signifying that the involved teachers possess a strong commitment to quality teaching practices.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Teacher Quality Level

Students’ Academic Achievement Level (PAM)

The instrument used in this study is the score representing the School Average Grade (GPS) for the UPSR in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The findings indicate that the School Average Grade (GPS) based on the overall mean score is 3.69, with a standard deviation of 0.374, as detailed in Table 2.

Table 2: Descriptive statistics of PTA and community support variables

Linear regression analysis

A linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the independent variable, which is teacher quality, on the dependent variable, which is the students’ academic improvement. These findings were used to answer the research question: What is the effect of teacher quality on the students’ academic improvement, as well as to test the research hypothesis stated as:

H1: Teacher quality has a positive and significant influence on students’ academic achievement (Students’ Outcomes).

Regression model

Students’ academic achievement (Students’ outcomes) = 2.845 + 0.206*Teacher quality

Next, Table 3 presents the research findings with an R² value of 0.100, indicating that 10.0% of the total variation in primary school students’ academic achievement can be explained by teacher quality. The F value = 32.302 (p < 0.01) proves that the overall regression model is significant and fits the data. Moreover, the findings show that at the 95% confidence interval, teacher quality has a significantly positive influence (p-value = 0.000, Beta = 0.206). This indicates that every one-unit increase in teacher quality will improve students’ academic achievement by 0.206. In other words, teacher quality is a crucial factor in improving students’ academic achievement. Therefore, hypothesis H6 is supported.

Table 3: The influence of teacher quality on students’ academic improvement

Note: *** significant at the 0.01 level, F=32.302, p<0.01, R²=0.100

CONCLUSION

The study conducted shows that the teacher quality among headmasters of National Primary Schools (SRK) in Sabah is at a high level. This is supported by evidence indicating a significant relationship between teacher quality and students’ academic achievement. These findings align with the study by Rohani Arbaa et al. (2010), which emphasizes that characteristics of teacher quality, such as teaching skills and understanding of the curriculum, have a substantial influence on students’ learning commitment. In addition, high teacher quality also plays a role in enhancing students’ intellectual engagement in the teaching and learning process (PdP). When teachers are able to deliver lessons effectively and efficiently, it encourages students to be more active and participate in class, ultimately leading to an improvement in their academic achievement.

The study by Khuzaimah Zaaim et al. (2019) demonstrates a positive correlation between teacher competence in pedagogy and student outcomes, consistent with this research. This signifies that very skilled educators can facilitate students in achieving their potential. Additionally, the research corroborates findings of Zulkifli et al. (2011), which indicated that parental engagement in their children’s education accounts for 74.5% of students’ academic success. These findings are crucial for educational authorities, educators, institutions, and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in devising effective measures to improve children’ academic performance. This entails offering continuous training and professional development for educators, allowing them to enhance their teaching efficacy and, in turn, significantly impact student accomplishment.

The results of this study may assist in shaping educational policy in Sabah and Malaysia, facilitating the identification of priorities to enhance educational quality. The findings support the priority of teacher training programs and ongoing professional development. Future research should include urban schools or other settings to identify additional factors affecting academic accomplishment, particularly socioeconomic status, school infrastructure, and technological integration. The lasting influence of outstanding educators on student achievement may be further validated by longitudinal studies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In memory of Associate Professor Dr. Jamal @ Nordin bin Yunus whose mentorship has greatly impacted this work.

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