Strategy Formulation and Public Secondary School Performance in Nzaui Sub County

Strategic planning remains a central pillar of school improvement, yet the specific contribution of strategy formulation in public secondary schools in Kenya still needs more empirical work. This article focuses on examining the effect of strategy formulation on performance among public secondary schools in Nzaui Sub County, Makueni County. A cross sectional survey design targeted principals, deputy principals, directors of studies and board of management members, with 183 respondents selected through stratified and simple random sampling. Data came from a structured questionnaire based on a five point Likert scale and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. Descriptive results show that all indicators of strategy formulation, such as clarity of vision and mission, stakeholder involvement and alignment of goals with school needs, recorded mean scores above the scale midpoint, which points to strong adoption of formal planning practices in the sub county. Regression results reveal a strong positive effect of strategy formulation on school performance (B = 0.946, β = 0.813, t = 16.247, p < 0.001) after controlling for strategy implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The study concludes that robust strategy formulation practices associate with higher performance in Nzaui public secondary schools and argues for stronger stakeholder driven and evidence informed planning processes in similar contexts.

Strategy formulation, strategic planning

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