TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP AS PREDICTORS OF STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study examined teacher-student relationship as predictors of students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Anambra State. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study was a correlational research design. The population of the study was 21,272 students in the 267 public secondary schools from the six Education Zones in Anambra State. The sample of 1,064 students (that is, 5% of students’ population) was used for the study. Multistage sampling techniques comprising of proportionate stratified and simple random sampling technique was used for the study. The instrument Teacher-Student Relationship Rating Scale (TSRRS) was used for data collection while Students’ Academic Performance Scores (SAPS) was used to measure students’ academic performance for this study. The instrument (TSRRS) was subjected to content and construct validation. Content validation was done by three experts while construct validation was carried out with Principal Component Analysis approach. The reliability of the instrument was done using Cronbach Alpha technique and the average coefficient values of 0.81 for TSRRS was obtained and considered highly reliable and suitable for the study. Simple regression analysis was used for the study. The study revealed that teacher-student classroom interaction and teacher-student classroom conflict positively and significantly predict students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Anambra State. The study concluded that building and maintaining positive teacher-student relationship is essential for students’ academic success in public secondary schools in Anambra State. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that teachers should visit the classroom on a regular basis to interact with their students because teacher-student interaction has a positive and significant prediction on academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Anambra State and students with positive relationships with their teachers are more likely to do well academically.