The influence of principal managerial task performance on secondary school students academic performance

Poor performance of managerial tasks culminates declining staff productivity and thus deteriorating students academic performance. Secondary school students performance in most public examinations are not satisfactory in most states in Nigeria. Hence, this study investigate the extent to which secondary school principal managerial task performance influenced the performance of students under their control in senior school certificate (SSCE) conducted by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) between 1997 and 2002 school years. The study used the ex post factor method in a descriptive survey research design, using 15 randomly selected secondary schools out of 27 of such schools in Akoko-Edo, Edo State, Nigeria. The multiple regression analysis and one way analysis of variance were used to analyse the data. The two research hypotheses which guided the study were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that the performance of secondary school principals in the five managerial tasks (e.g. planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling). When taken together and when taken separately influenced significantly the performance of their students in SSCE within the period of study. These findings have great implications for school administrators who have to be conscious of their performance levels in each of the five managerial task areas. African Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Sport Facilitation Vol. 6 2004: 39-4