Relationship between students` academic self-concept and academic achievement: A case of public secondary schools within Nakuru Municipality, Kenya.

Abstract

The varied performance in national examinations has in most cases been attributed to factors such as teachers' laxity, students' cognitive and intellectual ability among other related factors. Little has been given to the fact that students' academic self- concept is likely to influence academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of the relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement among secondary school students Within Nakuru Municipality. Correlational research design was used in this study. The target population was 1552 form four students in ten public secondary schools that had registered students for KCSE examinations for the last six years. The accessible population was 465 students from five sampled schools. A sample size of 219 participants was drawn through proportionate stratified, purposive and simple random sampling methods. Academic self-concept was the independent variable while academic achievement was the dependent variable. A self- report questionnaire was used to collect data on academic self-concept while end of term examination marks for five consecutive terms were used to determine the average academic achievement for each participant. The instruments were administered after piloting to determine their suitability, validity and reliability. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient after piloting was 0.678. The questionnaire was revised to improve the reliability coefficient. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the obtained data which included; Product-moment correlation coefficient, ANOVA, chi-square, and t-tests. The hypotheses were tested at a= 0.05. The findings indicated a significant positive relationship between students' academic self­ concept and academic achievement. The findings also indicated that parents, teachers, peers and personal motivation play a significant role in the development of academic self-concept and corresponding academic achievement of students. Students' academic self-concept and achievement were found to be independent of gender and school category. It was recommended that factors that may hinder development of high academic self-concept and high academic achievement be looked into.