SCHOOL-COMMUNITY SYNERGY AS CORRELATES OF EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined school-community synergy as correlate of effectiveness of public secondary schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. It adopted descriptive research design of correlational type 6,284 teachers in the entire 371 public secondary schools in Kwara State constituted the population of the study. Six local government areas (LGAs) were randomly selected and used for the study. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select 47 public secondary schools out of the 143 in the selected six LGAs. Three hundred and forty-two teachers were proportionately selected out of the 3,113 in the sampled public secondary schools in the areas, using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table for sample size determination. Data collection was done through the use of ‘School-community Synergy Questionnaire’ (SSQ) and Students’ Academic Performance Proforma (SAPP). SSQ was validated, tested for reliability and yielded reliability coefficient of 0.84. The findings of the study revealed that there was a significant relationship between school-community synergy and effectiveness of public secondary schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study concluded that school-community synergy plays a significant role in enhancing effectiveness of public secondary schools. It was recommended that the school managements should always intensify efforts to build a peaceful, strong, and fruitful synergy with the communities where the schools are located, for the purpose of enhancing school effectiveness.