Effects of Teachers Adversity Quotient on student academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Kenya
Abstract
Effective teachers are at the centre of a counties development agenda in order to continuously provide quality human resource in every sector of our economy. Various research studies reveal that various factors such teachers cognitive ability, subject knowledge, teaching experience and teachers classroom behavior are related to teacher quality and increased students academic performance. A much recent factor in increasing teacher effectiveness is adversity quotient. A person with good Adversity quotient can achieve any goal by fighting against all odds. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the teachers diversity quotient dimensions and their relationship to students academic performance. The study adopted Adversity quotient theory and correlation design. The study sample comprised of 441 secondary school teachers. Data was collected using the Adversity Quotient Profile Questionnaire for teachers. Kenya certificate of secondary education results were used as the standardized measure for students academic performance. Data was analyzed using Pearson’s Product Moment correlation coefficient to test relationships between the variables. Validity was done using cronbach’s alpha and coefficient value of 0.7 was accepted. The results revealed positive and significant correlation between adversity quotient and students academic performance (n=441), (r = .530), (P<0.01). The study recommends policy makers to recognize the importance of testing and assessing teachers’ adversity quotient, devising appropriate and timely teacher support mechanisms and professional development programmes in order to improve teachers adversity quotient capacity for the purpose of raising students’ academic performance in schools.