EDUCATORS’ ACCOUNTABILITY FOR LEARNING: A FRAMEWORK FOR EQUITY AND IMPROVED STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN WEST KENYA UNION CONFERENCE SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Abstract
This research project focused on educators’ accountability for learning seeking
to develop a framework for equity and improved students’ achievement in West
Kenya Union Conference (WKUC) secondary schools. The Theoretical foundation of
the study was based on Hilda Taba’s Model of Curriculum Development, Information
Construction Model, and Tomlinson’s Differentiated Instruction Model. The study
employed concurrent mixed methods design and data was gathered using
questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observation of
actual teaching, and analysis of school programs and documents. The total target
population of the study was 3,067 consisting of 22 administrators, 157 teachers, and
2,888 students. A combination of purposive and stratified random sampling
techniques was applied. The purposive sampling involved all of the 22 administrators,
while the stratified random sampling involved a sample of 100 teachers, and 351
students, giving a total sample size of 473 individuals. Quantitative data were
analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test for independent samples, and Spearman
rank-order correlation coefficient while qualitative data were subjected to both
descriptive and content analyses. The study revealed that educators’ accountability for
learning was average in all the areas of classroom curriculum design , Pedagogy and
students’ assessment. This study recommended that educators in WKUC secondary
schools should remodel their classroom curriculum, pedagogy and students’
assessment within the framework proposed in this study to bring about educational
equity and improved students’ achievement.