Beyond Administration: How Principals’ Individualized Consideration Influences Academic Performance in Divergent Performing Secondary Schools in Buret Sub- County, Kenya
John Kitur
Kabarak University
Email: johnkitur@kabarak.ac.ke
Abstract: This study examined the influence of principals’ individualized consideration on academic performance in high-performing and low-performing secondary schools in Bureti Sub-County, Kenya. The study was motivated by persistent disparities in KCSE performance among schools operating under similar policy and resource conditions. A correlational research design was adopted to determine the relationship between principals’ individualized consideration and students’ academic performance. The target population comprised 54 secondary schools, 54 principals, and 487 teachers. A sample of 10 Extra County schools was purposively selected, involving all 10 principals through census sampling and 214 teachersselected using the Krejcie and Morgan sampling technique and simple random sampling. Data were collected using a modified Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and interview schedules. Validity was ensured through expert review, while reliability was confirmed through a pilot study and test-retest method, yielding reliability coefficients ranging from r = 0.838 to 0.881 (p < 0.01). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression in SPSS version 30.0, while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Findings indicated that principals’ individualized consideration was moderately practiced overall (M = 3.42, SD = 0.78), with higher levels in high-performing schools than low-performing schools. Regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between individualized consideration and academic performance (β = 0.47, p < 0.05). The study concludes that principals’ personalized leadership practices significantly enhance academic performance and recommends strengthening leadership training programs to improve mentoring and teacher support.
