Most public schools in Kenya post poor results amid claims that parents are not supportive of their children’s educational activities at school. While research has shown that parental involvement in primary schools is a significant contributor to the mental capacity, social and cognitive behaviour of students, public primary schools in Ainabkoi sub-county are yet to achieve. This paper draws our attention to a study that was conducted in the sub-county to investigate the relationship between parental involvement in pupils’ educational activities at school and their academic performance in public primary schools. This study was guided by Type 3 Epstein’s model of the six types of parent involvement as developed by Joyce Epstein. The study adopted ex-post facto research design and considered a target population of 2404 Class 8 pupils and 61 class teachers from which 331 Class eight pupils and 61 teachers were drawn using stratified random sampling and census approach, respectively. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used for data collection which was later analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics were analyzed in the form of percentages and means. Chi-square was used to test the hypotheses of the study. The found out that there was a positive and significant relationship between parental participation in educational activities at school(X²=22.619; p=0.001) and pupils’ academic performance in Ainakboi Sub County. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic framework.  The study concluded that parental involvement in educational activities in school was positively related to academic performance. The study recommended that the government should sensitize parents on involvement in their children’s school activities through policy development to improve their academic performance.

University management and academic staff have a critical role to diligently play in fulfilling university's mandate. Effective and efficient governance and management of both private and public universities have a direct bearing on the overall quality of the institutions. With management operating under laid down governance structures, it is crucial that specific leadership styles are adopted to make easier their roles. This paper examines the relationship between leadership styles and Lecturers' job satisfaction in higher learning institutions in Kenya. A target population of 2,773 administrators and lecturers in chartered public and private universities in Rift Valley Region of Kenya was considered. A sample of 605 participants was then obtained. The study employed convergent parallel mixed methods design with census, random and systematic sampling techniques to select the respondents. Purposive sampling was also used to select information-rich cases. Questionnaires, interview and document analysis were used for data collection. Both qualitative and quantitative data was analysed.Pearson correlation coefficient, independent-samples t-test, One-way ANOVA and regression coefficients were employed with the use of the Statistical

This paper is an outcome of a study that was conducted to find out the extent to which communication between parents and teachers influence pupils' academic performance in public primary schools in Ainabkoi Sub County, Kenya. Communication as portrayed in this paper can take the form of conferences/ meeting, telephoning writing notes, and face to face dialogue between parents and teachers. Founded on the theory of six types of parental involvement by Joyce Epstein's, the study adopted ex-post facto research design. A target population of 2404 Class 8 pupils and 61 class teachers was considered from which 331 class eight pupils were selected using stratified simple random sampling technique. Census approach was employed for the class teachers. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used to collect data. Quantitative data was then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in form of percentages, means and chi-square while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic framework. There was a positive and significant relationship between parent-teacher communication (X 2 =10.087; p=0.039) and academic performance. Parent-teacher communication is therefore a positive predictor of pupils' academic performance in primary schools. Such communication should be enhanced to make better the academic performance of pupils in the final examinations.

This study sought to find out the predictive capacity independent variables on the retention of pupils with disabilities in mainstreamed primary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design. The target population consisted of 840 teachers. Yamane formula was used in getting a sample size of 271 teachers. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used. After collecting, coding and analysing the raw data, the study revealed information as follows: provision of appropriate instructional and physical resources significantly influences the retention of pupils with disabilities by 19.2 per cent and 42.1 per cent, respectively. The study findings indicated that there was evidence of a positive and statistically significant relationship between the provision of appropriate physical resources and the retention of disabled pupils (r = 0.828** p < 0.05). Similarly, there exists a positive and statistically significant relationship between the provision of appropriate instructional resources and the retention of pupils with disabilities (r = 0.842**; p < 0.05). Moreover, the findings indicated that there was strong evidence of a statistically significant and positive relationship between appropriate recreational resources and the retention of pupils with disabilities (r = 0.846**; p < 0.05). Finally, the findings indicated that there was strong evidence of a statistically significant and positive relationship between appropriate human resource skills and the retention of disabled pupils (r = 0.866**; p < 0.05). The study recommended that in-service training should be conducted for all regular teachers to enhance knowledge, skills and attitude toward special needs education.

The objective of the study was to determine the influence of recreational resources on retention of pupils with disabilities in mainstreamed primary schools in Bomet County, Kenya. This study is embedded in the Systems Theory (Bertalanffy, 1968). It adopted a correlational research design. The target population was 840 teachers. Yamane table (1967) was used to get a sample size of 278 teachers. The multi-stage sampling procedure was applied.  Data was collected, coded and analysed. The findings of the study revealed that physical resources and instructional resources significantly influence retention of pupils with disabilities (β=0.192 and β =0.421, respectively). Similarly, provision of adequate trained teachers and recreational resources were seen to influence the retention of pupils significantly with disabilities in mainstreamed Primary Schools (β =0.253 and β =0.250, respectively). The study concludes that recreational resources significantly influence retention of pupils with disabilities in mainstreamed Primary Schools. Many schools did not provide recreational resources for PWDs. Play-toys for PWDs were not available. Besides, assistive technology, for example, amplified talking Braille for pupils with disabilities (PWDs) were also not available. The lack of recreational resource for learners with disabilities could affect retention of their in mainstreamed schools. The study recommends provision of recreational resources such as in-door and outdoor equipment, play kits and field markers.

Job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers plays a key role in how they perform their functions. The study sought to determine the influence of work environment on job satisfaction among public secondary school teachers. The study was guided by Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and carried out in Nakuru West Sub County, Nakuru County, Kenya. The study targeted 326 teachers from 9 public secondary school teachers in Nakuru West Sub County. A sample size of 150 respondents obtained using stratified random sampling was used for the study. Data for the study collected using structured questionnaires. The validity and reliability of data collection instruments was ascertained through content validity and internal consistency respectively. The findings revealed that work environment (β = 0.505; p ≤ 0.05) significantly influence satisfaction among public secondary school teachers in Nakuru West Sub County, Kenya. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that work environment significantly influenced satisfaction among public secondary school teachers in Nakuru West Sub County, Kenya. The positive and moderate relationship between the work environment and job satisfaction observed implied that improving the work environment in the schools would lead to improvements in teachers' job satisfaction. Therefore, the study recommends with respect to policy that the Ministry of Education should make minimum policies on the level of school infrastructure required for public secondary schools and also make provisions for upgrading existing school infrastructure

Institutions of higher learning, universities in particular recognise

<p>Poor performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Examinations has often been attributed to a lack of parental participation in children’s academics. The claim that parents are not supportive of their children, especially at home, therefore holds water as researchers have established that parent involvement with their children's homework could have an influence on their academic performance. This paper draws our attention to a study conducted to investigate the influence of parental involvement in school work on pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in Ainabkoi Sub County, Kenya. Joyce Epstein’s framework of six types of parent involvement guided the study adopting the ex-post facto research design. Targeting 2404 Class 8 pupils and 61 class teachers in Ainabkoi Sub County, the authors drew a sample of 331 class eight pupils through stratified simple random sampling while census approach was employed to involve all the class teachers in the selected schools. The modes of data collection used were questionnaire and interview schedule whose validity was ensured through pilot study and reliability by test-retest technique. Quantitative data was then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in the form of percentages, means and chi-square, to test the study hypothesis. It was found out that parental participation in educational activities at home (X²=8.196; p=0.017) had a positive and significant influence on academic performance in public primary schools. Qualitative data was presented thematically. The study recommends that parents should provide their children with the required learning materials, such as supplementary reading complements to improve their academic performance.</p>