2023/11/06 by Melese, Fekadu, Bersissa, Adugna, Yadeta, Dinka
#Academic Achievement and Preparatory school #Academic self-efficacy #Achievement motivation #Perceived leadership
paper · doi:10.20372/star.v9i1.04
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived leadership, student self-efficacy, and achievement motivation with academic achievement among students of preparatory schools in the East Wollega Zone. The study employed a correlational research design. From the total of 2242 preparatory school students in Getema, Uke, Kiremu, Gida, and Hinde, a sample of 222 (118 male and 104 female) students was selected through systematic random sampling techniques. To collect data on students’ perceived leadership, academic self-efficacy, and achievement motivation, a Likert-type scale questionnaire was used. The average academic achievements of students were obtained from the records of the sampled preparatory schools. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, version 21.0, was used to perform statistical analyses. Statistical tests, including descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and standard multiple linear regression, were used in the analysis. The result obtained from the analysed data revealed that students’ academic achievement was positively and significantly correlated with academic self-efficacy, perceived leadership, and achievement motivation (r =.57, p <.05), (r =.80, p <.05), and (r =.75, p <.05, respectively). The result of the present study also revealed that more than 68% of the variation in academic achievement was explained by the combined effect of the predictor variables (academic self-efficacy, perceived leadership, and achievement motivation), F =158.80, p <.05. The beta weights of each of the predictor variables were examined to determine which of the three independent variables contributed uniquely to the variance explained by academic achievement. Accordingly, all the predictor variables (academic self-efficacy, perceived leadership, and achievement motivation) contributed significantly to the variance in academic achievement in the positive direction (t =8.61; P<.05, t = 2.76; p<.05, and t = 3.73; p<.05), respectively. The researchers suggest that school principals, supervisors, teachers, parents, and educational practitioners should realise the roles being played by non-cognitive factors, such as perceptions of leadership, academic self-efficacy, and achievement motivation, in improving the academic performance of students.