Investigating Strategies Adopted By Private Primary Schools To Their Competative Advantages in Kauwi Zone, Kitui West District, Kenya

Abstract

Institutional management evolves depending on new requirements and challenges. As a result, institutions such as schools will need to adopt strategies that are in perfect alignment with the ever-changing goals. These goals are increasingly dependent on operating environments which means that once an institution has reconceived its own contours, it will have to face a new kind of environment. The effectiveness and improvement of school strategies when applied simultaneously can lead to improvement in school performance through delivery of successful schooling, leading to sustained high levels of student achievement. The objective of the study was to determine the impact of school strategies on academic achievement of private primary schools in Kauwi Zone, Kitui West District. The research design adopted was a survey. The population of the study consisted of all the ten (10) primary schools in Kauwi Zone. The study used primary data that were collected through a self-administered questionnaire that consisted of structured questions made up of both open and closed ended questions. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the results tabulated and summarized using descriptive measures, percentages and frequency distribution tables.The findings of the study were that the schools use competitive strategies which were continuous modeling important values and practices, creating high performance expectations, building a shared vision, creating and maintaining shared decision-making structures and processes, developing consensus about goals and priorities, developing people through the provision of individualized support and offering of intellectual stimulation. The competitive strategies adopted by the schools was found to have resulted in significant improvement in both the academic and personal development of the students, school effectiveness and students’ achievement, academic improvement, effective leadership in the institution and establish cultures that are professionallystimulating for teachers which increase their sense of efficacy and beliefs that have the capacity to make a difference to students’ learning.