Effect of Instructional Strategies on Students’ Academic Achievement in Public Senior High Schools in Ghana

Abstract

Teaching quality, as demonstrated by effective teacher instructional strategies, has dominated education process research in the recent past. This study sought to establish the effect of instructional strategies on student academic achievement in public senior high schools in Ghana. The study utilised a sample of 210 students and 160 teachers sampled through proportionate stratified sampling. The study attempted to establish which instructional strategies were inherent in public senior high schools in Ghana and how those strategies influenced students’ achievement in the national standardised mathematics test. The study found out that most teachers had an average experience of five years, with those over ten years’ experience exhibiting ineffective teaching strategies due to lack of structured teacher professional development. Further, the study established that classroom management strategies which promote discipline among students and teacher-prepared strategies were inherent among teachers. However, strategies which increase learner engagement, as well as those which increase learning during lesson delivery, were inadequate. The study recommends that the government of Ghana enhances a structured teacher professional development as well as effective school-based teacher supervision policies.