Factors influencing academic performance of senior high school students in the Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find out factors that influence academic performance of students in Cape Coast senior high schools. A total of 354 respondents were selected using the stratified random sampling method. A questionnaire comprising 42 close-ended items was used for the data collection. The questionnaire used a four-point Likert scale to measure the independent variables. The average scores of teacher-made test-scores of students in Mathematics, Integrated Science, and English Language were used to measure students’ academic performance. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression were used to analyze the statistical data. It was found out that parents’ education, teacher-student relationship, study skills, academic self-concept, academic counselling, cocurricular activities, ICT skills, and personal effort relate to students’ academic performance and can also influence their academic performance.However, these variables do not directly predict students’ academic performance. They do so only when students are able to exert some level of effort in learning what they have been taught during their private studies. It is therefore recommended that parents and teachers should inculcate the habit of hard work (effort) in students. They can motivate students to cultivate the habit of hard work by praising them anytime they exhibit effort in their academic work. Teachers in particular can also set high but attainable goals for students. Teachers need to encourage their students to do more than the bare minimum because most students won’t encourage themselves on their own. Students mostly like to be challenged and will work to achieve high expectations so long as they believe those goals are within their reach.