Strategic Planning Implementation Practices and School Performance: Evidence from Public Secondary Schools in Tanzania

Abstract

Aims: The study examined the influence of strategic planning implementation practices on school performance in public secondary schools in Tanzania. Specifically, it assessed the influence of strategic implementation practices on school organisational performance; investigated the influence of strategic implementation practices on teacher performance; and evaluated the influence of strategic implementation practices on students’ academic performance. Study Design: The study employed a concurrent triangulation design within the framework of a mixed methods approach. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in two Districts of Mwanza Region namely: Nyamagana and Magu in which data were collected from public secondary schools between August 2022 and January 2023. Methodology: The sample size involved a total of 354 respondents including 266 members of the School Management Teams (SMTs), 76 members of the School Governing Boards (SGBs), 10 Ward Education Officers (WEOs) and 2 District Education Officers (DEOs). Research data were collected through questionnaire, interview and documentary review. The quantitative data were analyzed by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique, while the qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. Results: The results of hypotheses tests show that, strategic implementation practices was significantly related to: school organizational performance (P<0.05, R2=0.08), teacher performance (P<0.05, R2=0.02) and students’ academic performance (P<0.05, R2=0.24). Therefore, it is was generally observed that, strategic implementation practices significantly influence school performance. Conclusion: The study concluded that strategic implementation of school operations and activities is an antecedent to school performance.