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Item Contribution of Children's Involvement in Housework on Academic Competence in Early Childhood at City Primary School, Nairobi County(2013-12-16) Kulundu, A. E.; Ng'asike, J. T.; Wambiri, G.Early childhood education is now recognized as critical in laying the foundation for holistic development of young children during the formative years. Research in early childhood emphasizes the interplay between the home and the school in enhancing quality holistic experiences in children in the early years. However, the rise in industrialization and technological advancements in modem day society have led to a lot of changes in child rearing practices especially in the urban areas. These changes include: a greater number of mothers seeking employment, absentee fathers, employment of domestic servants in the homes, a more demanding education system and so on. These changes have had tremendous effects on childhood experiences that have all along been significant to the development of children including the participation of children in housework. Participation of children in housework is a traditional practice that has been imperative in the holistic development of school children including academic competences. However, current research does not show whether this practice is still being done, especially in the urban households where the effects of modernity are the greatest. This gap in knowledge is the basis for conducting this study. This is a descriptive survey, whose purpose is to find out whether or not school children in urban households are being involved in housework and how this relates to their academic performance in the school activity areas. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis will be used during the study. Purposive sampling will be used to select the specific settings and respondents relevant to the study. It will be done among six to eight year old children, parents and teachers at City Primary School, Nairobi County. The sampling frame will be 77 respondents which is 30.08% of the population. Naturalistic observations of the children at home and at school and in-depth interviews and questionnaires will be the primary sources of data. In addition, document analysis, field notes, journals and tape recording will provide additional secondary data. A pilot study will be done among children and patents at Ngara Road primary school, to test the validity and reliability of the instruments. Qualitative analysis procedures will be used to analyze the data collected and the generated theory will be compared to existing theory. This knowledge is likely to inform parents, teachers and policy makers on the role of housework in developing academic competence in early childhood.Item Trends and Determinants of Participation of Girls in Primary School Education in Suba District, Kenya(2013-12-17) Omwayi, H. A.; Kombo, D. K.; Wawire, V. K.The study is set to investigate the trends and determinants of participation of girls in primary school education in Suba District, Kenya. The research problem is that despite the tremendous gains made by the Kenya government to improve the participation in education, such as the introduction of Free Primary Education, girls in primary schools in Suba District have continued to register low participation. The research will be conducted in Suba District of Homa Bay County, a typical ASAL region having high poverty level, poor climatic conditions, high dropout rates and low enrollment level, with a unique and strong Luo patriarchal culture which is different from other ASAL studies that have mainly focused on the culture where Female Genital Mutilation has been studied. The main objective of the study will be to establish enrollment, completion and dropout rates of girls in primary schools in Suba District in order to further improve their participation. The study will employ descriptive survey design. To adequately achieve the objectives of the study, purposive sampling will be used to select 21 out of the 108 schools within three Divisions of Suba District which are Lambwe, Mbita and Mfangano. Stratified Random Sampling will also be used to select 23.3% of each school population, from Standard Seven to Eight for the study which will give rise to three boys and four girls per class, "totaling to 294 pupils. The sample size will include 294 pupils, 42 dropouts (girls), 42 class teachers, 21 head teachers/deputy head teachers and 1 Education Officer totaling to 400 respondents. Data coHection instruments will be interview schedule for the head teachers, the Education Officer and school dropouts. The focus group discussions will be used for the pupils, while the questionnaires will be for the class teachers. Documentary Analysis of Statistical Books will be done at the District Education Office while Admission Book and Class Registers will be analyzed at school level. Data will be collected using qualitative and quantitative methods, where trends in pupils' participation will be computed quantitatively and descriptive analysis will be used to report the results of the data.Item Utilization of Resources in Instruction on Practical Geography in Secondary Schools in Kipkelion District, Kericho County Kenya(2013-12-17) Lang'at, C.; Ondigi, S. R.Geography practical performance has been poor and this has prompted the researcher to investigate the utilization of teaching and learning resources in Practical Geography. The objective of the study will be to establish instructional resources for Practical Geography; investigate to what extent the teaching and learning resources are used; find out the views of the teachers and students towards use of instructional resources and establish the challenges faced by teachers when teaching Practical Geography. The research will be based on the assumptions that the respondents will participate freely without fear, favour, bias or prejudice by the presence of the researcher in class, the area to be covered will be a representation of the entire District. The theoretical framework of the study will be based on Edgar Dale's cone of experience. The researcher will use descriptive survey research for this study. The study population will be comprised of Geography students and teachers in secondary schools. A sample of 5 schools, 150 form three students, 5 Geography HOD's and Geography teachers will be selected using both stratified and random sampling. Data will be collected using students and teacher's questionnaire and interview schedule and checklist. Analysis of data will be done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. For descriptive statistics frequency tables, means and standard deviation will be used. Data collected will then be coded using Statistical Package for Social Science. Analysis of data will be descriptive and inferential. The results from the study will be important in bringing to light what has been the cause of poor performance in Geography in Kipkelion District. This study will be useful to lecturers. and tutors when training Geography teachers, policy formulators in recommending appropriate resources when developing Geography curriculum and other commercial publishers to come up with relevant instructional resources to be used in teaching Practical GeographyItem Factors Influencing the Availability and Utilisation of Instructional Media in Teaching of Kiswahiliin selected Public Primary Teachers Training Colleges in Kenya(2013-12-18) Musau, M.The study will be carried out with the main purpose of investigating availability and utilization of instructional media in teaching of Kiswahili in Primary Teachers Training Colleges (PITCs). Kiswahili being a compulsory and examinable subject in PTTCs, it is of paramounljrnportance to investigate the role played by instructional media to improve the quality of academic results. The literature review will be reviewed from related studies and relevant texts to establish the availability and utilisation of instructional media in PITCs. The study will be based on J:J:lgar Dales (1969) cone of experience which looks at learning from the continuum proposing that instruction provided to a learner should proceed from pictorial to highly abstract experiences in a sort of multi sensory approach to learning. The area of study will involve four selected Primary Teachers Training Colleges. Purposive sampling will be used to arrive at the four selected PITes. Data will be collected by use of questionnaires, checklists, closed group discussion and an interview schedule. The study will be a survey that will use both qualitative and quantitative study designs. Convenient and purposive sampling procedures will be used and data collected will be analyzed using frequencies a~d percentages and will be presented in form of tables. The study is expected to reveal the significance of instructional media in teaching process,Item Challenges faced by Teachers in Providing Pre-School Education in Non-formal Pre-Schools in Kibera Slums Nairobi County(2013-12-23) Wairimu, W. B.Pre-school education is significant for successful completion of primary school education and also increases participation. Provision of early cognitive and non-cognitive stimulation to children is therefore essential as it enhances school readiness and improves physical and healthy growth. It reduces engagement in high risk behaviors. Quality of pre-school education especially from demographic groups thatare socially and economically disadvantaged is therefore crucial. The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges experienced by teachers and parents in providing non-formal pre-school education in Kibera slums. The objectives of this study are: to find out the possible challenges faced by pre-school teachers in non-formal pre-school centres in Kibera slums and to find out the ways in which the challenges faced by pre-school teachers in non-formal pre-school centres would be averted. The study will be guided by human capital development theory of Becker (1994). The study will adopt an exploratory research design that will utilize qualitative technique to enable the researcher obtain relevant data from sampled centres and respondents. Thirty non-formal pre-schools will be sampled using purposive technique. This will be 50% of the targeted population of sixty non-formal pre-schools. From each sampled pre-school, one teacher will be purposefully sampled. One non-formal pre-school will be randomly sampled from-the selected pre-schools for focus group discussion. Nine parents will be purposefully sampled from the sampled pre-schooL The instruments to be used in data collection will be questionnaires for teachers and focus group discussion for parents. Classroom observation schedule will also be used. Piloting will be done in one non-formal pre-school that will be randomly sampled within Kibera slums. Data collected by questionnaires, Focus group discussions and observation schedule will be analyzed qualitatively using themes. rItem An Investigation into the Use of Community Resources in Teaching Business Studies in Secondary Schools in Ruiru District Kiambu County, Kenya.(2013-12-28) Kerubo, O. P.; Kerich, W.; Oludhe, D.Community resources are essential in teaching and learning process. Our country Kenya is encouraging young people to start their own businesses hence encouraging most students to study business studies. Business studies being a living subject requires learners to interact with the environment The subject also requires that ~arners to be aware of the current trends in the business world. This study is a descriptive study which intends to analyse the use of community resources in teaching business studies in secondary schools and what can be done to encourage use of community resources in secondary schools. The study will use qualitative and quantitative design to collect and analyse data. Data will be collected through questionnaires and interview schedule from ten selected secondary schools in Ruiru District. A representative sample of 200 participants will be drawn from the target population using stratified, purposive and random sampling. Data collected from the field will be coded and analysed using the statistical package of social sciences. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics while qualitative will be analysed thematically. It will generate both descriptive and inferential statistics. Data will be presented using both statically and graphical techniques.Item Students' Perceptions on Female Teacher Leadership in Ruiru District in Kiambu County, Kenya(2013-12-28) Wamucii, N. F.; Nyambura, S.; Wokabi, F.Although women all over the world have taken up work as teachers, nurses, secretaries, lawyers and industrial workers, the basic problem is that society has not changed its thinking and expectation of women despite the fact that time has changed. In addition, leadership roles are increasingly defined as requiring an androgynous mix of culturally masculine and feminine abilities and personality traits (Eagly & Carli, 2007). A study by Chamberhic (2008) found that an increased presence of women in a place of work may increase harassment as men interpret women's increased presence as a threat to their power. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out students' perceptions on female teacher leadership which will be guided by selected objectives: to find out the perceptions students have on female teacher leadership, to examine how religion, gender and family back ground shape perceptions and to find out how these perceptions influence students attitude and behavior towards female teacher leadership. The study will be guided by Social Learning Theory of Albert Bandura which emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Thus it-focuses on learning-by observation and-modeling. The children are easily convinced of certain tents especially when they told them by an authority figures like parent,religious leader or a teacher. This models provide examples of mascilline and feminine benavior to both boys and girls to observe and imitate. The research will adopt cross-sectional survey research design which is a descriptive study. This study will target students (169), teaching staff (21) from three (3) secondary schools, which due to time and money constraints will be selected purposively. The three (3) schools will be Ruiru girls' secondary school, Ruiru boys' secondary schools, and Githunguri mixed secondary schools. Questionnaires for both teachers and students and focus group discussion for students will be used in collecting data. Data-will-be analyzed using statistical Predictive- Analytical Software (PASW) formerly statistical package of social sciences (SPSS). The data will be edited, coded, categorized, tabulated, calculated in percentage and analyzed by use of frequency distributions and graphs. This study will be designed to benefit the school administrators, researchers, scholars and policy makers with an aim of improving female leadership scope of the secondary school, community and the entire nation. The findings 'will be analyzed to give a clear view of students' perceptions on female teacher leadership in Ruiru district secondary schools.Item Using pictures to reinforce English composition writing in upper primary schools in Emuhay a sub-county, Vihiga county, Kenya.(Kenyatta University, 2014) Jumba, Pamela KalemesiInstruction using a variety of learning resources has been heralded as a most promising activity that can engage students into academic language and literacy skills. The purpose behind this study is to look for solutions to the perennial poor performance in English composition due to use of conventional teaching methods that lack innovation. However, there is scanty research on picture based instruction in general and on its effect on composition writing and language achievement in particular. The aim of the study will be to investigate the effect of pictures on students' achievement in composition writing hence English Language performance. Two categories of schools will be selected; public and private. The focus groups will receive treatment by using pictures whereas the control group will be taught conventionally. The sample population will be 10 percent of learners in the Sub-county, who will constitute upper primary pupils in the six schools; eighteen English panel leaders (teachers), eighteen teachers of English and two Quality Assurance and standards Officers (QASO). The sample population will be the class seven pupils of the six schools. The learners will be forty from each school, within the age group of 11-13 years. The research methodology to be employed in the study is an experimental design. The focus groups will receive the treatment with the use of pictures, whereas the comparison group will be taught conventionally. The participants of the study will be forty standard seven pupils of Emutsa, Eluhove, Epang'a and kima (public) and a hundred from Fadhili star academy and Discovery Academy (private) in Emuhaya Sub-county, their ages ranging from 11 to 13. Three instruments that will be used in this study are observation, questionnaire, and semi-structured interview. The data will be analyzed using the most recent SPSS software package, via Mann-Whitney U rank some Test. The outcome of this research will be to generate information for innovation in teaching of the English composition for both the teachers and policy makers in the education sector.Item Extent to which existing challenges influence teaching/learning of kiswahili poetry among visually impaired learners in three special secondary schools, Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Onchoke, John MotioWorldwide estimates indicate that, over 285 million people are visually impaired out of which 39 million are blind while 246 million have moderate to severe visual impairment. In Kenya, the number of blind people is 300,000 (0.7%) of the population. To incorporate these people in the development strategies in Kenya, the government has planned to embrace the spirit of equity in power and resource distribution on gender, youth and vulnerable groups including visually impaired persons. The government shall provide stricter enforcement of copyright laws of music, poetry and performance arts and provide facilities for all talented musicians and actors. This concern has therefore triggered the researcher to investigate the extent to which existing challenges influence teaching and learning of Kiswahili poetry among visually impaired learners in special secondary schools in Kenya because 75% of the knowledge acquired is through the sense of sight. Objectives of this research include: To investigate the attitude of special education teachers and visually impaired learners, influence of technology and teaching methodology on teaching and learning of Kiswahili poetry among visually impaired learners. This study will be guided by the theory of social learning proposed by Albert Bandura and a conceptual framework consisting of independent variables, dependent variables and intervening variables. The research shall be conducted in three special secondary schools in Kenya out of the existing five selected purposefully due to their nature. One school will be used for piloting to ensure validity and reliability of the research instruments and the other one to be left out because it is a newly starting school. Purposive selection has also been used to select the sample for the study which will comprise of Kiswahili teachers and form three students who will also be used to collect data by the use of questionnaires. Other research instruments will be: interview schedules, observation guides, documentary analysis schedules and field notes while other sources of information shall be the internet and libraries. The sample of the study will be selected by the use of simple random sampling so as to avoid biasness. The SPSS Programme win be used for data analysis which will be based on the objectives of the research and shall be both qualitative, and quantitative. Words and tables will be used to present research findings. These findings are expected to yield solutions to help visually impaired learners grasp Kiswahili poetry concepts; enabling them to tackle problems related to it, act as a reference for other researchers interested in visual impairment and Kiswahili poetry so as to design a favorable school curriculum. This will also enable the government of Kenya to understand the needs of these learners hence factor them in the budget so as to achieve vision 2030.Item Relationship betweeen headteachers' leadership styles and pupils' K.C.P.E performance in public primary schools in Kathonzweni Division, Makueni County-Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Kimuli, Raphael NdoloEducation is an important investment. It empowers men and women and provides opportunities for active participation in development by inculcating knowledge, skills and attitudes that are compatible with sustainable development. The ultimate performance of a school is associated with good leadership styles of the head teachers. Literature shows head teachers' leadership styles impact on students' performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (K.C.P.E). Majority of the pupils who sat for K.C.P.E. over the last five years in Kathonzweni Division had average marks. This is despite the schools having qualified teachers, adequate resources and facilities to enhance effective learning and good performance. This study aims at investigating the effects of head teachers' leadership styles on students' performance in K.C.P.E in. public primary schools in Kathonzweni division .The objectives of the study were; Establish the leadership styles of public primary school head teac hers in Kathonzweni division, Indicate the relationship between the leadership styles of head teachers and pupils' K.C.P.E performance in Kathonzweni division, determine whether there is any relationship between the head teachers' selected variables and their leadership styles and to examine whether exposing head teachers to in-service courses has any significant influence on their leadership styles. The study will adopt descriptive survey research design. All teachers, deputy head teachers and head teachers in all the public primary schools in Kathonzweni district are targeted. Ten head teachers, ten deputy head teachers and fifty teachers will be sampled from ten primary schools. Responses will be obtained using questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques will be utilized in data analysis. Findings are expected to reveal if there is a significant relationship between head teachers' leadership styles and students' academic performance.Item Constraints encountered by teachers teaching learners with mathematics difficulties in standard eight, Embu East District, Embu County-Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Mangure, Stephen NgondiThis study aims at investigating constraints that teachers encounter when teaching learners with learning difficulties and interaction during teaching and learning process. Unless, mathematics constraints encountered by teachers are solved with seriousness it deserves, opportunities that would have been available to improve students' performance will not be realized. Although training through INSET, workshop and seminars have been carried out by the Ministry of Education to develop and help teachers achieve in improving mathematics performance, constraints encountered by teachers have not been addressed. In an attempt to respond to this problem, the Kenya mathematics scholars have carried out many studies in mcrtlrer:rnrt1'Cs 'education: Despite these -strrdies,~' -perfoHnarrce remains poor; This means that the main reason for this poor performance has not been established. It also looks at the attitude teachers have towards learners with mathematic difficulties. Mathematics in schools is an issue which needs to be given greater attention by teachers, parents and society at large because it affects the individual child. This recognition of the subject indicates that mathematics is crucial in achieving the objectives of the 8-4-4 system of education. The study objectives are constraints encountered by teachers when teaching mathematics, instructional methods used by teachers when teaching mathematics, perception of teachers towards learners with mathematics difficulties and how teachers use educational resources during learning process. The study will be carried out in Embu East District, Embu County. This st1J~" 'WTlit'fSedescriptive sun'e)'-and-adopr -bothqt'Caiitative-arrd-('fft"antitative approaches. Both will be used to maximize the strengths and minimize the limitation of each. This study as a target population of 67 schools 80 teachers. Purposive sampling will be used to select teachers. Standard eight in this study is used because KCPE is done by this class and many stakeholders are interested with the results. A sample size of28 schools to represent 42% and 28 teachers representing 35% will be used. Tools to be used to gather data are questionnaires. Piloting will be done in one school and in one day. Validity of the research instrument will be done through expert judgment of academic staff from special education department. Reliability will be measured through test -retest technique and reliability coefficient will be calculated using Spearman's Rank Order Correlation Coefficient (RHO). A significance level of O.75-wfHbe-used.FordataccrHectioo~ research permit frem1heMmistry-of -Edueab'On will be acquired through introduction letter from Kenyatta University In terms of quantitative analysis, the data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of frequency tables, pie charts, percentages and bar graphs. Qualitative-data will-be analyaed.thematically by categorizing the-data into themes in relation to the opinion, views and perceptions of the respondents. TIns method will be used because it is quick and easy when employed in analyzing questionnaires which are the key instruments in data collection for this study. This data will be first coded and entered in SPSS spread sheet and then screened for errors. Lastly, all logistical and ethical consideration will be considered during the study by briefing the participants involved in the study.Item Influence of parents' socio-economic background on students' KCSE performance in public secondary schools in Kibwezi district, Makueni county, Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Nzoka, K. Francis(This study aims at investigating the influence of parents' socio-economic background on their children's academic performance in KCSE examination. The main objective of the study is to find out how different socio-economic factors affect students' KCSE performance in public secondary schools in Kibwezi District. This study will also propose measures that can be taken to boost KCSE performance such as teacher/student motivation, the government proposed free KCSE registration, remedial teaching, Continuous Assessment Tests and so on. Understanding the effects of socio-economic status on academic performance is important in determining effective and valid testing for all secondary school students. Understanding the influence of parents' socioeconomic background on students' KCSE performance can assist educators in determining instructional strategies that best fit each individual student. However, the influence of parents' socio-economic background on students' KCSE performance has not been clearly understood. This therefore limits the ability of education stakeholders to improve students' performance in KCSE. The study will employ a descriptive survey design. This type of design is most appropriate because it enables the use of descriptive statistics and explanations for analysis. The target population for this study will constitute 50 public secondary schools in Kibwezi District, 5 Form four class teachers representing all the five sampled schools and 10 subject teachers from the 5 sampled schools. The sample size will comprise of 40 respondents. All the principals and 5 Form four class teachers of the sampled 5 schools will be purposively included in the sample of respondents. The study will use data sourced from Form One admission records and KCSE Results Nominal Roll for data analysis. Questionnaires and interview schedules will be used as data collection instruments. KCSE Results Nominal Roll and leaners' Form One admission records on parents' socio-economic status in the sampled schools will be used to source data. School records on drop out and transfer cases to low cost schools will also be used to find out whether there exists any relationship between such cases and parents' socio-economic status. In order to ensure reliability of instruments, questions in the questionnaires and interview schedules will be pre-tested to ensure consistency in measurement. Data obtained will be cleaned, coded and organized using Scientific Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0). Findings will be presented in form of tables and figures, interpretation and discussion of the findings will be done. Afterwards, conclusion and recommendations will be drawn.Item Determinants of teachers' use of learner centered approaches in teaching mathematics in pre-primary • schools in Kyeni South Division, Embu County Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Kabuthi, Emma MukamiThough the objectives of teaching mathematics at pre-primary school level are to develop child's interest towards mathematics, to develop mathematical skills and concepts, studies have revealed that there has been a trend of poor performance in numeracy work among the pre-primary school pupils. In order to establish the origin of the problem, it is necessary to focus on the methods used to teach mathematics. This is because teaching methods have been cited as an essential factor to how much the pupil will understand and retain the knowledge. At pre-primary school level, use of learner centered approaches is advocated by the National Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Service Standard Guidelines. Studies conducted have revealed that learners greatly achieve when instructed through learner centered approaches. However, there exists history that shows that implementation of these approaches is riddled with stories of failure due to lack of sufficient knowledge and skills to use the approaches, insufficient resources and large class size. The central intention of this study will be to find out the extent to which pre-primary school teachers use learner centered teaching approaches in teaching mathematics and establish the factors influencing their use. Carl Rogers Theory of Person Centered Approach (1967) will guide the study. Rogers believed that if the process of learning were freed, would lead to self-actualization and learning which is more rapid, more thorough and lasting than traditional learning. The study will employ a descriptive design using survey method while questionnaires and observation schedules will be used to collect data. The study will be conducted in Kyeni South Division in Embu County. Purposive sampling will be used to select the location of study while stratified sampling and simple random technique will be used to select the schools. The target population will consist of all the 34 pre-primary schools in the division. The sample will consist of 18 pre-primary schools and teachers in the sampled schools will voluntarily participate in the study by signing a consent form. In case there will be more than one teacher . in the selected schools, the researcher will select a teacher who has taught in the school for a longer period. Content validity and test-retest techniques will be used to determine validity and reliability of the instruments. Data will be analyzed by use of descriptive statistics, which will consist of calculation of various measures of central tendency (means, frequencies and percentages). Data will be presented using tables' charts and histograms according to the objectives of the study.Item Impact of head teachers' role on pupils' academic achievements in public primary schools in Mathioy a Sub county, Murang' a County Kenya(2014) Kiragu, Samuel NdiranguThere has been an outcry from the general public about the low pupil's achievements in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in Mathioya Sub-county and Muranga County. This study will seek to investigate the impact of head teachers' role on pupils' academic achievements in public primary schools in Mathioya Sub-county. The study will have four specific objectives which will be to; assess how head teachers' instructional supervision affect pupils' academic performance in Mathioya Sub-county's public primary schools; determine how strategies used by head teachers to motivate teachers affect pupils' academic performance: evaluate how head teachers' provision of teaching/learning materials affect pupils' academic performance; assess how head teachers involvement of parents in school academic programs affect pupils academic performance. To achieve the objectives, the study will adopt descriptive survey design. The target population of the study will be 58 head teachers, 613 teachers, 2318 class 8 pupils in public primary schools, one Sub-county Quality Assurance and standards Officer (Q.A.S.O), and 58 standard eight parents' representatives in Mathioya Sub-county. Stratified random sampling will be used to draw a sample size of 329 respondents consisting of 232 pupils, 61 teachers, 18 head teachers', 18 standard eight parents' representatives and a Q.A.S.O. The four school zones in the sub-county will form the strata from which the respondents will be randomly picked. Closed and open ended questionnaires and interview guides will be used to collect the data from the respondents. The instruments will be piloted in four schools in Mathioya sub-County one from each zone. Reliability of the instruments will be tested using split-half technique and a reliability coefficient will be computed using spearman's Brown Prophesy. A validity test will also be conducted through piloting the instruments and items adjusted accordingly. The data collected will be analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative data will be analyzed using SPSS to generate frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviations. The qualitative data will be analyzed using content analysis by grouping data into themes which will be interpreted according to the objectives. Further, the study will compute the Pearson's correlation coefficient to establish the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. iiiItem Influence of early intervention services on development of children with physical disabilities in Ruiru District, Klambu County, Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Nderitu, Hellen WanjiruThe purpose of this study will be to establish the effectiveness of early intervention services on development of children with physical disabilities in Ruiru district, Kiambu County, Kenya. The area is selected because of the availability of different categories of children with physical disabilities that will enable the researcher to sample the various categories. The study will adopt a descriptive survey design to select the respondents. The study targets 8 heads of schools, 8 related service providers, 8 teachers, 160 parents and 160 children with physical disabilities. Purposive sampling will be used to select 4 schools selected due to availability of communities which represent the range of variations on categories of physical disabilities, 4 heads of schools, 6 related service providers, 4 teachers, 1 EARC officers while stratified random sampling will used to select 32 parents of children with physical disabilities totaling to 47 respondents. Piloting of the instruments will be administered in St. Patrick's School in neighbouring Thika District. Questionnaires with open-ended questions will be used on teachers, related service providers and EARC officers by employing a qualitative approach. An interview guide will be used to obtain information from school-heads and parents of children with physical disabilities. An observation checklist will be used to get information on the facilities and equipment used in providing early intervention services and environmental adaptations in schools. The data collected will be coded and analyzed manually. The codes will then be put into computer and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme in order to yield descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages presented in tables and other statistical figures. The study will be based on the work of Sigmund Freud on psychoanalytical orientation, a view that emotional or mental disturbance often had its roots in some traumatic experience of infancy or early childhood.Item Cognitive characteristics of gifted and talented preschool children in Machakos county, Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Karuri, AliceThe gifted and talented children are characterized by high performance abilities in many fields. Globally, these people have the potential for showing an exceptional level of performance in one or more areas of expression, as noted by United States National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC, 2007: 40). Subsequently, educational systems in any given country, have a duty to find and help in the identification of these gifted and talented children. However, in Kenya, the gifted pre-scholars are normally treated like the average child and often their unique potential, hardly nurtured, and end up as underachievers. This study aims to examine whether giftedness and talentedness can be identified at the pre-school level and develop indicators to help identify cognitive characteristics. The findings are expected to enhance understanding on giftedness among pre-school children and inform educational policies. The study will adopt Dabrowski's Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) which emphasizes emotion and the role emotion plays in personality, intelligence, and behaviour. The review of the related literature clearly establishes major research inadequacy on giftedness in general and limited tools to explain how to identify children who are gifted and talented. This study will employ a descriptive survey design. This study will be done in the pre-schools in Machakos County in Kenya. The area consists of both urban and rural schools, and is a cosmopolitan area. The study will target the gifted and talented pre-school children and teachers. The total number of children and pre-school teachers in the whole division is 21850 and 392 respectively. A combination of sampling frameworks will be used. Stratified sampling will be used. The target schools will be clustered according to rural or urban basis. Purposive sampling procedure to gather information particularly from preschools in Machakos County, an area familiar to the researcher. Simple random sampling will be used to select the actual number of responds, from both girls and boys. A sample size of 30% ofthe schools which will comprise a sample size of 10 schools (5 urban and 5 rural schools) and consequently, 30% of pupils in the 10 schools will be considered. A total of 236 pre-schools from the urban and rural setup will be selected. This will constitute a sample of 279 children and an average of 2 teachers per school adding up to 20 teachers who will participate in the study. The sample population will thus comprise 93 children per school and 2 teachers per school, giving a total of 20 teachers in 10 schools. The study will use two tools namely: questionnaire and observations chart. The research instruments for the primary data will comprise semi-structured standard questionnaires. The instruments will be pre-tested in two schools selected using simple random sampling. Data analysis will be done mainly using descriptive statistics with qualitative methods to address the cognitive components. Findings will be reported in tables and pie charts. The data gathered in this study will be summarized so as to establish the fundamental results.Item Integration of information communication and technology in teaching and learning of biology in secondary schools in Migori County , Kenya(Kenyatta University, 2014) Owiti, Atieno EuniceThis research is designed to study the integration of lCT in the teaching and learning of biology in secondary schools in Migori County, Kenya. It will employ descriptive survey design which will utilize stratified, simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The study targets Sub-County Education Officers (SCEOs), County Director of Education (CDE), all the secondary schools in Migori County, all head teachers, all Form Three Biology teachers and all Form Three Biology students in these schools. The study will be guided by the following objectives; to find out whether lCT is used in biology teaching and learning processes in Migori County, to investigate challenges faced by teachers and students in ICT integration in classroom instruction and to evaluate the role of school administration in ICT integration. The study will use a sample size of thirty two (32) schools which is 19% of the entire population. Research instruments will include; questionnaires for use by biology students, structured interviews for biology teachers, head teachers, SCEOs and CDE, Observation schedules for biology lessons and JCT resource checklists. Data will be analyzed through Descriptive and Inferential statistical procedures. The calculation of the measures of central tendencies will answer research question (i). Frequencies and percentages will be used to answer research questions (i) and (ii). Responses from close-ended questions will be organized, coded, converted into numbers and analyzed quantitatively using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Quantitative analysis will give vivid account of the situation under study, show the relationship between variables and also attempt to advance alternative explanation derived from the data. Qualitative Analysis which involves analyzing information in a systematic way will be used in responses from interviews and open ended questions where some statements from interviewees will be quoted verbatim. It will answer research question (iii). Inferential statistics specifically t-test and test of significance will be used in order to determine whether the respondents' scores regarding their views on ICT integration in biology teaching and learning differs depending on their positions and role in schools. The researcher will obtain information on JCT integration and then try to establish patterns, trends or relationships from the information gathered from the interviewees.Item Constraints of the board of management in management of staff and students personnel in public secondary schools in Gatundu south district, Kiambu County, Kenya(2014-07-23) Nyambura, Leni ElizabethPersonnel and resource management of education institutions affects the academic achievement of learners at a given level of learning. Effectiveness of managers in these institutions to a greater extent determines the success and caliber of the learners. There has been a notion that Boards of Governors have been ineffective in their role performance such as resource management decision making process, teacher recruitment and disciplining of teachers and pupils among other roles. The purpose of this study will be to investigate the constraints of BOM in management of staff and students personnel in public secondary schools in Gatundu District The specific objectives will be to assess the roles of BOM members in management of staff and student personnel, their academic and professional qualifications and their influence on performance, their challenges in management in a bid to come up with ways on how to improve and revitalize the management of staff and students in public secondary schools. A descriptive survey design will be used in the study. The study will target 30 public secondary schools in Gatundu South District. The purposive sampling technique will be used to get specific categories of schools required for the study, In this study a sample will constitute 6 schools out of 30 public schools categorized as boys boarding, girls boarding, and mixed boarding and day schools. The simple random technique will be used to select the schools in each category. From each selected school category the study will select the principal and five members of the BOM who will be selected using the lottery method. Questionnaires will be used as instruments for data collection. The questionnaires will be of 2 categories. The first category will be given to the principals of the selected schools; the second category will be given to the selected BOM members. TIle questionnaires will be pre-tested by using a selected sample similar to the actual sample to test its validity and reliability. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics using measures of central tendency (medium, means, and modes), frequencies, and percentiles. The analyzed data will be presented using tables, charts and graphs. The findings of the study will assist policy makers and educational managers to understand and develop appropriate strategies to tackle identified challenges.Item Impact of teachers' and students' perception of class retention on academic achievement in secondary schools in Meru county, Kenya(2014-07-24) Nangithia, Robert Mburung'a; Kigen, E. M.; Mugambi, Doyne KageniClass retention is a practice that despite many years of research remains one of the most controversial and highly debated topics in the field of education. Teachers, parents, students and education administrators have varied perceptions regarding class retention. Although a number of studies have been carried out in this area, researchers have not given much attention to the perception of students and teachers with regard to class retention and its effects on the academic achievement of learners. In Kenya, there have been mixed concerns over retention in both private and public schools. Due to teacher and school accountability, retention has become an increasingly worrying problem in Kenyan schools. While the emphasis of performance remains a desire and an effort in many secondary schools, key issues like how students and teachers view retention and how their perceptions affect retention decisions need to be keenly studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study will be to investigate both negative and positive perceptions of students and teachers with regard to how these perceptions impact on self-esteem and consequently on academic achievement. The study will also endeavor to find out the effects of academic failure on students' self esteem and the relationship between self esteem and academic achievement. The findings of this study will aid students, parents and teachers during decisionmaking process pertaining to class retention, and to effectively deal with related issues of student's self-esteem and academic achievement. Rodger's Person centered theory and Erickson's psychosocial theory will form the logical theoretical basis to explain the study. The study's design will be descriptive survey design. The target population will comprise of the secondary school teachers and students drawn from Meru County. Cluster, random and purposive sampling will be employed to select the respondents. The sample will include students who have repeated in form three, the poor performers and their classmates in the same class. Questionnaires will be used as the main tool for data collection. Students' Questionnaire will entail questions for repeaters, those at risk of repeating due to poor performance, and for the normal students. Form three class teachers will also be included in the sample to give the general teacher perception regarding retention. Rosenberg self-esteem scale will be used to determine self- esteem levels of students. Qualitative data will be analyzed by use of descriptive statistics like the mean, mode, median and the standard deviation. Quantitative data will be analyzed using inferential statistics such as the Pearson product moment correlation, T- test and Chi- square to describe the data sets. 111Item Effect of quality assurance on instruction in secondary schools in Matuga District Kwale county(2014-07-24) Wajomba, Righa Aurea; Ogola, MartinThe major responsibilities of Quality assurance and standards officers and principals, is to ensure quality teaching in schools. Parents, sponsors, students are demanding for good quality teaching which will improve performance. Quality education is indispensible in a society that needs to break the cycle of poverty, ignorance and disease. Effective teaching and adequate teacher training at all levels of education is crucial in the achievement of quality education and development. The purpose of the study will be to investigate the effect of Quality Assurance and standards in secondary in Matuga district secondary schools. This study will employ descriptive survey to gather information. The target population will be 22 principals, 100 heads of department, a randomly selected sample of 10 principals, 30 heads of department and an interview guide for Quality Assurance Officer will be the tools for data collection. Quantitative data will b e coded and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences(SPSS).The results will be presented using descriptive statistics such as percentage, means, frequency distribution tables and pie charts. The specific objectives are, to investigate the roles of quality assurance and standards officers in enhancing quality instruction in Matuga secondary schools, to determine the role played by the principals and heads of academic departments in ensuring quality in Matuga district secondary schools, to establish the challenges facing QASOs, principals, as they attempt to enhance quality of instruction, to determine whether quality assurance and standards have any effect on instruction in Matuga district secondary schools.