THE INFLUENCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION BY QUALITY ASSURANCE AND STANDARDS OFFICERS ’ ON TEACHERS ’ INSTRUCTIONAL COMPETENCES IN SCHOOLS

Solomon Mwaniki 1 and Hellen Guantai 2 . 1. Solomon Gitonga Mwaniki; Assistant Lecturer, Mount Kenya University P. O. Box, 6096-00300, Nairobi. 2. Hellen Kiende Guantai (PhD); Lecturer, Kenyatta University P. O. Box, 43844-00100, Nairobi. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History

The primary function of external instructional supervision of teachers is to establish the status of instruction among teachers and consequently improve it.The gist of this study was to examine the influences that instructional supervision by Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs) has had on the teachers" instructional competences in Nairobi and Machakos Counties, Kenya.The study sought to find out whether QASOs instructional supervisory activities in public schools had enhanced teachers"; pedagogical skills, ability to use available instructional materials while teaching, and ability to conduct effective internal evaluation and assessment of pupils.From a target population of 21 QASOs, 360 School principals and 1095 Heads of Departments (HoDs), the study sampled; 110 School principals, 329 Heads of Departments and 21 QASOs .Questionnaires and interview guide were used to collect data from the respondents.The study revealed that QASOs" instructional supervisory practices in schools had improved teachers" instructional competences in assessment and evaluation of pupils.However, hardly had QASOs" instructional supervisory practices improved teachers" pedagogic skills, and their ability in preparation and utilization of teaching aids while teaching.The study therefore recommends that MoEST should organize comprehensive capacity building trainings for QASOs in the domains of pedagogy and instructional materials.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Background to the Study:-It has been observed from the global front that the challenges of achieving quality education have not fully focused on training teachers through effective instructional supervisory practices (UNESCO, 2006).Servet (2011) observes that instructional supervisors are the ones who are responsible for the quality of teachers, and therefore that of education.To underscore the importance of instructional supervision of teachers to provision of quality education, Sergiovanni and Starratt (2007), notes that instructional supervision of teachers plays a powerful role in developing and nurturing a teacher's instructional competences, which in turn, contributes to students' academic successes.
Various studies have found that effective instructional supervision has a clear connection with quality of education offered in learning institutions because it addresses teachers" instructional professional development (Pajak 221 &Arrington, 2004; Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2007& Zepeda, 2007).In particular, Instructional supervision improves teachers by helping them to reflect on their practices, to learn more about what they do and why, and how best it can be done, (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2007).In this regard, instructional supervision helps the teachers adopt best practices in the process of imparting knowledge to the learners.Such best practices that can be exercised by the teachers and are indicative that quality education is being offered includes:quality pedagogical methods; effective and efficient utilisation of available educational instructional materials; improvement in curriculum interpretation and implementation; improvement in preparation, keeping and utilisation of teachers professional records; and improved assessment and evaluation of students (Ormond, 2004& Tyagi, 2010) To improve on the pedagogical skills of the teachers, instructional supervisors should focus on the key variables of high quality instruction as has been identified by numerous studies, thus: intellectual student engagement or participation during delivery of instruction (Christenson, Sinclair, Lehr, & Godber, 2001;Elmore et al., 1990); clarity of instruction to enhance students understanding via providing concrete examples and definitions, and speaking fluently (Chesebro, 2002); teacher personality in terms of warmth, enthusiasm, inspiration, caring as well as persistent encouragement of students to do their best (Desimone, Smith, & Frisvold, 2009;Wentzel, 1997); and, academic demand in terms of the teachers giving realistic assignments, tasks and activities based on the entry behavior of the learners (Middleton & Midgely, 2002;Shouse, 1996).
According to Baker (2010), there is consensus in United States that there is need to improve overall student achievement by successfully helping teachers to fulfill their role through effective instructional supervision of teachers and evaluation systems that inform teacher professional development and improve instruction.Consequently, implementation of effective instructional supervisory practices is fundamental in empowering teacher"s instructional capacities.Indeed, in another study in United Kingdom, it is reported that improving the effectiveness of teachers would have a major impact on the quality of education offered and ultimately the performance of the country"s schools (Sulton, 2011), and that the "difference between a very effective teacher and a poorly performing teacher is large … such that during one year with a very effective Maths teacher, pupils gain 40% more in their learning than they would with a poorly performing Maths teacher" (ibid, 2).

Literature Review:-
Although education has been defined as development of desirable qualities in human beings (Hirst & Peter, 1970), it is worth noting that there has been no agreements over which are the desirable qualities that should be developed via education.Beeby (2011) conceptualized quality education as having two components: first component is the classroom quality, which is concerned with acquisition of measurable knowledge and learning skills; and the second component of quality has to do with the economic goals of the community in which learners live.Related to this component, is the social criteria, defined as relevance (Hawes and Stephens, 1990) or "external quality" (UNESCO, 2005).This study concerned itself with the classroom component of quality education with regard to how QASOs through instructional supervision can enhance its attainment.
Focusing on the classroom quality component of education Ehler (2009), notes that efforts towards provision of quality education are a function of establishment of a quality education assurance culture that is supported by all stakeholders.Republic of Kenya, (2005), it is observed that QASOs are expected to provide advisory services to school on how best to improve on pedagogical skills.Thus, the role of instructional supervision by QASOs cannot be underestimated in the process of cultivating a quality assurance culture in the education institutions.According to Oz (2003), instructional supervision is a type of supervision carried out by the instructional supervisors and it is aimed at providing guidance, good counsel, support, and continuous assessment to teachers for their professional development and improvement in the teaching-learning process.In this regard, Kutsyuruba (2003) defines professional development of the teacher as: A major component of ongoing teacher education concerned with improving teachers' instructional needs, their ability to adapt instruction to meet students' needs, and their classroom management skills; and with establishing a professional culture that relies on shared beliefs about the importance of teaching and learning and that emphasizes teacher collegiality.(p. 11) This is consistent with (Tyagi, 2010;Ormond, 2004& Wendy, 2005) who looks at instruction supervision as an activity that teachers are always looking forward to because when it is effectively conducted it contributes significantly to service delivery and ongoing learning and development of staff competences.Indeed, Ginsberg, 222 (2003) and Card (2006) established that the single most important factor improving students" achievements is the quality of teachers in terms of their instructional competences.Hence, the effectiveness of instructional supervision as conducted by QASOs is correlated to the quality of education.
According to the European Education Quality Benchmark, the main facet of quality education provision is teaching and learning, and its main focus is on the pedagogical, didactical and content (Kristen, 2007).This facet has five indicators, namely; teaching, learning, curriculum, student assessment, and learning materials.Consequently, a sound quality assurance culture would therefore mainly pay attention on this facet.This study focused on this facet by examining influences of instructional supervision on instructional competences of teachers.
Valerie, Shanta and James (2012) on a study of quality of instruction by teachers and how it affects the student"s achievements, found that learners preferred teachers who: exhibited high level of clarity while teaching; actively engaged students during the lesson delivery; created good student-teacher relationships manifested with warmth, enthusiasm and inspiration; and realistically pushed them to achieve academically.In this respect, effective instructional supervision practices should be planned and executed as to improve the teachers to take care of learners" perceived preferences in terms teacher instructional competences.
In Kenya, studies shows that the above scenario is in doubt in our public secondary schools.In a study on learning assessment, it was found that children in Kenya are graduating from primary schools but do not have reading and counting skills (Uwezo, 2011).The report reveals that, "seventy two per cent (72%) of secondary schools teachers and some fifty two per cent (52%) of primary teachers emphasize on examinations than learning" (ibid).Maybe, this scenario has been promoted passively by the QASOs because as a report by (Kitheka, 2011) observed, "Quality and Standards Agencies check if syllabus has been covered, but not whether there was learning".Sule et al. (2015) revealed that: there was a significant positive relationship between instructional supervisory practice of classroom observation and teachers" role effectiveness; there was a significant positive relationship between instructional supervisory practice of checking of teachers" lesson notes and teachers" role effectiveness; and a closer, regular and continuous instructional supervisory practice rather than snappy, unscheduled and partial supervision is what was urgently needed for effective implementation of any school curriculum.Specifically, Romano (2014) and Okoro (2004) found that instructional supervisors that identified and recommended to teachers appropriate instructional materials that could be used to enhance the delivery of a given content improved the teacher instructional capacity.This is because effective utilization of instructional resources conveniently promote the ability of a teacher to pass a message to learners in a manner that is accurate, proper, clear and understandable (Saglam, 2011).Stressing on the use of instructional materials to enhance learning, Ballantyne and Packer (2009) found that experienced-based learning resulted in more engaging, effective, and sustained learning experiences.The students attributed more of what helped to them by learning through hands-on ("what I did") and visual ("what I saw") experiences than to teacher"s instruction and there were more hands-on experiences remembered three months after the program.However, Tabby (2005) observes that QASOs did not improve the quality of teaching in schools because they failed to address the competences of teachers in the selecting, developing and using the instructional materials.Indeed, a study by Ghanney (2008) revealed that inability of teachers to use instructional materials leads to: pupils becoming passive listeners in class, boredom, poor participation in lesson, lack of interest in the subject, absenteeism and finally poor performance in the subject matter.
It was in the light of the above concerns that this study examined whether the QASOs had enhanced quality education provision via imparting instructional competences to teachers on the most efficient and effective instructional materials to use when teaching

Purpose and Objectives of the Study:-
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences that instructional supervision by QASOs had on the instructional competences of teachers.The study had three objectives; 1.To establish the influence of instruction supervision on the enhancement of pedagogical skills of teachers 2. To assess the contribution of instruction supervision by QASOs on the improvement in utilization of available instructional materials by teachers 3. To find out the influence of instruction supervision on improvement of assessment and evaluation of students in schools

Research Design and Methodology:-
This study adopted descriptive survey design, which combined both qualitative and quantitative data approaches in collection and analysis techniques to achieve the objectives of the study.The target population of the study was 1481(N) persons.Through stratified, purposive and simple random sampling techniques, a sample size of 460(n) respondents was obtained comprising of; 21 QASOs, 110 School principals and 329 HoDs.Data was collected using questionnaires and an interview guide, and finally analyzed descriptively using frequencies, percentages and means.

Research Findings and Discussion:-
This study sought to establish the influences the QASOs instructional supervisory practices had on instructional competences of teachers.This was investigated by addressing three main areas, namely: enhancement in pedagogical competences; improvement in utilization of available instructional materials in the schools; and improvement in assessment and evaluation of students.
To begin with, the researcher wished to establish whether principals and HoDs looked forward to be visited by QASOs and if principals and HoDs had colleagues whose instructional competences was superior to those of QASOs.The results are presented in Table 1.1.The data in Table 1.1 indicates that a vast majority, 78(72.2%) of school principals and 186(66.4%) of heads of departments reported that teachers looked forward to be visited by QASOs.This implies that Principals and HoDs accept the fact that instructional supervision is important and fundamental in improving them.This is consistent with (Tyagi, 2010;Ormond, 2004& Wendy, 2005) who found that teachers are always looking forward to instructional supervision activity.The main reason why teachers could be looking forward to instructional supervision is that; when it is effectively conducted; it positively influences effective service delivery, ongoing learning and development of teachers" instructional competences.
Similarly, Table 1.1 shows that a majority, 86(81.1%) of school principals and 239(81.6%) of the heads of departments reported that they had teachers amongst their staff whom in their opinion they thought were more qualified and competent than an average QASO.This implies that as much as schools had instructionally qualified and competent teachers, teachers in such schools still looked forward to being visited by QASOs, meaning that QASOs instructional supervision exercises is a service to reckon with in terms of influencing teachings towards improved instructional competences.Further, presence of more qualified and competent teachers than an average QASO in some schools would justify for strong collegiality between QASOs and teachers in the instructional supervision exercises.Through collegiality spirit QASOs and teachers can be able to share instructional supervision knowledge and experiences both of which can help improve quality education provision.

Enhancement in Pedagogical Methods:-
In respect to pedagogical skills, the researcher sought first to know from the principals and HoDs whether the instructional supervision by QASOs has improved their pedagogic skills.The results are presented in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1:
-Effect of QASOs" Instructional Supervision on Principals" and HoDs" Pedagogic Skills Figure 1.1 shows that, while slightly over a half 45(50.7%) of heads of departments said instructional supervision exercises by QASOs helped them improve their pedagogic skills, majority 60(55.0%) of school principals reported that QASOs instructional supervision sessions of teachers in schools did not help teachers in improving their pedagogic skills.This means that as much as majority of principals are not in agreement with majority of HoDs, it is clear according to the principals and HoDs, that instructional supervision exercises in schools has a positive influence in the improvement of teachers" pedagogic skills.However, lack of consensus between principals and HoDs on the effect of QASOs" instructional supervision exercises on their pedagogic skills maybe an indicator that instructional supervision is not conducted effectively in schools or teachers have different orientations from their pre-service training.
This finding of this study is in agreement with the findings of Akinwumi (2002) who established that instructional supervision has a great positive on teachers" pedagogic productivity in secondary schools in Oyo State in Nigeria.
Ironically, the sentiments of school principals are also in agreement with the findings of Kayaoglu (2012) who had established that external educational instructional supervisory process did not add any pedagogical to teachers.These almost divided opinions by school principals and HoDs would imply that a lot need to be done by the QASOs during instructional supervision so as to convincingly positively influence school principals" pedagogical skills.
To further probe on whether instructional supervision by QASOs had enhanced the pedagogical skills of principals and HoDs, the researchers wished to establish the effect that the instructional supervision by QASOs had on the principals" and HoDs"; instructional teaching skills, and their ability to interpret and implement the curriculum.The responses were indicated on a 5 point likert scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly, Agree.This is shown in Table 1.

SD -Strongly Agree; A -Agree; N -Neutral; D -Disagree; SD-Strongly Disagree
It is evident from Table 1.2 that most 34(31.5%)and 99(34.5) of school principals and heads of departments respectively reported that QASOs improved the instructional teaching skills of teachers during the post-conference meetings.Similarly, most 36(33%) and 83(28.6%) of the school principals and heads of departments indicated that QASOs aided teachers in interpreting and implementing the curriculum.This means that QASOs" instructional supervision in schools and especially post-conference sessions usually has an impact on teachers teaching skills and ability to interpret and implement the curriculum.
These findings tends to be in agreement with Modebela (2008), Walker 2016 and Ikegbusi & Eziamaka (2016) who found that external instructional supervision helps the teachers to handle the pupils effectively, it has great impact in improving teaching skills of teachers and it promotes effective learning of pupils.However, these findings are contrary with the work of Kisirkoi (2014) who found that external educational instructional supervisory process did not add any professional value to teachers, mainly because of the manner in which the external instructional supervisory process was conducted in learning institutions.The findings also negate Flora (2014) who observed that principals used poor methods of conducting instructional supervision in their schools because of poor pedagogical skills that had been gradually cascaded to them by the QASOs.Therefore maybe the differences in the outcomes of instructional supervision in terms of improving the teachers" pedagogic skills depend on how the instructional supervision is conducted in schools.Essentially, the sentiments of HoDs as expressed in Table 1.2 are consistent with their earlier sentiments as shown in Figure 1.1 that; instructional supervision by QASOs improves teachers pedagogically.
It"s apparent that the instructional supervision sessions conducted by the QASOs imparted some pedagogic skills to teachers that lead to improvement in teaching skills, enhancement in interpretation and implementation of the curriculum.To this end it can be said that QASOs instructional supervisory activities in schools has a positive influence on teachers" pedagogic skills.
Finally, the researcher wished to established whether the benefits associated with instructional supervision by QASOs on improvement of the pedagogic skills of Principals and HoDs, were significant as to improve the academic performance outcomes of their schools.These responses in captured in Figure 1.2 ) of school principals and 178(61.8%)heads of departments reported that they did not benefit much from QASOs visits in terms of improved pedagogic skills as to improve their schools" academic performance.However, a significant proportion 28(25.7%)and 74(20.6%) of principals and HoDs respectively felt that instructional supervision was very much instrumental in improving pedagogic skills of teachers which is finally reflected in improved academic performances of learners.
Although the findings of this study is contrary to the findings by Aaronson et al., (2007) and Servet (2011) who had found that instructional supervision was solely responsible for the quality of teachers which should be reflected in the academic performance of learners, important to note that a significant proportion 28(25.7%)and 74(20.6%) of principals and HoDs respectively considered instructional supervision as being very much instrumental in improving pedagogic skills of teachers as to improved academic performances of learners.This means that instructional supervision of teachers in schools is positively felt in the learning outcomes of learners.

Improvement in Utilization of Available Instructional Materials:-
This study was also interested in determining whether the Instructional Supervision exercises by QASOs were able to influence Principals and HoDs towards utilization of available instructional materials in schools.To this extent, the researcher was first concerned with finding out whether instructional supervision by QASOs enhanced the ability of Principals and HoDs towards utilizing instructional materials while teaching.The results are as reflected in Figure 1 The results in Figure 1.3 shows that majority, 70(64.2%) of school principals and 154(53.1%) of heads of departments reported that QASOs instructional supervision sessions with teachers in schools had hardly helped them to improve their ability in using teaching aids.This implies that QASOs" instructional supervision exercises in schools have not adequately enhanced principals and HoDs abilities in the use of instructional materials while teaching.
This study finding tends to be in agreement with Tabby (2005) who observed that QASOs did not improve the quality of teaching in schools because they failed to address the competences of teachers in selecting and developing the instructional materials.As Olawole (2009) had found "use of instructional materials suggested by the instructional supervisors influenced to a great extent teachers" classroom performance" this is because inability of teachers to use instructional materials leads to: pupils becoming passive listeners in class, boredom, poor participation in lesson, lack of interest in the subject, absenteeism and finally poor performance in the subject matter (Ghanney, 2008) Therefore during instructional supervision, QASOs should be keen to observe whether teachers are using instructional materials while facilitating teachers, and if they are using, they should note whether the instructional materials are correctly used to optimally enhance the teaching-learning process.Ultimately, appropriate advise should be given to teachers on which instructional materials should be used and how for optimal enhancement of teaching-learning process.
Apart from determining whether QASOs are able to enhance the ability of Principals and HoDs on the use of instructional materials, this study also wanted to find out from QASOs whether they felt that they had been able to influence the Principals and HoDs towards utilizing instructional materials in teaching.The respondents responses were in form of; Strongly agree, Disagree, Neutral, and Agree as captured in Figure 1 ) of the QASOs were neutral and disagreed with this opinion respectively.This implies that as much as majority of the QASOs were of the opinion that they were able to positively influence teachers towards using available instructional materials, a significant proportion of QASOs were not of that opinion.
It is apparent from the data in Figure 1.4 and 1.3 that; the impart of the majority, {8(47.1%)agree and 2 (11.8) strongly agree} of QASOs who are of the opinion that they influence teachers towards using instructional materials is felt by 39(35.8%) of school principals and 136(46.9%) of the heads of department who had indicated that QASOs instructional supervision had enhanced their abilities in the utilization of instructional materials.This can be judged as satisfactory because as Romano (2014) had found, instructional supervisors that identified, recommended and influenced teachers towards appropriate use of instructional materials improved the teacher instructional capacity.Indeed, therefore more effort should be put in place by the QASOs on enlightening and influencing teachers towards using instructional materials while teaching.
Use of instructional materials is highly correlated to the use teachers" professional records in the sense that what the teacher plans to use in class must be carefully planned for through proper documentation.In this regard therefore, the study sought to establish whether instructional supervision by QASOs had improved teachers" abilities in updating professional records in the use of instructional materials.The responses were indicated on a 5 point likert scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly, Agree).This is shown in Table 1.3 Suffice is to say that; as much as QASOs concentrate on checking teachers professional records and consequently improved them towards proper keeping and up-dating professional records in respect to instructional materials.This is shown with the same weight when it comes to enhanced utilization of instructional materials while teaching (see data in Figure 1.3) These findings on the utilization of instructional materials and keeping of teachers" professional records contradicts Sule et al. (2015) who had found that there was a significant positive relationship between instructional supervisory practice of checking of teachers" lesson notes and teachers" role effectiveness in utilization of instructional materials.This would imply that to ensure that QASOs influence teachers towards usage of instructional materials while teaching, they should not only concentrate on checking the professional records of teachers with an aim to improve them but should also pay keen attention to whether or not the teachers actually use instructional materials while teaching.This is essentially because of the fact that there could be some dissonance between what could be reflected in well kept and updated professional records and what is happening in the classroom.

Improvement in Assessment and Evaluation of Students:-
This study also sought to determine whether the instructional supervision activities of QASOs had resulted to improved assessment and evaluation of students in schools.In this regard therefore, the researcher asked the school principals, HoDs and QASOs whether there was an improvement in students" internal assessments as a result instructional supervision of teachers by QASOs.The Principals and HoDs responses were categorized as: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree and Strongly Disagree as captured by Table 1.4.1.4, it is noted that most (94.1%),133(46%), and 52(47.7%) of the QASOs, heads of departments and school principals respectively, strongly agreed or agreed with the fact that there was an improvement in students" internal assessments as a results instructional supervision of teachers by QASOs.This means that schools" instructional supervision activities by QASOs have improved internal assessments in schools.This is consistent with Mwaura (2014) and Ikegbusi &Eziamaka (2016) who had established that external instructional supervision activities in schools had improved the internal assessments of such schools.The rationale of this is that; implications of any positive influence or improvement in teachers" pedagogic skills and utilization of available instructional materials is reflected in the improvement in students" internal assessments.This ultimately contributes towards provision of quality education.

Figure 1 . 2 :
Figure 1.2:-Benefits of QASOs" Instructional Supervision Exercises on Academic Performance of Schools Figure 1.2 indicates that majority, 70(65.4%) of school principals and 178(61.8%)heads of departments reported that they did not benefit much from QASOs visits in terms of improved pedagogic skills as to improve their schools" academic performance.However, a significant proportion 28(25.7%)and 74(20.6%) of principals and HoDs respectively felt that instructional supervision was very much instrumental in improving pedagogic skills of teachers which is finally reflected in improved academic performances of learners.

Figure 1 . 3 :
Figure 1.3:-Principals" and HoDs" Enhancement in Utilization of Instructional Materials as a result of QASOs Instructional Supervision

Figure 1 . 4 :
Figure 1.4:-QASOs Influence on Principals" and HoDs Ability to use Instructional Materials Figure 1.4 indicates that most 8(47.1%)and 2(11.8%) of QASOs agreed and strongly agreed respectively that they were able to influence teachers to use available teaching aids.It is clear from Figure1.4 above that 3(17.6%) and 4(23.5%) of the QASOs were neutral and disagreed with this opinion respectively.This implies that as much as majority of the QASOs were of the opinion that they were able to positively influence teachers towards using available instructional materials, a significant proportion of QASOs were not of that opinion.

Table 1 .1:-Principals" and
HoDs" Responses on QASOs Visits and Comparison with their Colleagues.

Table 1 .2:-Influences of
QASOs Supervision on Teachers"; Teaching Skills, Interpretation and Implementation of Curriculum

Table 1 .
to instructional materials.This implies that instructional supervision has had a positive influence of improving teachers" competences in professional record keeping and up-dating.These findings are in agreement with Njiru (2014) who had established that instructional supervision by supervisors improved the teachers" abilities in the preparation of curriculum documents and ultimately timely coverage of the syllabuses.Indeed, as earlier shown by Table1.2;majority 81(75.0%) of the school principals and 159(60.7%) of the heads of departments had reported that checking of records like schemes of work, lesson, plans, registers, lesson notes etc. was the most important area that QASOs mostly concentrate on when conducting instructional supervision.
3indicates that majority {39(35.8%)and 37 (33.9%)} and {114(39.7%)and 89(31.0%)} of school principals and heads of departments respectively reported that they strongly agreed and agreed respectively that instructional supervision by the QASOs had improved them towards proper keeping and up-dating professional

Table 1 .4:-Principals,
HoDs and QASOs Responses on Whether Instructional Supervision by QASOs Improved Internal Assessment and Evaluation