Hierarchical linear modelling of educational outcomes in secondary schools: What matters - teachers' or administrators' input?

Research has assessed the diverse characteristics of principals and teachers in analysing students' educational outcomes at various levels. However, these studies often focus on the cognitive domain of learning, ignoring the affective and psychomotor aspects. Bridging this gap, we used hierarchical linear regression to link two inputs of teachers and administrators to students' learning outcomes generally and across the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. A total of 1,872 respondents comprising school principals (N = 87), teachers (n = 870), and senior secondary class II (SSII) students (n = 915) from 87 public secondary schools in Calabar Education Zone, Nigeria, participated in the study. Three sets of questionnaires were used for data collection. The questionnaires all had acceptable item and scale content validity indices. Principal Axis Factoring and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to assess the dimensionality and acceptability of the established models. Reliability was determined using the Cronbach alpha approach for internal consistency. Results indicated (relatively and cumulatively) that teachers' attitudes to work and social relations significantly predicted students' educational outcomes generally and across the three learning domains. Attitude to work was the strongest predictor of the two teachers' input. Also, administrators' leadership styles and attitudes towards accountability (relatively and jointly) predicted students' learning outcomes holistically and across the three domains significantly. Leadership style was the most substantial administrators' input, trailed by their attitude towards accountability. The study has practical implications for teachers to adjust their work attitudes and social relations and for principals to be accountable and maintain effective leadership practices in schools.