CHAPTER I

PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter includes the introduction, background of the study, theoretical framework,

conceptual framework, statement of the problem, hypothesis, significance of the study, and scope

and limitation.

Introduction

Every student is capable of achieving success in and out of the schools. The main task of

a teacher is to do all they can to find ways of making each student successful. That is why being

a teacher is not enough but being an effective teacher does. In fact, as part of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), No Child Left Behind states that every student should have a

quality teacher who is licensed and effective. Effective teacher is defined as “from the

personality perspective, an effective college level teacher is one who demonstrates “… closeness,

warmth, and enthusiasm (immediacy) … perceived physical and psychological closeness of the

teacher to the student …” (Walls et al., 2002:40). From the ability perspective, the crucial factors

of the effective teacher are being skilled, knowledgeable and experienced (Beishuizen et al.,

2001). Effective teachers know how to create an effective learning environment by being

organized, prepared, and clear (Walls et al., 2002).

In view of this, improving teacher effectiveness has become the center of educational

reform. Increasingly, research confirms that teacher and teaching quality are the most powerful

predictors of students’ success. The achievement of schoolchildren depends substantially on the

teachers they learn from and on the children themselves (Wayne & Youngs, 2003). The field of

education agrees increasingly that teacher and student characteristics have a significant impact
on student outcomes (Shores & Shannon, 2007). The more years that students work with

effective teacher, the higher are their measured achievement for outpacing their peers who start

with comparable achievement and who spend consecutive years studying with less effective

teachers. Indeed, teacher effectiveness is one of the most decisive factors in students’

achievement.

Effective teachers really are very important for student learning. However, teacher

effectiveness is difficult to define since these has not been a consensus agreement on measured

quality teachers (Stronge, Ward and Grant, 2011). It may be possible to some teachers who

attributes interaction with students, teaching strategy motivation, pedagogical content knowledge

and classroom management yet it might probably not enough.

Teachings qualification is one thing while experience is another with regard to positive

impact on students’ achievement in school subjects. Here, the experience of a teacher is judged

based on the number of years of service. It is believed that the more years the teacher spent

service in a particular discipline such as teaching, the more he gains experience and become

more knowledgeable in all it takes to enhance productivity or achievement of students in their

academic work. When teachers have not spent many years in the teaching fields, it is likely that

their effectiveness in service delivery in classrooms may be adversely affected, and by extension,

the academic achievement of students may be similarly affected.

Also, because of psychometric difficulties in assessing teachers by their normative

attributes—the logical, the psychological, and (especially) the ethical, which are defined

differently across cultures (Alexander, 2000)—the tendency to evaluate teacher qualities on the

basis of student performance is given even greater emphasis. With the increased demands for

accountability in line with performance standards and with the growing demand for evidence-
based policymaking, student achievement is considered an accurate measure of teacher

effectiveness and has become a basis for value-added teacher assessment systems (Braun, 2005;

McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, Louis, & Hamilton, 2004; Sanders, 2000; Sanders & Rivers,

1996).

Teacher effectiveness in teaching is one factor accountable to student success or failure.

As a matter of fact, students spend most of their times in schools listening and learning from

their teachers than at homes with their families. Therefore, it is a need to consider this factor to

help the teachers produce successful learners.

Background of the Study

Teaching is an art and the quality of teaching depends on the love, dedication and

devotion of the teacher towards the subject of knowledge. The most single critical element in the

education process is the teacher who plans, organizes, designs, directs, motivates and inspires

others to learn using standard teaching techniques to impart knowledge (Okolocha & Onyeneke,

2013). Teaching is a purpose profession engaged in human resource development for individual

and teaching must aim at total development of the individual, that is, economic growth (Oyekan,

2000). It is done systematically by professionals who have acquired some skills and knowledge

either by training or experience or both. To make desirable impact, to enhance intellectual

capabilities, developmental and cognitive intellectuality, foster psycho-social skills, and draw out

neuro-physical aptitude of the learners (Akinmusire, 2012).

All education institutions emphasize that teaching is important and it gives high priority

to developing effective teaching and solving teaching challenges. Effective teaching may include

high level of creativity in analyzing, synthesizing and presenting knowledge in new and effective
ways. It should instill in the learners the ability to be analytical, intellectually curious, culturally

aware, employable and capable of leadership (Okolie, 2014). According to Omoifo & Urevbu

(2007), effective teaching implies the use of clearly formulated objectives by the teacher,

illustrated instruction that will enable students to acquire desires knowledge content, apply the

knowledge to classroom and other related problem, think and take independent decision and the

use of effective evaluation technique by the teacher.

Akomolefe (2010) identified the characteristics of effective teaching to include: attention

on students achievement, quality teaching responsive to students learning processes, effective

and efficient learning opportunities, pedagogical practices that create cohesive learning

communities, effective links between school and cultural context of the school, multiple tasks to

support learning cycles, aligned curriculum goal effectively, pedagogy scaffolds feedback on

students’ task engagement among others.

The objectives of effective teaching as stated by Adegbile (2008) would include assisting

learners to: conceptualize ideas, process thoughts and develop their potentials; contribute to

thinking and creativity in the subject; nurture and sustain students’ interest; suit the circumstance

of teaching and learning; and suit the individual teacher ability and interest. The quality of any

teaching programmed cannot rise above the quality of her teachers, teaching is a highly

individualized activity, and the student-teacher interaction is an intense human relationship that

encompasses a broad range of personalities and behaviors (Okolie, 2014).

Adegbile (2008) described an effective teacher as efficient, reliable and courteously

equipped with professionalism, creative in imagination, bustling ingenuity and depth of

experience necessary for optimal performance and the achievement of goals. The teacher as a

good manager of instruction should be able to utilize appropriate techniques to gain and maintain
the attention of students. An effective teacher should be to display requisite pedagogical insight

and professional qualities and utilize same to guide the teaching/learning process to the point of

achieving stated educational objectives. It is not possible to guarantee a meaningful learning

without effective teachers to translate the laudable objectives of the senior high school

curriculum into the practice in the classroom.

Teachers are the hub of the educational system. Teachers are the most important factor in

students learning next to students themselves (Knapper & Wright, 2001). As such, the

importance of teachers, the application of pedagogical knowledge into classroom oriented plan

of actions constitute most essential fabric upon which the success of the school, its

administration and the entire education system rest upon (Okolocha & Onyeneke, 2013).

Education can bring about desirable transformation of one’s culture of learning, mindset,

and orientation values. This can only happen in learners when the teacher possess a good mastery

of the subject matter, have a map to follow in terms of well prepared lesson, grab the students

attention through effective class control mechanism, recognize student attention span, plan

activity for the students by allowing them participate actively in the teaching and learning

process. To this end, Ademola (2007) stated that an educational system with low quality teachers

will produce students with poor inspiration and aspiration. Such students, Ademola opined will

not grasp enough of the subject matter and cannot learn with ambition.

Similarly, Babalola (2009) posited that experience in Nigeria has revealed that students

academic achievement in secondary schools largely depend on the competence and dedication of

the teacher who has a significant role to play in the reshaping of the creative potentials and

ability of students. From the above, it becomes imperative that teachers should be able to cope
with the ever changing knowledge and ensure that students acquire requisite knowledge, skills

and values.

It should be appreciated that the influence of the teacher on students’ personal, social and

productive lives is usually the product of the professional training which they received. It

probably explains why Foundations Recovery Network (2013) stated that the national policy on

education that the primary implementers of a nation’s education policies and that no country can

develop beyond the quality of its teachers. Thus, teachers have to be well prepared for their job

through pre- and in-service training. This sound training should at the end help the teachers in

the implementation of the curriculum as they engage in effective teaching, for pleasant and

meaningful understanding of students in order to achieve set objectives in the classroom. In order

to promote the effectiveness of teachers, it is important to produce high quality teachers. These

teachers should maintain approved lesson period, utilize visual aids, voice, eye contacts and body

movement as a way of stimulation the students, summarize lesson and evaluate lesson using all

sort of techniques. Teachers in-training should be made to realize that the quality of classroom

interactions with students have a vital role to play in their effectiveness as teachers.

Oyekan (2000) stated that teachers also rely on classroom interactions with the students

to gauge the effectiveness, level and pace of their instruction. Okolocha & Onyeneke (2013)

posited that the success of Nigeria’s educational system especially at the secondary school level

depends upon a number of factors: the government, the society, students, the teachers’, and the

quality of teaching, devotion and effectiveness of the teachers. Teachers’ effectiveness can be

viewed on the ability of the teacher to employ appropriate techniques and strategies to impart in

the learners’ knowledge, skills and competencies required for bring about desired positive

learning outcomes. Teacher effectiveness is a teacher’s ability to produce desired results

measured in terms of how well the teacher is able to maximize learning in the students (Diamond

2004).

Ademola (2007) compared the achievement of students taught by male with those taught

by female teachers and found that female teachers recorded more absenteeism rates than their

male counterparts. On the other hand, Akinmusire (2012) found that female teachers tend to be

more effective in the teaching profession than their male counterparts. He asserted that female

teachers’ performance could be determined in terms of their dedications and longer stay in the

profession.

The fact that the researchers themselves are students is what prompted them to conduct

this study. Furthermore, the results and findings would be of great help to them as learners and

would be beneficial both for their parents and their teachers. This study therefore, sought to

investigate teacher effectiveness as an influence to student achievement in Grade 12 Senior High

School students of La Verdad Christian School for A.Y 2017-2018

Theoretical Framework

As the center of educational system, students are expected to acquire expected

competencies and perform learning objectives. Therefore, teacher and their effectiveness in

teaching has something to do with their students’ achievement as revealed by several studies.

On the Christian Perspective, “Train up a child in the way he should go…” Proverbs 22:6

(King James Version) As teachers, they are called to train students in the way of the Lord. This

involves the way how to handle management and discipline. Training up students in the right

way means handling discipline cases in the proper way, which is by bringing God’s Word
whenever possible. This can be accomplished much easier in Christian schools than in public

schools.

Psalm 94:12 says “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him

out of thy law.” While Gordon thinks that handing out punishments is not the correct thing to do,

the Bible states here that those who are disciplined will be blessed if they take heed to the laws

of God. John 7:24 says “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

Gordon also states that being judgmental towards students will not solve the problem. The Bible

instructs to use right judgment to guide the students.

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.”

Proverbs 20:11 Teachers have a lot of room to make improvements in the ways they deal with

student behavior and discipline. Students need to realize that the ways in which they behave are

known by God.

As Christians, remember that God has entrusted each one students into the teacher’s care.

As teachers, one must strive to deal with behavior and discipline in a way that glorifies God.

The Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET) by Dr. Thomas Gordon is a widely used

concept in terms of teacher effectiveness. It was introduced for parents who wanted their

children to be treated the same way at school as they were treated at home. Believing that the

teacher-student relationship is very similar to the parent-child relationship in terms of its

hierarchical nature, Dr. Gordon applied the same philosophy and skills of Parent Effectiveness

Training (P.E.T.) to the teacher-student relationship and that course became Teacher

Effectiveness Training (T.E.T.).

In line with this, Dr. Gordon developed a conceptual framework which he called

the Behavior Window to assist teachers in recognizing problems that interfere with teaching and
learning and then accurately figuring out who “owns” that problem. Then they can determine

which communication skill to use to resolve it.

When the problem belongs to the student, teachers can Active Listen. Active

Listening lets the student know that the teacher understands and accepts what they are saying

and feeling. It gives the student a chance to ventilate, to feel relieved, to have catharsis. Active

Listening keeps the responsibility with the student and allows them to do their own problem

solving.

Teachers have the right to get their needs met too. And sometimes their students’

behavior interferes with that right. T.E.T. offers a skill for teachers to assist themselves in

reducing the unacceptable behavior of students. It’s called an I-Message and it is a non-

blameful, non-judgmental way of letting the student know what s/he has done to cause a problem

for the teacher. An I-Message influences students to respect the teacher’s needs. It motivates

students to modify their behavior when this behavior is preventing the teacher from getting

his/her needs met.

Then there are times when a conflict exists between a teacher and student so they both

“own” the problem. T.E.T. offers a method for resolving such conflicts called No-Lose Conflict

Resolution. In contrast to the win-lose posture, this is a no-lose or win-win approach. Instead of

a power struggle in which someone wins and someone loses where the inevitable result is

resentment, retaliation and fractured relationships, this method takes the needs of both the

teacher and student into account. Using a six-step process, they work together to find a mutually

acceptable solution.
 T.E.T. is a total system of proven, tested, learnable skills and methods that can help

teachers make school an experience in which both teachers and student can work together with

mutual respect for each other’s needs.

Furthermore, Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) executive director Warren

Simmons as reported in Civil Rights Research Roundtable convened by the Warren Institute,

Performance Management Theory of Action emphasizes the importance of teachers’

educational background (SAT scores, class ranking in college) and performance characteristics

(e.g. Value-added contributions to student achievement, based on standardized test scores and

compensation and evaluation histories) to describe teacher effectiveness. Furthermore, the

performance management perspective tends to treat effective teaching as an individual endeavor

and thus seeks solutions focused on enhancing the identification and distribution of effective

teachers in high-minority, high-poverty schools.

In view of this, the other research voice and TOA present at the meeting grew out of an

emphasis on the importance of instructional capacity building and the use of practice-centered

criteria grounded in research on teaching and learning to define the characteristics of effective

teaching called Capacity Building Theory of Action. This research underscores the importance

of pedagogical content knowledge; classroom management skills; understanding of students’

social, cultural, and economic backgrounds; understanding of cognitive and human development;

ability to collaborate with peers; and ability to cultivate partnerships with parents and the broader

community as critical components of effective teaching.

The instructional capacity-building TOA reasons that if schools and school districts

provide supports that build the capacity of teachers to address the elements of effective teaching,

then student performance will increase and achievement gaps will narrow.
 Abovementioned relevant theories guided the researchers in conducting this study. With

these, informations were imparted to the researchers about how teaching effectiveness has

something to do with students’ achievement.

1. Student Profile
A. Gender
B. Track & Strand

2. Teacher Profile
A. Gender
B. Age Teaching and
D. Civil status Learning
E. Subject taught Process

A. Educational background
B. Teaching experience

3. Teacher Effectiveness in terms of:

A. Learner development
B. Learning differences
C. Learning environments
D. Content knowledge
E. Content application
F. Assessment
G. Planning for instruction
I. Instructional strategies
J. Leadership and collaboration
K. Professional learning and ethical practice
 The input of the study are the students and teachers factors affecting the students’

achievement of the Grade 12 Senior High School students in La Verdad Christian School.

Student factors include the students profile in terms of gender, strand and subject.

Teacher factors consist of gender, age, civil status and subject. It also includes the characteristics

of an effective teacher namely educational background, teaching experience and teaching

training and credentials.

Also, the process of teaching and learning was included since it is when the input and the

output which is the student achievement happens.

Statement of the problem

This study was conducted to investigate the teacher effectiveness as an influence to

students’ achievement as perceived by Grade 12 Senior High School teachers and students.

Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following questions:

1. What are the profile of the student-respondents in terms of:

A. Gender

B. Track, Strand & Section

2. What are the profile of the teacher-respondents in terms of:

A. Gender

B. Age

C. Civil status

D. Subjects taught
 E. Educational Background

F. Number of Teaching Experience

3. What are the teacher effectiveness in terms of the following extent:

A. Learner development

B. Learning differences

C. Learning environments

D. Content knowledge

E. Content application

F. Assessment

G. Planning for instruction

H. Instructional strategies

I. Leadership and collaboration

J. Professional learning and ethical practice

4. Is there any significant relationship between the profile of the students and the teacher

effectiveness?

5. Is there any significant relationship between the profile of the teachers and the teacher

effectiveness?

6. Is there any significant relationship between the profile of the teachers and the students’

achievement?

7. Is there any significant relationship between the teacher effectiveness extent and the

teacher effectiveness?

8. Is there any significant relationship between the teacher effectiveness extent and the

students’ achievement?
 9. To what extent does a teacher effectively influence the student achievement?

Hypothesis

For statistical analysis of the study, the following null hypothesis were tested for

acceptance or rejection.

1. There is no any significant relationship between the students’ profile and the teacher

effectiveness.

2. There is no any significant relationship between the teachers’ profile and the teacher

effectiveness.

3. There is no any significant relationship between the teachers’ profile and the students’

achievement.

4. There is no any significant relationship between the teacher effectiveness extent and the

teacher effectiveness.

5. There is no any significant relationship between the teacher effectiveness extent and

students’ achievement.

Significance of the study

The results of this study will greatly benefit the following:

Students. This will serve as their reference in evaluating their teachers. Since they are the

center of educational system, they will benefit from this study if their teacher manifests

effectiveness in teaching. Through teacher effectiveness, students will display interest in a

particular subject the teacher is teaching. Eventually, it enables them to comply all learning

competencies and outcomes and meet all learning objectives leading to a good student
performance. Also, it provides the students insights on how to improve their knowledge in

handling ineffective teachers.

Teachers. This study enables the teachers to do self-reflect on their effectivity as a

teacher in the educational field. Eventually, they can also come up with easier and effective

teaching strategies for the sake of his or her learners. Since given the task of ensuring students’

knowledge and character, this study will help them realized how vital effectivity is in teaching,

hopefully leading to each and every student achievement.

Parents. This will make the parents be aware that teacher effectiveness indeed influence

the students’ achievement. In such way, they can come up with helpful suggestions to the

administration pointing out how to improve teacher effectiveness. Also, this will help the parents

discern the effectivity of the teacher through their son or daughters’ performance in and outside

the classrooms.

Future Researchers. This study is open for development that is why it will help the

future researchers to make one. This will serve as their guide in conducting their own studies in

relation with this topic.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The main focus of the study is to investigate the teacher effectiveness as an influence to

student achievement in Grade 12 Senior High School. It was conducted in La Verdad Christian

School A.Y 2017-2018. The respondents are selected Grade 12 students and teachers in senior

high school department. The researchers provide questionnaires which considers the students’

profile such as their genders, tracks, strands and sections and teachers’ profile which includes

their age, gender, civil status and the subjects being taught to their students. Researchers also
considered the educational background and the number of teaching experience of the teachers in

the field.

The (9) strands included in this study are Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics (STEM) sections A and B, Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM)

sections A and B, Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) sections A and B, General

Academic Strand (GAS), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Culinary.

Student achievement includes learner development, learning differences, learning

environments, content knowledge, content application, assessment, planning for instruction,

instructional strategies, leadership and collaboration and professional learning and ethical

practice.

The questionnaire was composed of objective questions since the otherwise which is

subjective are not used in order to assure the manageability and preciseness of the collected data.

Pearson Product of Correlation was used to evaluate the relationship of teacher effectiveness and

student achievement and teacher’s profile to the student achievement.