THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF OROMO NATIONALITY ZONE OF AMHARA REGION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF OROMO NATIONALITY ZONE OF AMHARA REGION THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF OROMO NATIONALITY ZONE OF AMHARA REGION

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore the possible relationship between school environment and students’ academic achievement on EGSECE and EHEECE. To this end, three basic research questions were raised which focused on the condition of school environment, the status of students’ academic achievement, the achievement level of 10 th grade students on Ethiopian General Secondary Education Certificate Examination and grade 12 Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Certificate Examination and the relationship among school environment variables and students’ academic achievement. The study employed both descriptive and correlational design. The study populations include school principals, teachers and students. School principals were selected through purposive sampling from sample schools. While 40.99% of sample teachers and 33.44% students were selected using stratified sampling. Close – ended questionnaire, school observation, document analysis and semi structured interviews were instruments used to collect the required data. The obtained data analyzed by SPSS-20 using mean, standard deviation, one sample t-test and correlation. The finding of the study revealed that, the classrooms, libraries, laboratories, school leadership behavior and peer relations were not as expected to run the teaching learning process effectively, students have achieved below the expected mean score on EGSECE, EHEECE and significant relationship was observed between school environment and academic achievement. This implies that the condition of unhealthy school environment affects the academic achievement of students in EGSECE. Similarly, without stabilized and well managed school environment, it is difficult to improve students’ academic result. Key word: Academic achievement, Secondary school, school environment th