Published Article

ABSTRACT

The study sought to examine school community partnership and climate as a correlates of student academic behaviour in public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. In carrying out this study, a correlational research design was adopted. The study was carried out in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised 8,313 teachers from 270 public secondary schools in the state (2024/2025 academic session). A multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 249 teachers as the sample for the study. First, the schools were grouped into the three senatorial districts of Akwa Ibom State, and proportionate sampling technique was used to select 27 schools. Thereafter, teachers were proportionately selected from the sampled schools to ensure fair representation across the districts. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Principals’ Disciplinary Strategies and Students’ Academic Behaviour Questionnaire (PDSSABQ)”. The instrument was designed on a four-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (4) to Strongly Disagree (1). Face and content validation of the instrument was carried out by experts in Curriculum Studies and Test and Measurement to ensure the accuracy, relevance, and appropriateness of the instrument for the study. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach’s Alpha method, which yielded a coefficient of 0.86, indicating that the instrument was reliable for the study. The data collected were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) to determine the relationship between the variables. Correlation analysis was used to answer the research question and hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study concluded that school community partnership and school climate have significant relationships with students’ academic behaviour in public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. This implies that when schools maintain a strong and active relationship with parents, community members, and other stakeholders, students are more likely to exhibit positive academic behaviours such as discipline, attentiveness, punctuality, and active participation in school activities. One of the recommendations made was that School administrators and principals should strengthen school–community partnerships by actively involving parents, community leaders, and stakeholders in school activities such as monitoring students’ behaviour, attending school meetings, and supporting school programmes.