Published Article

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to assess the utilization of available information and communication technology (ICT) as a correlate of principals’ management and administrative effectiveness in public secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene Education Zone, Akwa Ibom State. The study was carried out in Ikot Ekpene Education Zone, Akwa Ibom State. The Ikot Ekpene Education Zone is made up of nine Local Government Areas, namely: Oruk Anam, Ikot Ekpene, Obot Akara, Ukanafun, Ikono, Etim Ekpo, Essien Udim, Ini and Abak. Correlation research design was used for the study. This design was considered appropriate for this research as it will investigate the already existing relationship between the independent variable (school conflicts) and the dependent variable (effective resolution strategy). The population of the study comprises all the 86 principals and 2008 teachers in public secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene Education Zone, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 69 principals and 602 teachers serving in public secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene, which constituted the sample size used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was a researcher-developed questionnaire titled "ICT Availability and Utilization Questionnaire (ICTAUQ)" for principals while "Principals’ Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (PAEQ)" was developed for teachers. The instruments (ICTAUQ and PAEQ) used for the research were made to pass through face and content validation using experts in test, measurement and evaluation Instrument reliability was tested using the Cronbach reliability test at 0.78 coefficients. Pearson was used to answer the research questions, while linear regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the utilization of the available ICT predicted 58% of the principals’ data management effectiveness. Also, the test of significance, affirmed that the utilization of the available ICT significantly correlates with the principals’ data management effectiveness. One of the recommendations made in the study was that the school principals should be given in-service training on effective ways of using ICT for computation of results.

KEYWORDS:           Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Principals’ Management, Administrative Effectiveness, Ikot Ekpene Education Zone