CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Instructional materials is a term frequently heard and discussed among educational technologists today.

Unless clearly defined, the term can alternatively mean the development of computer based hardware and software packages produced on a mass scale and yet allow individualized use and learning.

In essence, instructional materials merge multiple levels of learning into an educational tool that allows for diversity in curricula presentation.
One of the critical challenges facing teacher education, especially in Nigeria, is how to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools.

Concerns regarding the improvement of the quality of teaching are central to the broader question of improving the quality of education (National Board of Employment, Education, and Training, 2004; UNESCO, 2006).

A major factor associated with education quality relates to teacher quality (Sergiovanni, 2001; UNESCO, 2006).
Beach and Reinhardt (2000) viewed instructional supervision as a process that caters for instruction and provides teachers with feedback on their teaching so as to strengthen instructional skills to improve performance.

According to Wanzare and Da Costa (2000), the purpose of instructional supervision is to focus on teachers’ instructional improvement which, in turn, improves student academic achievement.

In Nigeria, instructional supervision has often been seen as the main vehicle through which improvement of teaching and learning in schools can be achieved, with principals as instructional supervisors.
Mayer (2001) viewed instructional materials as the exciting combination of computer hardware and software that allows you to integrate video, animation, audio graphics and test resources to develop effective presentation on an affordable desktop computer.

But Philips (1990) opined that “Instructional materials are characterized by the presence of text, pictures, sound animation and video, some or all of which are organized into some colorant program.

However, today’s instructional material is a carefully woven combination of text, graphic, sound, animation and video elements.

If the end user is allowed that is the viewer of an instructional material project, is allowed to control “what ““when” and ’’how’’ the elements are presented, it becomes interactive instructional materials.

As such, instructional materials can be defined as an integration of multiple media elements (audio, video, graphic, text animation e.t.c.) into one synergetic and symbiotic whole that results in more benefit for the end user than any of the media element can provide individually.
In view of the above constraints, alternative ways to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian secondary schools are urgently being sought.

Various government statements have proposed internal or school-based supervision to supplement the work done by external supervisors.

For example, Republic of Nigeria (1998) recommended the use of school-based supervisors—such as principals, departmental heads and subject heads—in instructional supervision.

Therefore, the overall view of the Nigerian government and of Nigerians in general is that internal instructional supervision in secondary schools should be promoted, with principals taking the major role.

This improvement often occurs in a formal context of supportive teacher–supervisor interactions.

Moves toward school-based arrangements relative to supervision of teaching are more cost effective than maintaining a team of external school inspectors who do not function effectively (Lodiaga, 1995).
There are numerous challenges that school-based instructional supervision will be expected to address (Beach and Reinhardt, 2000; Oliva and Pawlas, 2001):
a) Assisting the various categories of teachers (for example, newly qualified teachers; marginal teachers; veteran teachers) to better their teaching;
b) Helping school administration in planning the participation of individual teachers in staff development and, thus, preparing teachers for different or increased responsibilities;
c) Assisting schools in selecting relevant instructional materials;
d) Helping schools to implement government curriculum;
e) Improving the relationship between teachers and principals.
In order to improve instructional supervision, it is necessary to know how it is conducted and perceived and what its current purposes are.

Teachers’ perceptions of instructional supervision may be in sharp contrast to those of principals and government education officers, and may determine whether or not teachers will respond positively to supervision.

Furthermore, teachers must be recognized as the key players in the process of instructional supervision who ultimately must adopt educational practices that will increase student achievement.
Education remains the biggest instrument for academic progress, social mobilization, political survival and effective national development of any country, it constitutes the largest enterprise/industry in Nigeria that is why, the government continues to ensure that funds, school facilities, instructional materials, teaching personnel and conducive learning environment are made available for the sector in Oyo State.

The state Government has also continuously encouraged secondary education by adopting a social demand approach towards planning the education sector by subsidizing the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination fee in the state since 2012 in line with Archibong’s (2013) position that quality education does not just occur miraculously but can be achieved through continuous improved efforts by the stakeholders in the education enterprise.
In recent times, education stakeholders have expressed their concern over the poor performance of students in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.

Some blamed the school administrators (principals) and the teachers while some blamed the students themselves and the parents.

Whoever is blamed, the fact remains that, the school and its organizational management has correlation with the academic achievement of the students (Olaleye, 2013).
Sule (2013) in a response to critics on the quality of education and as a measure of improvement on the glaring downward trend on educational achievement opined that school supervision (internal or external) has become a veritable instrument for checking teachers’ job performance. Instructional supervision occupies a unique place in the entire education system and it becomes absolutely expedient to give it prominent attention.

In a contemporary Nigeria, instructional supervision is regarded as the process of enhancing the professional growth of the teachers, the curriculum and improving the techniques of teaching in the classroom through democratic interactions between the Teacher and the Supervisor (Okendu, 2012).
Nakpodia (2006) asserts that, instructional supervision in the modern era centers on the improvement of the teaching-learning situation to the benefits of both the teachers and learners, helps in the identification of areas of strength and weaknesses of teachers, follow-up activities that should be directed at the improvement of identified areas of teachers’ weaknesses and give recognition to the teachers and create a cordial working atmosphere based on good human relations.

(NOUN, 2006) observed that Supervision provides opportunities for teachers to be groomed through critical study of instructional processes and classroom interactions to carry out their teaching tasks in line with professional codes of conduct.

If schools are not supervised adequately, it will have inimical effects on the students’ output and the educational objectives may not be achieved, consequently various instructional supervisory techniques should be employed to ensure qualitative and quantities service delivery by the teachers.
Since Instructional supervision constitutes the leverage point for instructional improvement, teacher’s competence and efficiency of the educational system while an unsupervised instruction may mar the standard of education, it is therefore suggested that principals as catalysts should facilitate the implementation of the various sets of instructional activities geared towards an effective, viable, vibrant and qualitative educational system that will improve the teaching-learning situation in the input – process – output framework without which the educational endeavors may be an exercise in futility (Archibong, 2010)
Instructional process and supervision help a lot in improving academic performance of students.

This is because supervision of instruction aims at enhancing teaching and learning through proper guidance and planning, and devising ways of improving teachers professionally and thereby helping them release their creative abilities so that through them the instructional process is improved and well articulated.(Okendu,2012)
NOUN (2004) Conceptualizes School administration as a social process concerned with identifying, maintaining, stimulating, controlling and unifying formally or informally organized human and material energies within an interpreted system.

School administration is specifically concerned with students, teachers, rules & regulations and policies that govern the school system.

School administration is a difficult task involving sensitive and challenging functions relating to the supervision of students, school personnel, instructional program, school plants and statutory records.
In the school system, supervision is as antique as the teaching profession and has undergone series of evolution since the colonial era.

It is directed towards sustaining and ameliorating the teaching-learning process in the educational system because education plays an essential role in the growth and development of any nation socially, politically, and economically (NOUN, 2006).

Alimi and Akinfolarin (2012) admitted that in Nigeria Secondary Schools, irrespective of their location and ownership are expected to function in compliance with the achievement of the national education objectives, and consequently aspire brilliant performance in the final examination.

As -such, students’ performance greatly depends on the quality of instruction and education they have gained in school.
Every educational system at every level depends heavily on teachers for the execution of its program.

In this regard, Obadara (2005) viewed teachers to be highly essential for a successful operation of the educational system and as a key to the educational development.

Without teachers with relevant behavioral traits and educational facilities they cannot be used to facilitate academic performance of students.

Undoubtedly the success and quality of any educational system depend on the quality of teachers input into the system.
For many years, educators, administrators or managers, researchers have debated over which variables influence student’s academic performance.

A growing body of evidence suggests that schools can make a great difference in terms of students’ academic performance and a substantial portion of that difference is attributable to teachers, thus there should be a link between teacher behavioral traits, teacher competence, and teacher productivity and students academic performances. (Fehintola, 2014)
1.2 Statement of Problem
In spite of the efforts by the Nigeria Education Service in improving general supervision in schools, most especially in secondary, a large amount of work needs to be done.

Informal discussion among people in the community and related research findings (Opare, 1999; Oduro, 2008) suggest that poor student performance in public schools, in part, is the result of ineffective supervision of teachers.

Till date, there is no empirical evidence about the effectiveness of supervision in Nigeria Secondary Schools.

Generally, the claim that there is poor supervision of teachers in public schools in Nigeria is based on assumptions.

This study sought to find out the instructional supervision and academic performance of Public Secondary Schools in Egbeda Local Government of Oyo State.

1.3 Purpose of the study
The main purpose of this is to investigate the Instructional Supervision and Academic Performance of public Secondary School in Egbeda Local Government.
Other purpose is to:
1. Find out the number of external supervisors available at Quality Assurance Bureau
2. Find out how often they go for supervision
3. Find out the number of times principals supervise the teachers
4 Find out the relationship between instructional supervision and Students’ academic performance in Egbegda Local Government Area of Oyo State
5. Find out the relationship between internal supervision and students’ academic performance in Egbegda Local Government Area of Oyo State
6. Find out the relationship between internal and external supervision of instruction in Egbegda Local Government Area of Oyo State
1.4 Research Questions
1. How many supervisors are available for supervision/ what is the number of supervisors at Quality assurance bureau?
2. How many times do they go for supervision in a term?
3. How many times do principals supervise the teachers?