School Environmental Factors as Correlate of Students’ Learning Outcomes and Security in Private Secondary Schools in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined school environmental factors as correlate of students learning outcomes in private secondary schools and security in Abia State, Nigeria. It adopted a correlational research design, three research questions and three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance.  Population of 14,525 SS2 students were used for the study while sample size comprised 960 Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) students drawn from 12 private secondary schools within the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia State. Multi-stage sampling techniques were used to draw the sample. The researchers’ self-developed questionnaire titled: School Environmental Factors Questionnaire (SEFQ) and Students Learning Outcome Questionnaire (SLOQ) were used for data collection and was validated by three experts.  The reliability of the instrument was determined using the test re-test reliability method and it yielded an overall reliability index of 0.77 and 0.71. The data collected were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson’s R2 (coefficient of determination) was used to analyze the research questions while multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The study concluded that there exists a high positive correlation between school buildings and students learning outcome and a direct but moderate positive correlation between school location and students learning outcome. It was recommended among others that schools should be properly supervised by the relevant agencies before they can be allowed to start functioning. Schools operating in environmentally unfriendly areas should be made to relocate to an environmentally friendly area among others.