Principals’ instructional time management and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Ondo North senatorial district of Ondo State, Nigeria

Received Dec 03, 2019 Revised Dec 14, 2019 Accepted Jan 31, 2020 The persistent concern of stakeholders in the education sector over the dwindling academic performance of students in Nigerian secondary schools could be attributed to the perceived inadequacies in instructional time management. This study therefore investigated principals’ instructional time management strategies, teachers’ effectiveness in instructional tasks, and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive design of the survey type was adopted. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 30 public secondary schools from three (3) Local Government Areas in the Northern Senatorial Districts of Ondo State. The sample comprised 600 teachers and 30 principals randomly selected for the study. Three (3) research questions were answered using frequency counts and percentage, while three (3) hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at 0.05 level of significance. Findings indicated a significant relationship between principals’ time management strategies and teachers’ instructional tasks performance (r-cal=0.622, p<0.05), there was significant relationship between principals’ time management strategies and students’ academic performance (r-cal=0.702, p<0.05), and significant relationship between teachers’ instructional tasks performance and students’ academic performance (r-cal=0.587, p<0.05). The major constraints to instructional time were pressure of administrative duties and excess workload. Based on the findings, it was recommended that principals should step-up efforts at prioritizing administrative tasks, encouraging teamwork in instructional activities and delegating duties to the experienced teachers in the management cadre to reduce excess workload, and improve monitoring and evaluation of teachers’ instructional tasks performance for better academic performance of students in secondary schools.


INTRODUCTION
Education is a potent tool for human capital and sustainable national development. Consequently, the secondary school system prepares students for higher education and useful living in the society [1]. The school principal is an instructional leader who plays a pivotal role in curriculum management by Time is an extremely limited resource that affects all aspects of human life. According to Drucker [2], time is the scarcest resource available to man", time determines the extent to which curriculum activities are implemented in the school setting. This underscores the allocation of periods to subjects on the time table in order to cover the syllabus and achieve the set educational goals in a term and session.
Time management in a school system is a conscious effort made by the principal in deciding what activities are most important, less important or optional, and mapping out appropriate strategies in performing identified tasks in order to achieve the expected results. The principal also performs instructional leadership roles by inspiring, and monitoring teachers to pursue institutional vision and educational goals through proper planning of lesson notes, appropriate utilization of instructional materials, classroom management and students' engagement, continuous assessment, marking of students' exercises, performance feedback, instructional review, and avoiding time wasters to achieve best results [3].
Realizing that there are challenges hindering effective time management such as students learning under deplorable and congested situations, inadequate number of teachers, limited instructional materials and lack of prioritization of the school activities., This study would provide additional information to school principals on the implications of poor time management and therefore, give more attention to effective planning, coordination and control of school activities within the available time-frame. Teachers and students will learn better how to manage their time and understand the implications of poor time management on academic performance. Parents will become aware of the impact of time management on students' attitude to work and therefore encourage their wards to be disciplined on time utilization to achieve better academic performance.

CONCEPT OF TIME AND INSTRUCTIONAL TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Time is an essential resource that is expressed in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. It is irrecoverable, limited and dynamic. Irrecoverable because every minute spent is gone forever, limited since only 24hours exist in a day and dynamic as it is never static. According to North [4], time management is the organization of tasks by estimating how much time a task will take to be completed, when it must be completed, and adjusting events that would interfere with its completion at the appropriate time.
Claessens, Eerde and Rutte [5] described time management as behaviour that differentiates people who do things on time, stick to deadline and spend appropriate time on their activities from those who are often late, exceed deadline, spend much time on their activities and waste time on unimportant matters. Effective time management helps to cope with stress, conflicts and pressure more efficiently. It also helps in the maintenance of healthy work-life balance and keeps employees motivated [6].
Instructional time management is a procedural diagnostic technique that encompasses the 'to-do' list (what is to be taught), 'can-do' list (setting the condition for learning tasks) and 'must-do' list (using varied approaches and appropriate resources for teacher-learners' instructional practices) that are consciously planned based on the content-knowledge, skills, experiences and time-frame which the principal and teachers continuously reflect upon, review and make quality assurance adjustment (defect prevention) to improve teaching-learning process and achieve the educational objectives.
Instructional time management strategies involve the need to get the best out of the human element within the available learning duration. This makes the concept of principals' instructional time management strategies very essential in secondary schools. Effective instructional time management strategies among others include: goal setting, prioritizing tasks, scheduling time for each task, proper execution of tasks, accurate record keeping, monitoring, evaluation and review of instructional tasks, identification of time wasters, and avoidance of procrastination [3]

Planning instructional objectives and tasks
Planning instructional objectives and tasks is the process of goal setting, tasks identification and tasks execution. The school principal must visualize the end results, break large tasks into weekly and daily priorities, outline the steps to be followed; and be prepared for barriers which must be dealt with in a professional manner (distribute time to the various tasks, doing the important ones first while leaving out the less important ones). The attitude of some teachers who fail to attend classes for no good reasons than personal reasons is a negation of this concept. Teacher absenteeism could adversely affect the utilization of instructional time and inhibit the attainment of instructional objectives in schools [7].  The principal  plays an important role in organizing and structuring the school curriculum through drawing up a time-table  for both curricular and co-curricular activities. The issue of the school time table highlights the importance of managing time to great advantage. Achunine and Irondi [8] stated that it is advisable to keep a "things-to-do" list or draw up a personal time chart on daily and weekly bases. Ajayi [9] and Akomolafe [10] opined that such a chart will help individuals to study the use of their time and on the basis, prepare a more useful personal time tables for their activities during the day and each week. Proper time scheduling will help a teacher to eliminate dead hours.

Prioritization of instructional objectives/tasks
Time management is not about getting more things done; it is about doing the right thing at the right time with minimal wastage of resources. Prioritization of instructional activities facilitates the attainment of educational goals [11]. Akomolafe [10] stated that the key to effective management is to use proactive thinking in prioritizing the tasks. In a similar vein, Olaniyi [12] posited that managers need to set short and long-range goals and allocate specific blocks of time to each. Appropriate time allocation is deemed necessary in the operation of daily activities of the school [13]. Tasks can be sub-divided into very important, important and optional tasks. It is therefore imperative for the school principal to prioritize tasks in order of importance to achieve the set goals.
Killian, Michael and Sexton [14], proposed the idea of time scheduling/allocation to tasks (teaching and learning) to ensure effective time management. The numerous functions of the school administrators |(principals) are grouped into three categories: the professional goal functions, the critical/crisis functions and maintenance functions. The professional goal functions embrace all efforts by the administrator (principal) towards the implementation of the curriculum and development of personnel that lead directly to effective teaching and learning. Maintenance functions embrace all routine management tasks geared towards maintaining stability and status quo in the school. The middle level critical/crisis functions embrace mostly activities critical to student personnel administration and fiscal management. Allowance must however be made for emergencies and unexpected events as they are bound to come up in any human organization.

Delegation of instructional time management functions
Delegation refers to the giving of responsibilities and authority to subordinates to perform certain duties for which the subordinate has competence. Mullins [15] contends that task delegation relieves the principal of certain duties and creates more time for him/her to concentrate on more important duties. However, the principal must monitor subordinates to ensure effective performance of delegated functions. It is important for the principal to understand that delegation is no abdication, he/she remains accountable and therefore the delegated subordinate must deliver the quality service required. Effective delegation process enhances capacity building as functions are rotated periodically among staff and time is given to role participants to develop particular skill on the job. Delegation of responsibility reduces workload and job stress while the administrator can concentrate on other activities.

Effective communication
Effective communication facilitates the attainment of the educational goals. Kruger and Van Schalkwyk [16] define communication as the imparting or interchange of thoughts or ideas, orally, in writing or in signs. Communication that lacks clarity incapacitates teachers and causes disruption of instructional time as well as poor learning outcome. All those involved in a particular communication process should be aware of its purpose and clarity of action to be taken. Sufficient details of work to be done have to be communicated without being ambiguous. Teachers should be clear on the purpose of the action, what is to be done, how it is to be done, who is to do it, and when. The principal must communicate through appropriate and unambiguous channels such as mission statements, code of conduct, circulars, text messages, and letters.

Eliminating time wasters
Principals are expected to manage instructional time carefully towards the achievement of the set educational goals. Frivolities and time wasters in school organization include lack of clear objectives and non-prioritization of school activities, procrastinations, receiving and attending to personal visitors during official hours, escorting personal visitors out, going to the market or mechanic workshop, spending unauthorized break periods, attending to other social engagements, prolonged phone chats and unnecessary meetings Time spent on frivolities is time robbed the organization which could hinder productivity, effectiveness and efficiency. Forsyth [17] insisted that visits should be made on appointments. If "frivolities" 126 must find their place within the organization's contract time, they must be scheduled within the authorized break periods. However, where it becomes necessary that visitor must be attended to in the office, such amount of time spent on him/her must be made up outside the official hours. Time spent on gossips and unofficial conversations is big time wasted.

Curriculum instruction, supervision and evaluation
Kruger [16] contends that the basic task of the school is to offer curriculum instruction. The principal is expected to give priority to teaching of content that promotes values and skills, learning should be learner-centered while evaluation must be part of the learning process and have a bearing on outcomes. The principal has the responsibility of monitoring curriculum implementation and find appropriate time to do this effectively.
Effective use of teaching time can be ensured by allocating the correct time and periods according to departmental prescription, introducing fixed test periods and avoiding unnecessary encroachment upon lesson periods, this will have to be monitored and continuously reviewed by the principal by analyzing "How official time has been spent in the day? How well the time scheduled for specific activities was followed? What activities actually consumed the largest amount of time? How much the priority list and estimated time allocation maintained?" [8]. However, the pressure of administrative duties if not effectively managed could pose challenge to the school principals in performing the task of instructional supervision [18].

Principals' instructional time management and teachers' tasks performance
Teachers' instructional tasks are professional duties performed which among others include preparation of lesson notes in line with the curriculum, classroom management and students' engagement in learning activities, assessment of learning outcome, marking of students' exercises, and diagnosis of students' learning problems to achieve the set educational goals. However, in a study by Ibrahim and Mohammed [19] on effective utilization of instructional time by secondary school teachers in Northern Region, Ghana found that teachers' absenteeism, inadequate preparation, poor teacher-student relationship and teacher involvement in social ceremonies during official hours were factors impeding total utilization of instructional time.
The success of teachers' instructional performance could depend largely on principal's effectiveness in instructional time management. Effective time management involves proper target setting, identifying necessary tasks, and scheduling appropriate human and material resources in performing goal-directed activities in accomplishing the set targets [20,5]. Effective utilization of instructional time reinforces the teachers' content-knowledge and pedagogical skills in classroom instruction [21].
The principal is expected to lead instructional activities by guiding teachers in the choice of appropriate teaching techniques, selection of content knowledge and using the SMART approach in setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound goals, and monitoring learning activities to ensure effective implementation of the curriculum for quality education and students' academic success. Using supervision book, continuous classroom observations, coaching inexperienced teachers and interacting professionally with experienced teachers to improve their competence can further boost instructional tasks performance.

Principals' instructional time management and students' academic performance
Student's academic performance is the outcome of education and commonly measured by examinations or continuous assessment to determine the extent to which a student has achieved the set educational goals. Students' academic performance seems to increase when instructional time is well managed [22]. Prioritization of learning tasks would no doubt make studying and school work less burdensome, less stressful and more enjoyable for students. Academic stress occurs when students feel the pressure of memorizing for examinations, hurriedly solving homework and getting minimal rest because of overloaded and unorganized learning activities.
Effective instructional time management fosters students' academic success [23]. The study conducted by Kayode and Ayodele [24] on the impact of teachers' time management on students' academic performance in secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria revealed that there was a significant relationship between teachers' time management and students' academic performance. The level of teachers' time management and academic performance was moderate. It was therefore recommended that teachers should improve upon their time management, especially by being more conscious about how to control their time. This is a function of effective coordination, supervision and control of teaching and learning activities by the school principal.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In Nigeria, stakeholders in the education sector had been expressing deep concern on the relatively low level of students' academic performance reflected in the percentage of those who obtained five credit level passes and above in subjects including English Language and Mathematics in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations, which has often been below 50%. This seems to have been caused by the perceived inadequacies in teachers' instructional tasks performance which has been partly attributed to the perceived gaps in principals' instructional time management in secondary schools. The task of managing the school poses challenges to the school principals, which manifest in the limited time used to coordinate teaching and learning activities, and build teachers' capacity for effective curriculum delivery.
Personal observation as a former Inspector of Education in Ondo State Quality Education Assurance Agency and experience during supervision of undergraduate students on teaching practice revealed that principals' work day appears to be very demanding and filled with unscheduled interruptions by visitors and administrative duties that require prompt attention; consequently many principals seem to be inconsistent in instructional time management and less visible in classroom instructional supervision. These perceived inadequacies could be due to principals' improper planning, poor delegation of work, and excessive administrative workloads, prolonged staff meetings, inadequate learning resources and shortage of teachers among others. The observed inadequacies seem to make principals ineffective in instructional time management and are perhaps responsible for the shortcoming in teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools.
The perceived inadequacies in principals' instructional time management create loopholes in the teaching-learning process and appear to be responsible for the teachers' and students' misuse of instructional time, irregular class attendance, neglecting class assignments, picking phone calls, and pinging on social networks. All these have negative implication on teachers' instructional performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools. It is against this backdrop that this study investigates principals' instructional time management and its implication on teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State, Nigeria.

Research questions
The following questions were raised to guide this study: a. What strategies are adopted by principals in instructional time management in secondary schools in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State? b. What is the level of teachers' effectiveness in instructional task performance in secondary schools in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State? c. What is the level of students' academic performance in secondary schools in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State?

Research hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. a. There is no significant relationship between principals' time management strategies and teachers' instructional task performance in secondary schools. b. There is no significant relationship between principals' instructional time management and students' academic performance in secondary schools. c. There is no significant relationship between teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools.

Research method
The study adopted the descriptive survey and ex post facto research designs. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select three (3) Local Government Areas out of the six (6) Local Government Areas in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State. Respondents comprised 30 principals and 600 teachers randomly sampled from 30 public secondary schools. Three research questions were raised and three hypotheses were also formulated. Data were collected using "Principals' Instructional Time Management Questionnaire" (PITMQ), and "Students' Academic Performance Proforma" (SAPP). The instrument utilized a five-point Likert rating scale classified as Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Fairly Agree (FA), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) with value of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively.
The part 'A' of the instrument was completed by teachers and covered variables such as school time-table, goals setting, time book, performance monitoring, evaluation, feedback and review, delegation of duties, and sanction of defaulters of time. The part 'B' of the instrument was completed by the principals and covered variables such as adherence to time, preparation of lesson notes, instructional delivery, students' participation, coverage of syllabus, students' discipline, restriction of interference, marking of scripts and The research instrument was validated by experts in the Department of Educational Management, and Test and Measurement Unit, Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed through test and re-test of the instrument at two weeks interval in two schools outside the Local Government Areas of the study. This yielded a correlation co-efficient of 0.84 that indicated high reliability of the questionnaire items constructed.
The researcher was assisted by two trained research assistants who helped in the administration of questionnaires in the sampled schools while completed questionnaires were collected from the respondents on the same day. The few respondents who could not fill the questionnaire on the spot were given opportunity till the next day when the researcher visited their schools to collect completed questionnaire. The administration of the instrument took four (4) working days. This method ensured 100% rate of return of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequency count, percentage and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to determine the strength of relationship between independent and dependent variables.. The result was held significant at 0.05 levels, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.

RESULTS
The results and discussions of data analyses are presented in two parts. The research questions were analyzed descriptively using frequency counts and percentage while inferential statistics: Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) was used to test the hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05. The results are presented in tables 1 -6.

Research question one:
What strategies are adopted by principals in instructional time management?. Data on participants' responses on principals' instructional time management are presented on Table 1 and Figure 1.
The analysis of data on Table 1 and Figure 1, showed teachers' ratings of principals' time management strategies. Data on strongly agree and agree were combined to determine percentage points for principals who were very effective in prioritizing school goals (54%), use of school time book (90%), lesson attendance time-book (62%), periodic reports (54%), instructional review (60%), and sanctioning defaulters of time (53%). However, principals were ineffective in the following time management strategies: planning school time table (26.7%), monitoring teachers' tasks (39%), evaluating teachers' instructional tasks (35%), and delegation of duties (34%).

Research question two:
What is the level of teachers' effectiveness in instructional tasks performance?. Data on participants' responses on the level of teachers' effectiveness in instructional tasks performance are presented on Table 2 and Figure 2. Analysis of data on Table 2 and Figure 2 showed principals' ratings of teachers' instructional tasks management in secondary schools. Data on strongly agree and agree were combined to determine percentage points for teachers who were very effective in adherence to school time table (56.6%), preparation of lesson notes (60%), instructional delivery (56.7%), stimulating students' participation (66.7%), coverage of syllabus (66.7%), preparation of students for examinations (63.3%), students' discipline (56.7%), and restriction of interference (53.3%), while tasks that were least performed by teachers included marking of students' exercises (46.6%), and feedback to students (46.7%).

Research question three:
What is the level of students' academic performance in secondary schools? Data generated on students' academic performance were analyzed on Table 3. Data presented in Tables 3, showed weighted  average and analysis of students' academic performance for three academic sessions (2014 -2016). The result indicated that 41.12% of the candidates met the baseline standard (obtained five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics). This implied that the level of students' academic performance is still below average in secondary schools in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State.

Hhypothesis one:
There is no significant relationship between principals' instructional time management strategies and teachers' instructional tasks performance in secondary schools. The weighted average of data generated from 600 respondents on principals' instructional time management was correlated against teachers' instructional tasks performance in 30 public secondary schools as presented on Table 4. The result in Table 4 above showed that the r-value (0.622) at p<0.05 is significant. This implied that there is significant relationship between principals' time management strategies and teachers' instructional tasks performance. Therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho) of no significant relationship is rejected while the alternate hypothesis (Ha) is accepted.

Hypothesis two:
There is no significant relationship between principals' time management and students' academic performance in secondary schools. The weighted average of data generated from 600 respondents on principals' instructional time management was correlated against students' academic performance in 30 public secondary schools as presented on Table 5.
Result on Table 5 shows that the r-value (0.702) at p<0.05 is significant. This indicated that there is a significant relationship between principals' time management strategies and students' academic performance in secondary schools. The null hypothesis (Ho) of no significant relationship is therefore rejected while the alternate (Ha) hypothesis is accepted.

Hypothesis three:
There is no significant relationship between teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools. The weighted average of data generated from 600 respondents on teachers' instructional tasks performance was correlated against students' academic performance in 30 public secondary schools as presented on Table 6. Result on Table 6 shows that the r-value (0.587) at p<0.05 is significant. This implied that there is a significant relationship between teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools. The null hypothesis (Ho) of no significant relationship is therefore rejected while the alternate (Ha) hypothesis is accepted.

Discussions
Result on Table 4 shows a significant relationship between principals' instructional time management and teachers' instructional tasks performance; this result may be premised on the results obtained in Table 1, which indicated that principals were effective in prioritizing school goals (54%), use of school time book (90%), lesson attendance time-book (62%), periodic reports (54%), instructional review (60%), and sanctioning defaulters of time (53%). The principals effectiveness has positive influence on teachers' effectiveness in instructional tasks performance as indicated in Table 2, which reflected adherence to school time table (56.6%), preparation of lesson notes (60%), instructional delivery (56.7%), stimulating students' participation (66.7%), coverage of syllabus (66.7%), preparation of students for examinations (63.3%), students' discipline (56.7%), and restriction of time interference (53.3%), This was supported by Dalli [25] that principals' time management strategies correlated with teachers' productivity in secondary schools.
The result obtained on hypothesis two revealed a significant relationship between principals' instructional time management and students' academic performance. The majority of principals ensured instructional review (60%), and sanctioned defaulters of time (53%). Also, hypothesis three revealed that there is a significant relationship between teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance. The majority of teachers were effective in instructional delivery (56.7%), stimulating students' participation (66.7%), coverage of syllabus (66.7%), and preparation of students for examinations (63.3%), which impacted positively on students' academic performance. This finding was supported by Kayode and Ayodele [24] that principals' time management strategies predicted students' academic performance in Ekiti State secondary schools. This study is also supported by Mercanlioglu [26] who stated that effective commitment of teachers to the instructional time allocation enhances students' academic performance in secondary schools.
The study also revealed that some factors are inimical to principals' effectiveness in instructional time management. The findings in Table 1 indicated that principals were ineffective in planning school time table (26.7%), monitoring teachers' tasks (39%), evaluating teachers' instructional tasks (35%), and delegation of duties (34%). These are perhaps responsible for the low level of teachers' instructional tasks performance in the marking of students' exercises (46.6%), and feedback to students (46.7%) as indicated in Table 2 and Figure 2. The inadequate coordination of the planning of the school time-table by principals could cause undue influence and preferential treatment by the time-table committee in the allocation of time and periods for their subjects and associates, which could undermine the appropriate placement of core subjects like mathematics, physics and other practical based subjects on the time-table.
The noticeable inadequacies in principals' instructional time management could be partly attributed to factors such as procrastination and other time wasters which Achunine [8] mentioned as factors that impede principals' effective time management and teachers' job performance in schools. The observed inadequacies could be responsible for procrastination, lack of proper planning and non-prioritization of learning tasks by students in schools [27]. This has perhaps impacted negatively on students' academic performance which is still relatively low as reflected in the weighted average of 41.12% of the candidates in secondary schools in Ondo North senatorial district of Ondo State, Nigeria that met the baseline standard (obtained five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics) required for securing admission into higher institutions in Nigeria.

CONCLUSION
Principals' effectiveness in time management in secondary schools determined the level of teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance. It can be concluded that most principals were effective in the use of time management strategies such as prioritization of school goals, enforcement of discipline, use of school time book, lesson attendance time-book, periodic reports, instructional review, which enabled teachers to plan their duties and work towards the attainment of the set goals. However, inability of many principals to delegate administrative duties, monitor and evaluate teachers' instructional tasks will no doubt hamper principals' effectiveness in instructional time management in secondary schools.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Principals should give desired priority attention to the planning of school time table, monitoring and evaluation of teachers' instructional tasks performance to improve the level of teachers' adherence and commitment to school time table, instructional delivery, coverage of the syllabus and students' academic performance in secondary schools.
Principals should adopt time saving approach through teamwork to facilitate instructional delivery, prompt marking of class exercises and feedback to students.
Principals should delegate duties to competent teachers to reduce administrative workloads, and improve the level of principals' commitment to monitoring and evaluation of instructional activities to ensure effective time management in secondary schools.
The State Ministry of Education should organize capacity development seminars/workshops for principals and teachers to enhance their level of effectiveness in instructional time management so as to improve coordination, teachers' instructional tasks performance and students' academic performance in secondary schools.