Modelling the Nexus between Students’ Personnel Services and Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools: A Partial Least Square (PLS) Approach
Abstract
This study examined the nexus between student personnel services (health, guidance and counselling, and library services) and academic achievement in secondary schools with the particular interest to know the significant impact of these services on students’ academic achievement. Students’ personnel services are regarded as the cornerstones because of its undisputed role they play in ensuring smooth implementation of the school programs. Methodologically, this study is quantitative in nature and adopted a correlation survey method. Instrument titled: Students’ Personnel Services Questionnaires (SPSQ) were adapted from the previous studies. Stratified and  sampling techniques were employed to select the respondents for the study. A set of questionnaire were distributed to 235 students in selected secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government, Kwara State. Secondary data were used to measure the academic achievement. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Structural Equation Modelling (Smart PLS) were used to analyze the collected data. The results in this study reported the existence of a relationship between health services, guidance and counselling services, library services and students’ academic achievement. Thus, it can be concluded that when health services, guidance and counselling services and library services are well provided, it would enhance students’ academic performance. This indicates that student personnel services are an indispensable service and are very crucial to the attainment of secondary education. It is recommended that the provision of students’ services should be guided by the needs and aspirations of the schools and students concerned. Lastly, The implementation of the school programs should be given utmost priority so that it can benefit students who are the beneficiaries the services provided in the school.      Â
Keywords: Students’ Personnel Services, Library Services, Health Services, Guidance and Counselling Services, Academic Achievement.
References
Egbo B (2011) Teacher capacity building and effective teaching and learning: a seamless connection. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2(5):1-7.
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2004).4th Ed. National Policy on Education.Lagos, Nigeria.
Lewis TE (2010) Student services and educational leadership: The effect of student services staffing ratios on student achievement and dropout prevention in public schools. (Unpublished doctoral Dissertation). East Carolina University.
Ajegbomogun FO, Salaam MO (2011) The state of school libraries in Nigeria. PNLA Quarterly: the official Publication of Pacific Northwest Library Association, 75(3):241-253.
Al-Sinani Y (2013) Perceptions of multiple stakeholders on assessing the physical education program at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 4(6):906-916.
Mitra S (2009) Students’ support services in open schooling: a case study of students' needs and satisfaction in India. Open Learning, 24(3):255-265.
Alani RA, Okunola PO, Subair SO (2010) Situation analysis of student welfare services in universities in South-Western Nigeria: Implications for Students' Personnel Management Practice. Online Submission, 7(10):42-50.
Ogundele GA, Olanipekun SS, Aina JK (2014) Factors affecting students’ academic performance. Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN 2347-5374 (Online).
Lance KC, Hofschire L (2012) School Librarian Staffing Linked With Gains in Student Achievement, 2005 To 2011. Teacher Librarian, 39(6):15-19.
Wayne SJ, Fortner SA, Kitzes JA, Timm C, Kalishman S (2013) Cause or effect? The relationship between student perception of the medical school learning environment and academic performance on USMLE Step 1. Medical Teacher, 35(5):376-380.
Moses AA (2000) Staffing and institutional infrastructure. Higher Education Management, 9(3):127-138.
Hyde AA, Moore DR (1988) Reading services and the classification of students in two school districts. Journal of Literacy Research, 20(4):301-338.
Dukes C, Lamar-Dukes P (2007) Conceptualizing special education services in small learning communities. Urban Education, 42(5):412-431.
Walker K, Alloway N, Dalley-Trim L, Patterson A (2006) Counselor practices and student perspectives: Perceptions of career counseling in Australian secondary schools. Australian Journal of Career Development, 15(1):37-45.
Baker-Tate IM (2010) Organizational Commitment Patterns in Higher Education: A Study of Selected Midlevel Student Services Professionals. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, PO Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
Bolt SE, Decker DM, Lloyd M, Morlock L (2011) Students’ perceptions of accommodations in high school and college. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 0885728811415098.
Owens JS, Fabiano GA (2011) School mental health programming for youth with ADHD: Addressing needs across the academic career. School Mental Health, 3(3):311-322.
Valdez CR, Lambert SF, Ialongo NS (2011) Identifying patterns of early risk for mental health and academic problems in adolescence: A longitudinal study of urban youth. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 42(5):521-538.
Murray NG, Low BJ, Hollis C, Cross AW, Davis SM (2007) Coordinated school health programs and academic achievement: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of School Health, 77(9):589-600.
Lee RL (2011) The role of school nurses in delivering accessible health services for primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(19â€20):2968-2977.
Donnelly JE, Greene JL, Gibson CA, Sullivan, DK, Hansen DM, Hillman CH, Washburn RA (2013) Physical activity and academic achievement across the curriculum (A+ PAAC): rationale and design of a 3-year, cluster-randomized trial. BMC Public Health, 13(1):307.
Chen LJ, Fox KR, Ku PW, Taun CY (2013) Fitness change and subsequent academic performance in adolescents. Journal of School Health, 83(9):631-638.
Cooper P (2005) Life Before Tests: A district's coordinated health approach for addressing children's full range of needs. School Administrator, 62(9):25.
Bharadwaj P, Løken KV, Neilson C (2013) Early life health interventions and academic achievement. The American Economic Review, 103(5):1862-1891.
Gelfman MHB, Schwab N (2000) School health services after Cedar Rapids Independent school district v. Garret F. The Journal of School Nursing, 16(4):54-59.
Ludeman RB (2002) The role of student affairs and services in Higher Education: A practical manual for developing, implementing, and assessing student affairs programs and services.
Ch AH (2006) Effect of guidance services on study attitudes, study habits and academic achievement of secondary school students. Bulletin of Education & Research, 28(1):35-45.
McKenzie K, Murray GC, Prior S, Stark L (2011) An evaluation of a school counseling service with direct links to Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) services. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 39(1):67-82.
Rupani P, Haughey N, Cooper M (2012) The impact of school-based counseling on young people's capacity to study and learn. British Journal of Guidance & Counseling, 40(5):499-514.
Modo F, Sanni K, Uwah C, Mogbo I (2013) Guidance and counselling services in secondary school as coping strategy for improved academic performance of students in Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4):43-47.
Dwyer SC, McNaughton K (2004) Perceived needs of educational administrators for student services offices in a chinese context school counseling programs addressing the needs of children and teachers. School Psychology International, 25(3):373-382.
Thiede C, Essex EL, Massat CR, Kelly DC, Waller RJ, Lewellen K, Ormand T (2005) A macro approach to meet the challenge of No Child Left Behind. School Social Work Journal, 29(2):1-24.
Sheldon SB (2007) Improving student attendance with school, family, and community partnerships.The Journal of Educational Research, 100(5):267-275.
Openshaw L (2008) Social work in schools: Principles and practice. Minneasota, Guilford Press.
Sink CA, Akos P, Turnbull RJ, Mvududu N (2008) An investigation of comprehensive school counselling programs and academic achievement in Washington State middle schools. Professional School Counselling, 12(1):43-53.
Adewusi FA (2013) School libraries as panacea for mass failure in west African senior school certificate examinations in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(16):158-163.
Stone G, Ramsden B (2013) Library Impact Data Project: looking for the link between library usage and student attainment. College & Research Libraries, 74(6):546-559.
De Jager K (1997) Library use and academic achievement. South African Journal of Library and Information Science, 65:26-30.
Lance KC (2002) How School Libraries Leave No Child Behind: The Impact of School Library Media Programs on Academic Achievement of US Public School Students. School Libraries in Canada, 22(2):3-6.
Okiy RB (2004) The Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme and the development of school libraries in Nigeria: a catalyst for greater female participation in national development. Information Development, 20(1):43-50.
Maslow A, Herzeberg A (1954) Hierarchy of needs. A.H. Maslow. Motivation and Personality. Harper: New York.
Maslow AH, Stephens DC, Heil G, Bennis W (1998) Maslow on management. New York: John Wiley.
Parsad B, Alexander D, Farris E, Hudson L, Greene B (2003) High School Guidance.
Arinde MR (2010). Educational Services, Teacher quality and students’ academic performance In public senior secondary schools, North Central Zone, Nigeria (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department Of Educational Management, Faculty Of Education, University Of Ilorin, Ilorin).
Owate CN, Iroha O (2013) The availability and utilization of school library resources in some selected Secondary School in Rivers State. Educational Research and Reviews, 8(16):1449.
Toma BO, Oyebode T, Toma GI, Agaba E (2014) School Health Services in primary schools in Jos, Nigeria. National Open Science Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2(3):83-88.
Hair Jr, JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, Anderson RE, Tatham RL (2010) SEM: An introduction. Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective, 629-686.
Ringle R, Schury P, Sun T, Bollen G, Davies D, Huikari J, Schwarz S (2006) Precision mass measurements with LEBIT at MSU.International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 251(2):300-306.
Sassenberg K, Matschke C, Scholl A (2011) The impact of discrepanciesfrom ingroup norms on group members' well-being and motivation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(7):886-897.
Fornell C, Larcker DF (1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 2:39-50.
Chin WW, Gopal A, Salisbury WD (1997) Advancing the theory of adaptive structuration in the development of a scale to measure faithfulness of appropriation. Inf Syst Res, 8(4):342-367.
Chin WW (1998) The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. Modern methods for business research, 295(2):295-336.
Falk RF, Miller NB (1992) A primer for soft modeling. Ohio: The University of Akron Press.