DIGITIZED RECORD KEEPING PRACTICES, SCHOOL-BASED DECISION-MAKING AND ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated digitized record keeping practices, school based decision making and administrative effectiveness of senior secondary school principals in Lagos State, Nigeria.  To achieve this objective, one research question was answered and two hypotheses were tested. Population consisted of all Principals, Vice Principals (Administration), Education Maintenance and Information System (EMIS) Officers and teachers from 327 Public Senior Secondary Schools in the six Education Districts of Lagos State. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 101 principals, 101 vice principals (administration) and 101 EMIS Officers while simple random sampling technique was used to choose 505 teachers. The instruments used in collecting data were Administrative Effectiveness of Secondary School Principals Questionnaire (AESSPQ) (r = 0.812), School-based Decision-making Questionnaire (S_bDMQ) (r = 0.842) and Digitized Record-Keeping Practices Questionnaire (DRKPQ) (r = 0.955).All the instruments were also subjected to validity testing and taken through a pilot study. Findings of the study revealed that there is a negative and non-significant relationship between digitized records keeping practices and administrative effectiveness of public senior secondary school principals in Lagos State, Nigeria  (r = -.127, ρ < 0.05); school-based decision-making does not significantly relate with administrative effectiveness of public senior secondary school principals in Lagos State, Nigeria (r = -.059, ρ < 0.05);. On the basis of the findings, it was recommended among others that government at all levels should provide necessary support for implementing and maintaining digital record-keeping systems such as adequate infrastructure, ICT experts, and internet connectivity.