SCHOOL COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS IN STATE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN NORTH WEST ZONE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined school-community relations and institutional effectiveness in colleges of education in North-West Zone, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research designwas employed. The population of the study consisted of 99 administrators (Deans and Heads of Department) and 3,658 lecturers making a total of 3757 participants that cut across the entire seven state-owned colleges of education in North-West, Zone, Nigeria. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select a total of 368 participants across the sampled five colleges. Data were collected using two well validated researcher developed instruments titled: (i) School Community Relations Rating Scale (SCRRS) and (ii) Institutional Effectiveness Rating Scale (IERS). Content validity index of School Community Relations Rating Scale (SCRRS) is 0.86 and Institutional Effectiveness Rating Scale (IERS) is 0.78. Test-retest method at two weeks interval was used to establish reliability indexes of 0.89 and 0.86 for SCRRS and IERS respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and regression analysis. Findings revealed a low level of institutional effectiveness in state-owned colleges of education in North West Zone.  Also a statistically significant relative contribution of school community relation on institutional effectiveness was revealed. School-community communication emerged as the most significant contributor on institutional effectiveness, followed by school-community collaboration and school-community use of resources in that order. The study recommended that, college administrators and policymakers should prioritize the implementation of comprehensive governance and quality assurance frameworks; Colleges should actively develop and maintain structured mechanisms for engagement with their surrounding communities.