Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Learning Context of Government-Assisted Adventist Secondary Schools in Ashanti Region, Ghana

Abstract

This paper is a subset of a more extensive study. The study explored stakeholders’ perceptions of the learning context in the academic performance of five government-assisted Adventist SHSs in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Tom Sticht’s Functional Context Learning Theory was conceptualized to guide the study by applying diagnostic, formative, and summative performance assessment modes. Through a descriptive research design, a sample size of 196 comprising management/teachers, pastors/church elders, parents (Adventists and Non-Adventists), and former students participated. Open-ended questions were used to collect stakeholder data, which were processed using frequency and percentage analysis. Secondary data on student performance were analyzed using a meta-proportional technique. The study’s outcomes confirmed low standard infrastructural facilities, ineffective monitoring, limited funding, and their adverse effect on academic performance in the less endowed Senior High Schools. Furthermore, the results showed that using the three modes of performance assessment reveals the deficiencies and strengths of the learning context more than a single test result would. The researchers recommend improved infrastructural standards, funding and effective monitoring of the less-endowed SHSs by the Seventh-day Adventist Church to make them more competitive.