School Improvement in Ghana: Strategies Adopted by Heads of Junior High Schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, Ghana

The purpose of the study was to examine the strategies adopted by school heads in public junior high schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, Ghana. Specifically, the study was to identify the predominant change approach adopted and the area of focus for school improvement. A non-experimental descriptive study was conducted using questionnaire to collect data. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, group means, and ANOVA. The study revealed that even though the rational approach was the predominant approach adopted for school improvement, its adoption is not significantly different from the adoption of power-coercive approach. However, the study revealed that there was a significant difference between rational approach and reconstructive approach for school improvement and also a significant difference between power-coercive approach and reconstructive approach for school improvement. The study also revealed that school improvement efforts were mainly directed at the ecology of the school. The study was limited by the self-assessment technique employed to evaluate strategies adopted by school heads. In general, respondents in self-assessment tend to self-promote and may be unwilling to disparage their professional activities, believing that doing so may be personally detrimental. The study found the strategies adopted by the respondents to be largely ineffective in having protracted changes in the school. Protracted changes should be anchored in the school’s culture utilizing reconstructive approach. Recommendations included the promotion of the concept of directed autonomy to enable the respondents create a change vision of their schools while being held accountable for their actions.