This mixed-methods study stems from the poor learner performance in secondary schools in Tororo District, Uganda, which connoted low teacher role performance and gaps in headteachers’ management styles. Management styles of 28 headteachers and role performance of 294 teachers were investigated. Headteachers mainly used democratic management style, 21 (75.0%); followed by balanced-oriented style, 6 (21.43%); and laissez-faire style, 1 (3.5%). Teachers’ role performance was moderate ( M = 64.75, SD = 10.80). Significant relationships existed between people-oriented ( r = .127, p = .029) and task-oriented ( r = .132, p = .024) management and teachers’ performance. Recommendations for improvement were advanced.

Quality institutional support and student-faculty interaction are critical to effective research engagement and efficient completion among higher education students. However, the research engagement of many postgraduate students in Uganda is characterised by low completion rates, longer stay on the journey, and high drop-out among others. In this interpretative phenomenological qualitative study using focus group discussions among Master of Education cohorts of 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 and seven key informant interviews among research advisors in Ugandan universities, the author explored gaps in institutional support and student-faculty interaction that negatively affected the students' research engagement. Findings revealed wanting institutional support in resources, operating procedures, organisation and communication, supervision, curricula, and student financing. Student-faculty interaction gaps included supervisor absenteeism and emotional and behavioural dereliction. Strategies to fix the gaps were also solicited. Recommendations for policy and practice were advanced.

The study examined parents' involvement (PI) and students' academic performance (SAP) in Ryakasinga Centre for Higher Education (RCHE) -Sheema district -Uganda. The objectives were to examine the effect of parenting, learning at home, and volunteering on students' academic performance in RCHE. The study was underpinned by Systems theory. The sample size was 117 with 43 teachers and 74 Form 4 students selected using simple random sampling giving a sample size of 117. The response rate was thus 93.6%. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. The findings revealed positive significant relationships between parenting (r=0.576**), learning at home (r=0.378**), and volunteering (r=0.519**). Regression analysis indicated significant prediction effects of parenting (t = 5.363, p< .05), learning at home (t = 3.11, p = 0.003), and volunteering (r=0.519**) on academic performance. The study concluded that communication was a major reason for success in SAP and that a good learning environment positively influences SAP. Recommendations for policy and practice are provided.

This chapter presents how differences in levels of research engagement arise with respect to levels of work-life balance and research skills proficiency among Master of Education students in Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among two cohorts of the students (N = 102). The work-life balance of the students was generally low (M = 107.48, SD = 23.56). Though the majority of the students, 94 (92.2%), reported high levels of proficiency in research skills (M = 68.96, SD = 10.44), they indicated low levels of communication skills. Significant differences in research engagement existed among the students of different religious affiliations (χ2 = 0.823, p = .05), marital statuses (U = 370.00, p = .027), and levels of research skills proficiency (U = 88.00, p &lt; .01). Implications for educational policy and practice include careful selection and training of adult learners at master's degree level, and staking the students in the research process through effectively imparting 21st century skills.