Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of head teachers’ motivational practices on teacher performance in public secondary schools in Kenya. The objectives of the study: to determine the influence of staff recognition; shared leadership by teachers; participation in staff development programmes; and head teachers’ support for the teachers on performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study design was descriptive survey involving 186 teachers and 32 head teachers from Koibatek district. The instruments comprised of a questionnaire and an interview guide. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and presented using tables and pie charts. Findings – Recognition of teachers and good working conditions enhance teachers’ performance. Shared leadership between teachers and head teachers has a positive effect on teacher performance Teachers’ professional growth enhances performance. The teachers who receive head teachers’ support such as teaching materials are more motivated enhancing performance. Research limitations/implications – Administrators of schools should often recognize teachers. The Board of Management, Teachers Service Commission, and head teachers should provide opportunities for shared leadership. The Quality Assurance and Standard (QAS) Directorate, need funds to engage teachers in in-service courses. Practical implications – Teachers should be supported by providing teaching resources and ICT, and be given opportunities for advancement by government agencies. Social implications – Teachers should be recognized through appreciation and other incentives during prize giving days and assemblies. Teachers be given responsibilities and freedom to act to develop abilities. Originality/value – The research shows teacher motivation as a means of enhancing performance for quality management.

Leadership practices promote accomplishment of goals in organizations. This paper focuses on the application of transformational leadership practices: Idealized influence, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation and Individualized consideration in curriculum implementation, Environmental Education (EE). The sample consisted of 183 teachers randomly selected from 30 secondary schools in Siaya County. A questionnaire was used in a descriptive survey research. The findings using the selected indicators were that head teachers: strived towards the collective goal of fulfilling a vision and were positive role models; had trust of teachers' ability; made decisions all the time; encouraged students to work hard; and organized meetings with other schools to achieve subject objectives.

Transformational leadership is an ideal characteristic which enables the principals to engage with followers and raise consciousness about the significance of specific outcomes and new ways in which those outcomes might be achieved. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of principals’ intellectual stimulation on student academic performance in Kenya Certificate Secondary Examination (K.C.S.E) in Makueni County, Kenya. The objective that guided the study was to: assess how the principals’ intellectual stimulation influences students results at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. with the hypothesis that there is no relationship between principals’ intellectual stimulation with students’ mean scores at Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Makueni County, Kenya. The study used transformational leadership theory by Burns (1978) which has four dimensions namely idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration; all of which are critical in determining academic achievement. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the relationship between the principal transformational with academic performance. The sample comprised of 111 principals, 729 teachers and 12 Ministry of Education officials drawn from 388 secondary schools. Questionnaires and interview guide were used to collect data. Validation of the questionnaires were through test re-test method and use of expert judgment. The coefficient value was 0.85 at alpha = 0.05. Data was analysed using both descriptive Pearson’s correlation coefficient that test showed a strong correlation for Intellectual stimulation and KCSE students’ mean scores. The result indicated a negative and strong correlation between intellection stimulation and students’ KCSE performance (r=-.195, p-value<0.05) respectively. It was concluded that principals’ collective sense of mission and valuing ideas of the followers increased performance. The following recommendations were made: KEMI to carry out transformational leadership seminars for the principals on intellectual practices. The Ministry of Education Policy makers should establish policies on transformational leadership. Teacher trainers especially the universities ought to review curriculum to include analysis of school managers and also have simulated situations.

Performance appraisal forms an important practice in human resource management. In Kenya, the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) has been used since 2012 as an appraisal approach to evaluate teachers’ performance. However, the effectiveness of performance appraisal in enhancing teacher productivity as reflected in students; academic achievement has not been documented in Kenya and remains questionable. In Migori County, student performance in KCSE examination has been comparatively low. The objective of this study was to analyse the influence of professional development appraisal on teacher performance among public secondary schools in Migori County. Specific objectives were to determine the level of teachers’ performance after evaluation, and to establish how appraisal of professional development influence performance of teachers. Descriptive survey design on a target population of 276 principals and 2961 teachers was employed in the study. Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table was adopted to derive a sample size of 342 teachers and 57 principals stratified based on school category population. Questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect data from teachers and principals respectively. The study found that there was a significant difference in the mean of teacher’s performance after appraisal and the category of teachers’ schools. The study also found that 64.1% changes in teachers’ performance is attributed to professional development appraisal (R2 =0.641), and that professional development appraisal (β=0.803) is a significant predictor of teacher performance {F (1, 278) =493.200, P<0.05}. The study concludes that professional development appraisal significantly contributes to performance of teachers in secondary schools.