Classroom behavioural management styles: Predictors of students' test performance

Abstract

This study examined the classroom behavioural management styles adopted by Senior High School (SHS) teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis and investigated whether these styles predicted students' test performance. A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed. Using stratified random sampling, 320 SHS students were selected from seven public schools, while classroom behavioural management data were obtained from Biology and Chemistry teachers using an adapted version of the Behavioural and Instructional Management Scale (BIMS). Students' academic performance was assessed using subject-specific achievement tests. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that the interactionalist classroom behavioural management style was the most commonly adopted approach among both Biology and Chemistry teachers, whereas none of the teachers was classified as non-interventionist. Although the interventionist classroom management style produced a slightly larger standardized regression coefficient (β = .343) than the interactionalist style (β = −.336), neither predictor was statistically significant (p > .05). Moreover, the regression model explained only 1.8% of the variance in students' test performance (R² = .018), indicating that classroom behavioural management style had limited predictive value for students' academic achievement. The study concludes that classroom behavioural management style alone does not significantly predict students' test performance.