Relationship between Social Studies Teachers’ Knowledge of Subject Matter, Teaching Skills and Students’ Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Bauchi State

Abstract

This paper examined the relationship between perceived teacher competence and students’ academic performance in Bauchi State. Two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised 84,319,000 out of which a sample of 384 was chosen using cluster and proportionate sampling techniques. Survey and correlation research designs were adopted for the purpose of this study. Data was collected using a researcher made questionnaire.  Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation technique was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between teachers’ knowledge of the subject matter and students’ academic performance. Also, there is a significant positive relationship between teachers’ teaching skills and students’ academic performance. It was recommended that governments should ensure that knowledge of the subject matter is given high premium during interview and selection of new teachers.