STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KATHIANI SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

The purpose of this study was to investigate strategic management practices and their influence on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Kathiani Sub-County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives: to determine the influence of vision setting on students' academic performance and to assess the influence of strategic leadership management on students' academic performance. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The instruments of research used in this study were questionnaire and interview schedules. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 11 Principals, 76 teachers and 422 students from the 31 Principals, 224 teachers and 1,240 students in the public secondary in Kathiani Sub-county. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. The data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and presented using tables and charts. Findings show that there was an insignificant relationship between strategic leadership and students' academic performance (r= 0.230, p-value=0.080) while the correlation between vision setting and students' academic performance was significant as depicted by (r= 0.662, p-value=0.000)