Internal School Quality Assurance Practices and Students’ Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Muleba District, Tanzania: A Perception-based Survey

Abstract

Internal school quality assurance (ISQA) is the principal mechanism through which Tanzanian secondary schools are expected to monitor, evaluate, and improve teaching and learning. This study examined the relationship between ISQA practices and perceived students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools in Muleba District, Kagera Region. Guided by Total Quality Management theory, the study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 240 respondents, comprising 160 teachers and 80 members of school ISQA committees drawn from 16 public secondary schools, using a structured questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha = .89 for the ISQA scale and .84 for the achievement scale). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, and simple linear regression. Respondents rated ISQA implementation highly overall (M = 4.07, SD = 0.68). Record-based practices received the highest ratings, whereas feedback to teachers after supervision and professional support for instructional improvement received the lowest. ISQA implementation was positively correlated with perceived academic achievement, r(238) = .671, p < .001, and accounted for approximately 45% of the variance in the outcome, R² = .450, F(1, 238) = 194.73, p < .001. The findings indicate that ISQA in these schools operates more as a compliance and monitoring routine than as a mechanism for instructional development. Because both variables were reported by the same respondents in a cross-sectional design, the association is likely to be inflated by common method variance and does not support causal inference. Strengthening feedback and professional support may therefore warrant greater attention than further monitoring requirements.