Exploring the Mediation Effect of Instructional Practice on Teachers' Competencies and Students' Academic Achievement in Ethiopian Secondary Schools

Exploring the Mediation Effect of Instructional Practice on Teachers' Competencies and Students' Academic Achievement in Ethiopian Secondary Schools | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Exploring the Mediation Effect of Instructional Practice on Teachers' Competencies and Students' Academic Achievement in Ethiopian Secondary Schools Mengistu Abebayehu Sarba¹, Berhanu Mekonnen Yimer, Alemayehu Bishaw This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6681427/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The intent of this study was to investigate the effects of teachers’ competencies on students' academic achievement in Hawassa City's government secondary schools. The researchers used a descriptive survey design within a quantitative framework. The entire sample includes 415 teachers from different fields such as mathematics, English, and sciences, with 196 randomly chosen to participate. A 5-point Likert scale was used to score responses to a closed-ended questionnaire. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive and inferential analyses (ANOVA, multiple regression) revealed that teachers’ competencies significantly predicted academic achievement (β = 0.344, p < 0.001), with instructional practice acting as a partial mediator (ΔR² = 0.032, p = 0.007). The Sobel calculator also used to test the indirect effects of teachers’ competences on students’ academic achievement. Its’ result showed instructional practice contributed to 21.8% of the total effect (Sobel test, z = 2.42, p = 0.015). The result showed that instructional methods play a substantial role in determining student results. The findings underscore the need for targeted professional development to enhance teachers’ competencies and instructional strategies, thereby improving student outcomes. teacher competence pedagogical knowledge content knowledge instructional practice academic achievement mediation analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6681427","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":517661292,"identity":"5db504a5-0819-41c9-850a-c5a514cd33b5","order_by":0,"name":"Mengistu Abebayehu Sarba¹","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABC0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQY2CIMZTNoAMWPjAWK1MDYwMKSBtDQQqYUBrOUwmIVXC//s5mMPfubY5Mm7sz9/zFNz3m5t+2GgLTU20TgtuXMs3bB3W1qx4WEew2aeY7eTt51JBGo5lpbbgEvPjRwzCd5thxM3NvMwNvOw3U42OwDUwthwGKcW+Rv53yT/bvsP1ML+sJnn37lks/MP8WsxuJHDJs277UDifGYGw2betgN2ZjcI2GJ455i5sey25MQNzDyGM+f2JSeY3QDakoDHL3K3m589fLvNLnF+//EHH958s7M3O5/+8MGHGhvc3oe78ACETgSrTCCkHATkoYbaE6N4FIyCUTAKRhYAAOJsaCwzBcOEAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Dilla University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mengistu","middleName":"Abebayehu","lastName":"Sarba¹","suffix":""},{"id":517661293,"identity":"edbe73d7-ff8a-47db-a9f1-86c720bd2375","order_by":1,"name":"Berhanu Mekonnen Yimer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Dilla University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Berhanu","middleName":"Mekonnen","lastName":"Yimer","suffix":""},{"id":517661294,"identity":"d0e0fc11-a07b-4b5c-a1e2-21717fed26fc","order_by":2,"name":"Alemayehu Bishaw","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bahir Dar University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alemayehu","middleName":"","lastName":"Bishaw","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-16 14:08:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6681427/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6681427/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91819181,"identity":"34e39bce-8db2-45eb-b4d8-48d456b98133","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-22 07:06:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":532881,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptforDiscoverofEducationjournal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6681427/v1_covered_e20b5d99-c5c5-4253-bf8e-c39ed1fd2a43.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Exploring the Mediation Effect of Instructional Practice on Teachers' Competencies and Students' Academic Achievement in Ethiopian Secondary Schools","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"teacher competence, pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, instructional practice, academic achievement, mediation analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6681427/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6681427/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The intent of this study was to investigate the effects of teachers’ competencies on students' academic achievement in Hawassa City's government secondary schools. 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