Abstract:
Young people are considered as the
cogwheels of development in any society.
Therefore, educators and parents wish that
students, who will ultimately be the future
leaders and professionals, prosper
academically. Nationally there has been a
decline in academic achievement in
secondary schools as indicated by the
available statistics and Nairobi City
County has not been left behind. Research
indicates that attitude is considered as an
important determinant of student’s
achievement in an education setting. It is
therefore necessary that learning
institutions establish and clarify the cause
of good academic achievement. This study
sought to examine whether variation in age
influences locus of control and attitude
towards academic achievement in public
secondary school Nairobi County Kenya.
The study was grounded on the
functionalist theory by Katz (1960). The
study employed correlational research
design. The target population was 6460
form three secondary school’s students
from Nairobi City County. Stratified
random sampling was used to divide the
schools into three strata namely boys
boarding, girls boarding and mixed day
schools. Simple random sampling was
used to select 7 public schools; 2 boys
boarding, 3 girls boarding and 2 mixed day
schools. Simple random sampling was
used to select 385 form three students (208
boys and 167 girls) through proportionate
allocation. The research instruments
comprised of Rotter’s locus of control
scale -internal versus external (I-E) scale
control, and academic attitude scale. The
tools were administered after piloting to
establish their suitability. Data was
analyzed using both descriptive
(percentages and mean) and inferential
statistics (Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis
of variance and t-test). The findings
showed that age negatively correlates with
both attitude and locus of control scale
scores, but these relationships were very
weak and not significant at 0.05 level of
significant. Policy recommendations were
made with regard to creation of awareness
and sensitization on the relationship
between locus of control and attitudes
towards academic achievement in learners.
Further research was made in relation to
inclusion of other variables such as
culture, social economic status so that it is
clear whether disparity in these variables
affect the locus of control and attitudes
towards academic achievement in learners.
Key Words: Locus of control and attitude,
Academic achievement, Variation in age.
