Motivation, leadership, and parental engagement: input and process factors influencing student achievement in Hawassa City Administration

This study looks at how teacher motivation, school leadership, parental involvement, and instructional resources affect student academic success in Ethiopian secondary schools. It uses a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. Quantitative data from 245 students and teachers were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and one-way ANOVA. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews and school documents to provide context for the findings. The results show that teacher motivation is the strongest predictor of student achievement (β = 0.42). This is followed by school leadership (β = 0.33) and parental involvement (β = 0.27). Instructional resources have a smaller impact (β = 0.18). ANOVA showed significant differences in achievement between schools with strong and weak leadership practices. Qualitative findings support these results. They reveal that motivated teachers and collaborative leaders create positive learning environments, while weak leadership leads to inconsistent instruction. The study also points out a mismatch between classroom assessments and national matriculation exams, highlighting systemic issues. The results are discussed using Expectancy-Value Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework, which focus on the various factors that influence academic success. The study ends with suggestions to improve teacher motivation, encourage shared leadership, align assessments, and boost parental involvement in schools with limited resources.