Data-Driven School Management and Mathematics Performance Improvement in Secondary Schools: Lessons from Nigeria and South Africa

This study examined the role of data-driven school management in improving mathematics performance in secondary schools in Nigeria and South Africa. The study was motivated by persistent concerns about students' low achievement in mathematics despite increasing emphasis on evidence-based educational leadership and accountability. Guided by the Data-Based DecisionMaking Theory, the study adopted a comparative mixed-methods research design. Data were collected from secondary school principals, vice-principals, mathematics teachers, and educational administrators using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analyses, while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that school leaders frequently employed data-driven management practices, including the analysis of mathematics examination results, monitoring of students' academic progress, data review meetings, and the use of performance data to identify low-performing students. The study further found a strong positive and statistically significant relationship between data-driven school management and mathematics achievement (r = 0.68, p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that data-driven school management significantly predicted mathematics performance and accounted for 46.4% of the variation in students' mathematics achievement (R² = 0.464). Despite these positive outcomes, the study identified several challenges affecting the implementation of data-driven decision-making, including inadequate technological infrastructure, limited data analysis skills among school leaders, insufficient professional development opportunities, and inadequate funding for data management systems. The findings also revealed that continuous professional development in data literacy, improved access to educational data systems, strengthened instructional leadership, and enhanced teacher collaboration were critical strategies for improving the effectiveness of datadriven school management. The study concluded that data-driven school management is an important factor in enhancing mathematics performance in secondary schools. It recommended increased investment in leadership capacity development, educational data systems, and technological infrastructure to strengthen evidence-based decision-making and improve mathematics learning outcomes in Nigeria and South Africa.