The Impact of School Environment and Peer Influences on Students’ Academic Performance in Vihiga County, Kenya
Dr. Daniel K. Korir, Felix Kipkemboi

Abstract
The study examined the impact of school environment and peer influence on the students’ academic performance. The study assessed school environment factors and peer influences in terms of the level of psychological impact they have on learners. The study was based on Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which considers leaning as an interaction between environment, behaviour, and one’s psychological processes. The study used a correlation research design where school environment and peer influence constituted the independent variables whereas students’s academic performance was the dependent variable. Twenty-one public secondary schools in Sabatia District of Vihiga County were used in the study. The study subjects were selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect data on the school environment and the peer influence and school records were used to obtain students’ academic performance. Data were analyzed using multiple regression. The study established that school environment and peer influence made significant contribution to the students’ academic performance. It is hoped that the findings of this study will be useful to teachers, principals and parents to gain more insight into the psychosocial factors that affect students’ academic performance and therefore help improve their academic performance.

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