FACTORS THAT AFFECT STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF DIRE DAWA CITY ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to analyse the factors that affect students’ achievement in mathematics in secondary schools of Dire Dawa city. In undertaking the study descriptive survey method was used because it summarises data such as mean, standard deviation, variance and the correlation between variables. The study was carried out on 86 students, 11 mathematics teachers, 6 Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) members, 3 principals, 3 vice- principals of three secondary schools, 3 supervisors and 10 purposely selected families. This was done through simple random sampling techniques. Questionnaire, interviews and observation were employed for data collection. Data collected were coded and entered in to the computer for analysis using SPSS version-20 windows. Descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis. Reliability of the instrument was computed by using reliability statistics which was 0.7. The results of the data analysis were presented using mean, variance, standard deviation, percentage and chart. The study revealed that even if there is much emphasis on improving students’ achievement, still no considerable progress has been observed on parents’ attitude in the study area. According to the key finding of this study; mathematics reference books, student’s mathematics text book, students’ ability to use the knowledges they acquired in the lower class, parents attitude towards mathematics education were found to be the most contributing factor for low achievement in secondary schools in mathematics in the study. Again, the information students’ family had an influence on their children mathematics achievement. To alleviate the prevailing problems, there is a need to upgrade and check school facilities such as small size class-room, seating arrangement and other adequate resources alone cannot yield good results. Therefore, it is suggested that students’ background knowledge in mathematics, Dire Dawa Education Bureau should be more practical in this area of improvement.