Secondary Education Examination Research Articles

What do music listening tests assess? Applying the Rasch testlet models to the HKDSE data

This study examines the adequacy of a general proficiency in music listening for describing how examinees responded to exam questions on various music genres based on an empirical investigation of a public music listening examination. In the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), Music consists of three mandatory components: listening, performing, and creating. Notably, the listening component is evaluated through a written examination, allowing for objective scoring. A candidate’s performance on this exam has been summarized as a single score, a method that is effective for evaluation purposes, while the underlying conceptualization may oversimplify the depth of knowledge required for assessment. Consequently, we conducted a reevaluation of the HKDSE Music listening test, employing the Rasch testlet model to explore potential multidimensional structures. Our findings highlighted distinctive attributes in questions related to Cantonese opera, setting them apart from others. We discuss the implications of these findings for music assessment.

Influence of teachers’ appraisal on teaching methods on students’ academic performance in public schools for Kenya certificate of secondary education

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has declared that education is fundamental human rights to the well-being of any society. Therefore, the study was motivated by the need to improve students’ academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination, a case in Laikipia County, Kenya. The study was guided by one objective. To examine how appraisal of teachers teaching methodology influences students’ performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Laikipia County. The study targeted 94 public secondary schools which comprises of 94 principals and 1100 teachers in Laikipia County. Purposive sampling was used to select 45 principals while simple random sampling was used to select 300 teachers. Questionnaires were used to collect data from principals and teachers. The findings of the null hypothesis there is no significant relationship between teacher appraisal on teaching methods and students’ academic performance using Chi square test was = 0.9625 3.84l. The null hypothesis was rejected hence there is a significant relationship between teacher appraisal on teaching methods and students’ academic performance. The study recommends TSC to establish, amend, the current appraisal process and provide professional development growth of teachers to enable them to be motivated when preparing and planning for instruction. To teachers, there is need to have high levels of commitments in preparation and planning, use of relevant teaching /learning materials and use diverse methods which leads to quality teachings and learning process in all classes

Influence of Teaching and Learning Resources Provided by BOM on Students’ Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools of Kisii Central Sub County, Kenya

Despite interventions by policymakers and implementers in instituting BOM so as to ensure the delivery of quality education in Kenya, performance in some schools has remained poor. According to the Sub County director of education, Kisii has witnessed very poor performance in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination over the years. To address the situation, the Kisii Central County Education office conducted workshops to capacity-build the BOM members from the entire County in relation to their roles in schools. It was for this reason that the study was to establish the influence of board of management practices on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools of Kisii Sub County. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population consisted of 53 public secondary schools in Kisii Central Sub County with 53 principals, 391 teachers, 689 members of the Board of Management, and 14,776 students. The sample size comprised 44 secondary school principals, 44 assistant teachers, 42 students and 248 members of the Board of Management. This constituted a total sample size of 378 respondents. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires as well as through interview schedules for the BOM members. A pre-test of the instruments was conducted in three schools using 38 respondents constituting 10% of the study sample. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, the mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation) by employing SPSS version 21.0 and excel computer packages. Qualitative data was organized into themes, and categories as they emerged from the field and presented in narrative form. The analysis of results revealed that teaching and learning resources, staff recruitment and incentives positively and significantly influence the academic performance of students in secondary school. The study recommended that in order to improve the academic performance of students in secondary schools, the BOM should ensure that they provide enough teaching and learning materials to schools to guarantee the performance of students in their academics, recruit competent teachers to improve the teacher-student ratio which is a necessary measure in improving the performance of students in academics, establish the most appropriate method of appreciating teachers and students so as to motivate them to work positively toward improving the academic performance of students

Analysis of Mathematics Performance Trends in Certificate of Secondary Education Examination, Tanzania, from 2015–2022: A projection for eight years

Mathematics is essential to life as everyone uses mathematical concepts daily. Many countries have advanced in science and technology by investing in mathematics. This study aimed to determine the trend of students who sat for the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) in mathematics from 2015 to 2022; analyse performance trends in mathematics during this period, examine mathematics failure rate trends, and project pass rates in mathematics for the next eight years, from 2023 to 2030. This study employed a quantitative research approach and an ex-post facto research design. Participants were 4,459,009 students who sat for CSEE from 2015–2022. Analysis from the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 26.0 revealed a consistent rise in student enrollment, with 136,481 more students by 2022. The pass rate was low, as the maximum was 20.12%, while failure rates consistently exceeded 78%. The findings indicated further that the pass rates would remain low from 2023 to 2030. The study recommends reviewing secondary school mathematics curriculum, increasing teaching and learning materials, providing regular in-service training in innovative pedagogical practices and assessment, and hiring more mathematics teachers in secondary schools.

Relationship between Principal’s Technical Skills and Students’ Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Mt Elgon Sub-County

Student academic performance in secondary level of education is essential as it is a determinant of their future pathway to tertiary education. The effective performance of students in academics is dependent on the technical leadership skills that their principal applies in leading their schools. Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations by public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County has been below average in recent years. The aim of this paper was to investigate how technical skills of principals affected the academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County, Bungoma County, Kenya. The study is anchored on descriptive survey research design targeting 17 public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County. A total of 256 teachers formed the study population. A sample size of 152 teachers was selected based on Kathuri and Pals table. The respondents were selected through use of stratified random sampling technique. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. To ensure validity and reliability the questionnaire was send to an expert in the pilot study and test- retest method was conducted respectively. Analysis of data was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of SPSS (Version 25.0) for quantitative data. It was established that there was significant weak positive relationship between principals’ technical skills (r=0.248, p=0.006) and academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County. The study concludes that there was significant weak positive relationship between principal’s technical leadership skills and performance by students in secondary schools (p<0.05). This meant that the technical leadership skills application by principals influenced academic performance of their schools. The study recommends that principals should undergo training on ICT use, principals to ensure that they provide instructional guidance to teachers and ensure that prudent financial management practices are implemented in their schools.

Student Assessment in Formal Education: Nepali Community School Teachers’ Perspectives

The present secondary level English curriculum of Grade 9 and 10 in Nepal has made the provision of 25 marks internal assessment system as part of summative evaluation. In this context, this study examines the existing internal assessment practices adopted by the English language teachers in the Secondary Education Examination of the community schools in Nepal. Employing the qualitative phenomenological research design, five secondary level English language teachers were selected purposively as research participants. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were used as tools for collecting data. The data were analyzed inductively as content analysis using the internal assessment criteria of participation, listening, speaking, and score from terminal examinations as determined by the curriculum as part of summative evaluation. The result was interpreted through the perspective of Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development and the theory of scaffolding in relation to the assessment for learning, assessment as learning, and assessment of learning. The prominence of assessment of learning as the dominant practice has resulted in the marginalization of the other two purposes of assessment. The findings of the study highlight the need for a more balanced approach that encompasses assessment for learning and assessment as learning, ensuring a comprehensive and holistic evaluation of students’ progress and development.

Pushing-in single-sex schools for enrichment of both enrolment and gender equity in STEM careers

BackgroundQuality education has been emphasized by the world Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) of the 17 goals the world set to achieve by 2030. According to the twenty-first century skills, quality education obliges to equip learners to compete in the twenty-first century job market. In addition to enriching enrolment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), leveraging of gender equity is indispensable.ObjectivesThis study revealed and processed data to guide education policy maker’s decisions that could ensure quality education. Thus, the study shall lead to shape educational practices leading to achieve SDG4 timelines.MethodologyThe authors studied results of the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) of 52 coeducations and six single-sex secondary schools in Mbeya city. Out of 52 co-education secondary schools, the researchers selected the best six secondary schools in performance and compared those to the six single-sex secondary schools.ResultsThe study revealed that, the six single-sex schools outperformed co-education schools. In addition, single-sex schools were richer of girls’ enrolment than coeducation schools in STEM education. Although, coeducation schools leveraged gender equity in STEM performance, but there was an acute drop of number of number of girls in coeducation schools.ConclusionThis study calls for awareness and seek for more insights into the acute girl’s school dropouts in best-performing coeducation schools, review of educational policies so that the world achieves SDG4 by 2030. Therefore, the study wide-opens that though challenged by many, single-sex schools are decent and remains an addition to achieve the SDG4.

Sociodiscursive imaginaries of digital influencers in the writing teaching for the brazilian national secondary education examination (Enem)

Resumo O avanço tecnológico proporcionou a criação de novos espaços de divulgação do conhecimento. Logo, discursos voltados para o ensino de escrita começaram a circular em plataformas digitais com o intuito de propagar conhecimentos relativos à escrita da redação do Enem. A partir disso, o objetivo deste estudo é delinear os imaginários sociodiscursivos que alicerçam o ensino de escrita da redação do Enem de influenciadores digitais, considerando a oferta da aprendizagem como uma mercadoria cultural. Para isso, utiliza-se uma abordagem qualitativa e explicativa, baseando-se na Análise do Discurso, de perspectiva francesa, sobretudo a partir de Charaudeau ( 2017 ), com contribuições pontuais da teoria crítica. Como corpus, foram selecionados três vídeos, tendo como critério as maiores visualizações no YouTube e a palavra-chave de busca: “redação Enem”. As análises apontam para uma movimentação de saberes de conhecimento que, ao serem tecidos, misturam a teoria sobre escrita de textos dissertativos com o manual do Inep e com as experiências próprias de cada influenciador com a prova discursiva do Enem. Esta proposta vaga de ensino de escrita revela uma objetificação do ato de escrever, transformando-o em produto a ser comercializado na medida em que, a partir da empiria, os influenciadores demonstram sucesso próprio no Enem.

Student Teachers’ Practices: A Case of English Language Teaching Classrooms

The primary purpose of carrying out the study was to explore English language teaching (ELT) practices adopted by the student teachers (STs) in their classrooms and to examine the effectiveness of teaching practice (TP) of Janapriya Multiple Campus (JMC), Pokhara Nepal. The information was collected through unstructured tools such as observation, questionnaire, and focused group discussion (FGD). The collected information was analyzed through qualitative methods. The STs were found punctual, dedicated, and responsible in their TP. They were found practicing various classroom activities such as language games, role plays, discussions, group works, pair works, translations, question and answer, and drillings during their TP. In addition, they also were found conducting various activities in the classrooms such as debates, storytelling, essay writing, quiz contests, and eloquence. Moreover, they also carried out a case study and wrote a report, prepared a Secondary Education Examination (SEE) model question, constructed various types of questions, observed three peers’ classes, and kept a record of their classroom activities and teaching materials. Completing all the required activities, the STs performed effectively during their TP. The findings of the study can be useful to make the TP more effective.

Effectiveness of Digital Technology in Geography Syllabus in Tanzania's Ordinary Secondary Schools

Despite the pervasive of digital technology in all aspects of teaching and learning materials Geography syllabus remains ineffective in its execution in Tanzanian’s Ordinary secondary schools. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of digital technology in the Geography syllabus in Tanzanian Ordinary secondary schools. The study focused on two objectives namely: To examine Geography topics that use digital technology instructional materials in Tanzanian’s Ordinary secondary schools and to compare the Geography topics that use digital technology instructional materials and the performance of the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination. The study used documentary analysis methods including analyzing the recent five years National Examination Reports; Candidate’s Item Response Analysis and current Geography syllabus. The data was analysed by using a quantitative approach where graphs; percentages and Spearman’s ranks order correlation coefficient techniques were applied. The findings revealed that the topics that used digital technology instructional materials in the Geography syllabus had satisfactory and moderate positive correlation coefficient between the topics that used digital technology instructional materials and the performance of the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination. The study recommended to unfold the Geography syllabus and then inculcate digital technology instructional materials for those topics that appeared to have inadequate digital instructional materials; to include all topics in the Geography Certificate of Secondary Education Examination particularly those using digital technology instructional materials and to use ‘Kiswahili’ as lingua franca language in digital technology instructional materials as teachers and students have pitfall in English language proficiency. The report concluded that, in order to pursue the utilization of digital technology in Geography syllabus educational philanthropists should be resilience to allocate sufficient funds in ordinary secondary schools in order to purchase digital facilities such as; computers, projectors, printers, television, radio, and smartphones and construct digital Geography classrooms with reliable in internet connectivity and electricity supply.

Teachers’ appraisal of classroom physical environment on students’ academic performance in Kenya certificate of secondary education in Laikipia county

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has declared that education is fundamental human rights to the well-being of any society. Therefore, the study was motivated by the need to improve students’ academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination, a case in Laikipia County, Kenya. The study was guided by one objective. To determine the extent to which appraisal of teachers on classroom physical environment influences students’ performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Laikipia County. The study targeted 94 public secondary schools which comprises of 94 principals and 1100 teachers in Laikipia County. Purposive sampling was used to select 45 principals while simple random sampling was used to select 300 teachers. Questionnaires were used to collect data from principals and teachers. The findings of the null hypothesis there is no significant relationship between teacher appraisal on classroom physical environment and students’ performance using Chi square test was (df=16, Pearson X2=233.083, p=0.005 at 0.05 significance level). The null hypothesis was rejected hence there is a significant relationship between teacher appraisal on classroom physical environment and students’ performance to both principals and teachers to enhance establishment of effective appraisal process and Teachers Service Commission to have a well-placed sound policy and include all stakeholders, well-defined criterion on how to appraise, promote and appoint competent and experienced principals because a number of them lack competency in appraisal process.

Enhancement of private schools for collaboration to address gender equity gap of STEM education: Case study in Mbeya city of Tanzania

Investment in education to guarantee gender equity in most developing countries has focused on modern teaching pedagogy, teaching and learning facilities, cultural issues and the likes. However, performance in private schools do set learnable examples of which if not ignored, a nation in question may take lessons and improve gender equity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Private secondary schools may serve as on way to enrich girls' enrolment in STEM for future career opportunities by scoring qualifiable grades in STEM subjects, provided that education investment environment not only favors public schools but also be in favor of private schools. In the study conducted in Mbeya city of Tanzania, the author investigated 58 secondary schools of which 32 were private schools. From these schools 7936 candidates sat for Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) of 2022 in Mbeya city. 2232 candidates were from private schools. The analysis indicated that more girls with a potential to enter into STEM education came from private schools, and it is about twice the number of girls from public schools regardless of more girls candidates from public schools. Chi-square testing of pass in STEM subjects between boys and girls verified that performance in private schools had no gender equity gap between boys and girls. On the other hand, boys outperformed girls in public schools. Moreover, an estimation of 2202 candidates of which 999 were girls had at least a minimum pass in basic mathematics. Private schools contributed 626 (63%) of passes in basic mathematics. Thus, appropriate collaboration with private schools might revamp not only girls’ enrolment but also clear gender equity gap in performance of STEM subjects if policy makers in education investment can do more improvement in the environment for education investment through private schools.

Library Resources as Predictor of Students’ Learning Outcomes in Physics at Secondary Schools in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects play a critical role in a country’s socio-economic development. Low learning outcomes in Physics mean that students cannot participate positively towards the economic development of the country. Teaching and learning resources including library resources, can help improve students’ learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the management of library resources and students’ academic achievement in Physics at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya. The study utilised quantitative methods, specifically descriptive research design, where questionnaires and documentary analysis served as instruments of data collection. The respondents of the study were 268 students, 24 teachers and 24 library assistants. Data was analysed with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings were presented using tables, figures, and thematic discussions. The findings of the study indicated that the management of library resources had a statically significant effect on student’s academic achievement in Physics. The number of students who sat in the library at once had a statistically significant effect on students’ academic performance at KCSE examinations (β=0.616, p<0.05), and the number of reference books a student was able to access in the school library also had a positive effect on students’ academic performance (β=0.203, p<0.05). The number of times a student went to the school library in the past week to study Physics without the assistance of the librarian had a significant effect on students’ academic performance. (β=0.0.029, p<0.05) while the number of different Physics textbooks that a student was able to access in the library revealed a positive effect on students’ academic achievement (β=0.203, p=0.05). Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that library resources were a significant predictor of student’s academic achievement in Physics at the KCSE examination. From the foregoing conclusion, the study recommended that school boards of management and other stakeholders should focus on improving the management of library resources for enhanced students’ academic achievement in Physics at the KCSE examination.

How sociocultural factors mediate washback effect: a study of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination English Language Paper 4

The study explores the unaddressed washback on the English-speaking test of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE-English Language Paper 4). The HKDSE is a university entrance exam in Hong Kong which includes a group discussion speaking test known as English Language Paper 4. To identify ongoing washback effects, including sociocultural perspectives, the study analyses ongoing student washback of test-specific and non-specific preparation and how the mediating factors affect these preparations. One-hundred and ninety-nine secondary 4th to 6th grade students provided the questionnaire data in two rounds. Results from exploratory factor analysis indicate six major types of test preparation, which are categorised as two test specific, three non-specific, and one integrated type of preparation. Mediating factors comprise five categories of learner characteristics and stakeholders in and out of school. The cluster analyses identified four students’ groups intertwined with the involvement of washback and the mediating factors. A strong relationship between extrinsic factors and explicit learning and intrinsic factors and implicit learning was found. The study concludes that students’ washback is affected by mediating factors aside from the test; learning method choice by students (e.g. learning from entertainment content) has a strong relationship with specific mediating factors (e.g. interest in English).

Exploring gender-based effects of virtual laboratory against paper-based practices towards real chemistry practical in Tanzanian secondary schools

Gender inequality is strongly linked with poor performance in science and mathematics for female students in secondary schools owing to socio-economic and cultural issues as well as learning strategies. According to the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination results of 2021 in Tanzania, the failure rate for female students was higher than that for male students, and such failure in chemistry was associated with inadequate knowledge about the tested concepts, failure to identify the requirements of the respective questions and lack of adequate mathematical skills. Real practical sessions are integral parts of chemistry to enhance the learning environments for both female and male students. However, the real laboratory practices especially for chemistry are challenged with the costs of the construction of physical laboratory infrastructure and reagents, and the time-consuming and physical demands on personnel during real practical sessions. Thus, this study explores gender-based effects of the chemistry virtual laboratory against a paper-based approach towards a real chemistry practical in Tanzanian secondary schools. The results indicate that the combined exposures of virtual laboratory and paper-based practicals improve real practical performance for both female and male students. Moreover, the performance of real practical practices progressively improved for female students when they were first exposed to the virtual laboratory and then the paper-based practical. Such improvements can be associated with the virtual laboratory providing interactive learning environments which support female students to connect and engage.

Performance Analysis of Students in Nawalparasi Based on SEE Results in 2078 BS

The primary objective of this study was to examine students' gender-wise performance in different subjects of SEE results, the average grade point of each subject, and the total grade points of all subjects in the SEE exam in 2078 in Nawalparasi district. The data for this study was obtained from the 2078 BS SEE exam results using secondary data collection methods. The data analysis technique of this study was descriptive statistics where correlation analysis, arithmetic mean, Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test of independence were used for data analysis. The study included the exam results of 13139 students from both private and public schools in Nawalpur district. There were 6654 male students (50.6%) and 6485 female students (49.4%) in the sample. The results indicated that the majority of the SEE participants students (97.9%) were between 13 to 21, and 34.7% were 16 years which is the maximum observed percentage of students. In 2078 BS, only 1.1% of students over the age of 21 participated in the SEE exam, according to the results.
 The results importantly show a significant association between the gender of students in Grade Point Average (GPA) of the SEE results in 2078 BS. The majority of the students had poor results in the SEE-2078 exam, as 56.3% of students secured less than 2.39 GPA, whereas no one obtained 4 GPA out of 4. Finally, the results indicate that the total grade point (TGP) of girls (2.53) is higher than boys in compulsory Nepali compared to male (2.59) students in the SEE results of 2078 BS in Nawalparasi district. The implication of this study would be beneficial to the Education Department of Secondary Education Examination (SEE), educators, researchers, policymakers, and parents to improve the overall GPA in SEE results.

Application of Discriminant Analysis to Predict Students’ Performances in Mathematics in Advanced Secondary Schools

This quantitative study aimed to use discriminant analysis procedures, to develop a classification model to be used for prediction, to predict students’ performances in Mathematics in advanced secondary schools in Tanzania. The study was conducted in Iringa Rural District to model students’ performances in Mathematics in advanced secondary schools owned by the government. Secondary data of students’ performances in Mathematics of 126 students when they were form five in the year 2020/2021 were collected from academic students’ progressive reports and three distinct groups each contained 42 students’ performances were formed. The analysis was done by using R programming software and a seed of 66 was used during the data partitioning to create training and test datasets. The maximum posterior probability rule was used as a classification rule to assign students’ performances in Mathematics into three proposed groups which are: High, Medium and Low. The classification accuracy achieved by the classification model to classify students’ performances in the training dataset is 97.33%. During validation, the model achieved the classification accuracy of 96.08% to classify students’ performances in the test dataset. These findings imply that, the classification model is valid and reliable. Hence the model is convenient to be used for prediction, to predict students’ performances in Mathematics in Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations.

Influence of Institutional Characteristics on Learners’ Academic Achievement in Selected Public Day Secondary Schools in Kenya

Rapid growth in Education as an investment has necessitated and heightened interest in the determination of institutional influence on Learners’ Academic Achievement in Kenya. This is observed in regular Curriculum reforms in the recent past to align the curriculum to learners’ academic aspirations. This study sought to determine the extent to which teachers’ characteristics and teaching learning resources influence students’ academic achievement as measured by the Mean Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination score and grade. The sample size of 109 Teachers and 384 Learners was obtained from the targeted population of 2830 people. Ex-post Facto Design and Correlational Design were adopted in the investigation. Questionnaires for teachers and learners, interviews schedule and document analysis were utilized to gather data. The Questionnaire instrument reliability co–efficient of 0.8 for Teachers and 0.75 for Learners was obtained following a pre-test based on split half technique. Inferential and Descriptive statistics using Chi square interactive facilitated data analysis. The study showed that favourable institutional factors positively correlates with learners’ academic achievement and vice versa. The study recommended that Day school learning facilities and teacher-student ratio be improved as this will facilitate attainment of a higher mean score by learners in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations. Keywords: Institutional Characteristics, Students’ Academic Achievement. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-3-06 Publication date: January 31 st 2023

Socio-cultural factors on girls’ performance in Mathematics in the Kenya certificate of secondary education in Kathiani sub-county, Machakos county, Kenya

Introduction: In Kenya, Mathematics is a vital subject that is taught as a compulsory subject in basic education and as an optional subject at the tertiary education level. However, its performance by female students in Kenya has been lacking and especially at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) examination. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of socio-cultural factors on girls’ performance in Mathematics in K.C.S.E examination in Kathiani Sub- County. In particular, the study examined the location of the school and the teachers’ competence in Mathematics as the main variables. Methodology: This study used descriptive survey design that answers the questions how, what, when, and where about the phenomenon under investigation. The target population included all secondary schools for girls in Kathiani sub-County. The total enrolment of the girls constituted of the target population of the study. The target population of the study comprised of 1804 girls, 87 Mathematics teachers, and 32 principals of secondary schools. Results: The researchers established that students’ who moved least distance daily performed well compared to those who moved long distances. The study also established that teachers who are trained with high grades have been observed to produce students with good grades when compared to teachers who train to be teachers with lower grades. Recommendations: The study recommended that adequate measures should be put in place to have day schools at close proximity of the students. In addition, instructors should develop their own pedagogical methods that would meet the students’ needs for them to excel in the subject.

Influence of Institutional Characteristics on Learners’ Academic Achievement in Selected Public Day Secondary Schools in Kenya

Rapid growth in Education as an investment has necessitated and heightened interest in the determination of institutional influence on Learners’ Academic Achievement in Kenya. This is observed in regular Curriculum reforms in the recent past to align the curriculum to learners’ academic aspirations. This study sought to determine the extent to which teachers’ characteristics and teaching learning resources influence students’ academic achievement as measured by the Mean Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination score and grade. The sample size of 109 Teachers and 384 Learners was obtained from the targeted population of 2830 people. Ex-post Facto Design and Correlational Design were adopted in the investigation. Questionnaires for teachers and learners, interviews schedule and document analysis were utilized to gather data. The Questionnaire instrument reliability co–efficient of 0.8 for Teachers and 0.75 for Learners was obtained following a pre-test based on split half technique. Inferential and Descriptive statistics using Chi square interactive facilitated data analysis. The study showed that favourable institutional factors positively correlates with learners’ academic achievement and vice versa. The study recommended that Day school learning facilities and teacher-student ratio be improved as this will facilitate attainment of a higher mean score by learners in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations. Keywords: Institutional Characteristics, Students’ Academic Achievement. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/14-24-05 Publication date: December 31 st 2022