Exploring the Role of Educational Aspiration to Enhance the Mathematics Achievement of Secondary School Students

The present study was undertaken to explore the role of educational aspiration to enhance the mathematics achievement of secondary school students. Mathematics achievement was treated as the dependent variable, whereas educational aspiration (high, average and low) and demographic variable i.e. gender (Male & Female) were treated as independent variables. A descriptive survey method was employed for the present study. A sample of 400 students was taken using a multi-stage random sampling technique. Educational Aspiration Scale by Kumar (2012) [14] and Mathematics Achievement Test by Singh and Jaidka (2015) [23] were used to collect the data. Two-Way ANOVA with 3×2 factorial design was used to analyze the data. Levene's Test of Homogeneity of Variance was also applied to test the assumption of homogeneity of variance for ANOVA. It was found that there exists a significant effect of educational aspiration and gender on mathematics achievement of secondary school students. However, no significant interaction effect of educational aspiration and gender school was found. Teachers should provide personal attention and also proper guidance to the students with low mathematics achievement to utilize their energies in the right direction.