Influence of Teacher-Related Factors on Students Performance in Mathematics in Secondary School

This study investigated the influence of teacher related factors on students performance in Mathematics in Secondary school. The insight into the study arose from the recurrent poor performance of mathematics in Kenyan secondary schools. Specifically, the investigation was on the teaching methods used by teachers, teachers attitudes and assessment techniques. Participants were mathematics teachers randomly chosen from 20 schools in Mombasa County. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics where percentages and weighted means for the schools were used. The findings indicated that teachers assessed all cognitive domains of learning except creativity, imagination and data interpretation domains. The students difficulties were mostly sprung from their disabilities in representation and understanding of word problems, making a plan and defining the related vocabularies Therefore, to enhance mathematics learning, teachers need to be in-serviced on use of various teaching and assessment techniques. Teachers need to help students in interpreting mathematical questions by teaching them to look for a pattern, draw a picture and rewording the problems.