The impact of teacher characteristics on performance in secondary school science subjects in Eldoret Municipality, Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to determine the impact of teacher characteristics on performance in secondary school science subjects in Eldoret Municipality in Kenya. Stratified random sampling was used to draw a sample of 14 head teachers, 49 teachers and 289 form three students. Stratification was based on the schools’ performance in KCSE science subjects for the period 2001-2005 to obtain 7 low performing and 7 high performing schools. The purpose of the study was to find out the influence of teacher factors of: age, motivation, experience, competence, and methods of teaching on performance in sciences. The study was significant as performance in science subjects has been poor for a long time in Eldoret Municipality. Most students’ score below grade C- in science hence do not proceed to do science–based careers. Data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse and summarise the data. T- test was used to test for significant differences between means of low performing and high performing schools. Correlation was used to show relationships between performance and the research variables. The findings showed that the impact of competence and motivation of teacher as well as teaching method was significant but other factors such as attitude, qualifications and experience of teacher were not significant.