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Investigation on the factors of poor performance of grade 12 learners in mathematics in secondary schools in Mpongwe district, Copperbelt province of Zambia

The objective of this study was to investigate on the factors leading to the poor performance in grade 12 Mathematics of leaners at secondary schools in Mpongwe District and to find ways to improve the performance. The data were collected using questionnaires administered to random samples of 38 Mathematics teachers, and 124 grade 12 learners. The statistical techniques used to analyse the survey data include the chi-square tests of independence and homogeneity, Kendall’s W and Cochran’s Q tests. All statistical tests were evaluated at the 5% significance level. All analyses were done using SPSS version 20. The results from the analysis of the survey data indicate that the answers given to most questions were homogeneous with respect to background variables. Cochran’s Q tests applied to questions allowing for multiple answers were all significant suggesting that the answers to these questions were not equally selected by the respondents. In addition, the study identified the factors leading to poor performance, and the actions to improve the performance in grade 12 Mathematics. The results of Kendall’s W tests were significant suggesting that there was an agreement among the teachers regarding the ranks of these factors (Kendall’s W = 0.156, p-value = 0.000) and actions (Kendall’s W = 0.170, p-value = 0.000).