The influence of teachers' background, professional development and teaching practices on students' achievement in mathematics in Lesotho

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between students' achievement in mathematics and teachers' background, professional development and teaching practices. A self report instrument - Mathematics Teaching Opinionate Scale (MaTOS) was used to collect data from Form C (Grade 10) mathematics teachers in the Maseru District in Lesotho, Southern Africa. Stratified random sampling technique was adopted for the study in the selection of participants screened on the basis of type of ownership of schools. The simple random format was subsequently utilized to pick 40 teachers on the basis of school population. Out of the total participants of 40 teachers, 18 (45.0%) were males while 22(55.0%) were female. Simple correlation and regression statistics at the 0.01 and 0.05 significance levels were utilized for data analysis. Findings indicated a significant positive relationship between students' academic achievement in mathematics and teachers' background (i.e. teachers' qualifications, subject majors and years of experience especially from six years of teaching) with r = 0.552, P < 0.01. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that teachers' qualifications (&#946; = 0.77, P < 0.05), subject majors (&#946; = 0.35, P < 0.05) and experience (&#946; = 0.16, P < 0.05) were predictors of students' achievement in mathematics [F(3,39) = 4.321; P < 0.05)]. The findings therefore suggest that if all mathematics teachers have a degree, are specialized in mathematics or mathematics education and have more than five years teaching experience the students' achievement in mathematics would likely improve.