Effect of Streaming by Gender on Students' Performance in Secondary School Mathematics, A Case of Nakuru District, Kenya

Abstract

Mathematics is indispensable for any meaningful scientific progress and development. The subject is also applied to almost all other subjects hence it is offered as a compulsory subject in primary and the secondary school curriculum in Kenya. Despite its importance, performance in the subject among secondary school students in Kenya has generally been poor. Girls in particular perform poorer than boys. There is evidence that boys tend to score higher than girls particularly in-mixed sex schools. On the basis of such evidence, some co~ educational schools in Kenya have in recent years separated boys from girls in class with the hope that the performance of girls in mathematics might improve. The results of this venture have not been documented. This study was designed to determine the effect of streaming by gender on secondary school students’ performance in mathematics. An ex post facto design was adopted to collect the required data on students‘ performance in secondary school mathematics in Nakuru District. Data was collected through a documentary search of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) mathematics examinations results of students for the years 1999, 2000 and 200] in selected secondary schools in Nakuru District. In addition, mathematics teachers were interviewed. Data was analyzed by use of the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 9.0. Both qualitative and quantitative data were generated hence descriptive (means, standard deviations and Percentages) and inferential (t-test and the one»way Analysis of variance at alpha =0.05) statistics were used for data analysis and hypothesis testing respectively. The sample ofthis study comprised of4 schools, l489 students and 22 mathematics teachers. The results of the study indicated that streaming by gender in the mixed sex segregated school improved the performance of both boys and girls in mathematics. However, when this performance was compared with that of other boys and girls in the other school types, the results were as follows; boys and girls from the mixed sex normal school performed better followed by those in mixed sex segregated school (where boys are segregated from girls) and lastly those in boys’ only and girls’ only schools. The results will therefore be useful to policy makers in the Ministry of Education in that they can make policy recommendations on streaming by gender. For example creation of separate classes for boys and girls in coeducational secondary schools and the need to incorporate gender issues in in-service programmes for mathematics teachers. Teachers and co~educational secondary school administrators may also benefit since it will assist them to restructure their schools through streaming by gender.