CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
This chapter highlight the main reason for the study .It also gives the bacground information,statement of the problem ,research objectives,research questions,scope of the the study ,significant of the study as well as limitation to the study.
1.1 Background of the study
Academic performance refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers (wiki.answers.com)
Academic perfomance is an outcome of teaching and learning process to a student with regard to academic instructions(ehow.com/about-4740750)
In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance, or how well a student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself. As career competition grows ever more fierce in the working world, the importance of students doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and government education departments alike.(www.ehow.com)
Although education is not the only road to success in the working world, much effort is made to identify, evaluate, track and encourage the progress of students in schools. Parents care about their child's academic performance because they believe good academic results will provide more career choices and job security. Schools, though invested in fostering good academic habits for the same reason, are also often influenced by concerns about the school's reputation and the possibility of monetary aid from government institutions, which can hinge on the overall academic performance of the school(www.ehow.com)
In the past, academic performance was often measured more by ear than today. Teachers' observations made up the bulk of the assessment, and today's summation, or numerical, method of determining how well a student is performing is a fairly recent invention. Grading systems came into existence in America in the late Victorian period, and were initially criticized due to high subjectivity.(www.ehow.com)
Different teachers valued different aspects of learning more highly than others, and although some standardization was attempted in order to make the system more fair, the problem continued. Today, changes have been made to incorporate differentiation for individual students' abilities, and exploration of alternate methods of measuring performance is ongoing.(www.ehow.com)
The tracking of academic performance fulfills a number of purposes. Areas of achievement and failure in a student's academic career need to be evaluated in order to foster improvement and make full use of the learning process. Results provide a framework for talking about how students fare in school, and a constant standard to which all students are held.(www.ehow.com)
Performance results also allow students to be ranked and sorted on a scale that is numerically obvious, minimizing complaints by holding teachers and schools accountable for the components of each and every grade.(www.ehow.com)
Performance in school is evaluated in a number of ways. For regular grading, students demonstrate their knowledge by taking written and oral tests, performing presentations, turning in homework and participating in class activities and discussions. Teachers evaluate in the form of letter or number grades and side notes, to describe how well a student has done. At the state level, students are evaluated by their performance on standardized tests geared toward specific ages and based on a set of achievements students in each age group are expected to meet..(www.ehow.com)
The subjectivity of academic performance evaluation has lessened in recent years, but it has not been totally eliminated. It may not be possible to fully remove subjectivity from the current evaluation methods, since most are biased toward students that respond best to traditional teaching methods. Standardized testing is best responded to by students that excel in reading, mathematics and test-taking, a skill that is not in itself indicative of academic worth. The tests reward visual learners, and give no chance for kinesthetic or auditory learners to show their abilities...(www.ehow.com)
The standardized test fails to recognize students with learning and physical disabilities that do not allow them to complete the test in the same manner or amount of time as other students. Evaluations from classroom teachers, though they give the most detailed information, may still retain bias if individual differentiation and learning styles have not been taken into account....(www.ehow.com/)
1.2 statement of the problem
Despite the fact that there is an increase number of school and the growing of educational sector ,still the performance academically is more challanging.
According to the minister ogf education and vocational training ,educational in Tanzania is compursory for seven until children reach the age of 15 years.(ehow.com/about-4740750)
In 2006 the gross primary enrollment rate was 110.3percent and the net primary enrollment rate was 97percent.Gross an net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary schools and do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance(ehow.com/about-4740750)
Announcing the results in Dar es salaam ,the minister fo Education and vocational training prof. Jumanne Maghembe disclosed that more than half of the nearly one million pupils who sat the examination in september 2009 had failed.(www.ngonewsafrica.org/?p892)
The results indicat that the the overall perfomance dropped by 3.32percent compared to lastn year 2008.Meaning that half of the candidate will not join form one(www.ngonewsafrica.org/?p892)
Maghembe said number of of pupils who did well in the examinations was only 49.41percent or 493333 candidates .They include 217250 girls or 43.25percent and 276083 boys or 55.65percent of the all candidates .(www.newsafrica.org/?p892)
Prof Maghembe singledout that mathematics and English as the two subjects in which the standard seven candidates perfomed extremely poor(www.ngonewsafica/org/?p892.
he said while the pass rate uin english was 35.44percentand mathematics a lowly 20.96percent(www.ngonewsafrica.org/?p892)
The following are the results of Mock examination from Shukilai Primary school conducted in the year 2008
Registered
boys girl Total
33 23 56
those who passed english subject
Boys girls total
18 15 33
those who failed english subject
Boys girls total
15 8 25
those who passed mathematics subject
Boys girls Total
13 12 25
those who failed mathematics subject
Boys girls Total
20 11 31
the following are the results of national examination from Shukilai primary school in the year 2009
registered
Boys girls Total
22 47 69
those who passed english subject
Boys girls Total
9 28 37
those who failed english subject
Boys girls Total
13 19 32
those who passed mathematics subject
Boys girls Total
7 18 25
those who failed mathematics subjects
Boys girls Total
15 29 44
the following are the results of national examination from Shukilai primary school in the year 2010
registerd
Boys girls Total
32 44 66
those who passed english subject
Boys girls Total
6 18 24
those who failed english subjects
Boys girls Total
16 26 42
those who passed mathematics subjects
Boys girls Total
10 15 25
those who failed mathematics subjects
Boys girls Total
12 29 41
1.3 General and specific objectives of the research
1.3.1 General objective of the study
The purpose of this research is to examine the factor that affect acadenmic perfomance in primary school in Lushoto District.
1.3.2 Specific objectives of the study
-To identify the teaching strategies /techniques been used in primary schools.
-To assess the environment and resources been used in teaching mathematics and english.
-To assess the compatibility and proffessionalism af mathematics and english teachers in primary schools.
-To examine the government support in the learning process.
1.4.Research questions.
-what are the teaching strategies /techniques been used in primary school?
-Is environment and resources been deployed in teaching and improving perfomance in mathematics and English?
-Are primary school's teacher possess the needed skills ,knowledge and compatible in teaching mathematics and English?
-Is there any government support in learning process?
1.5 significance of the problem
- In this section ,being an exploratory study ,the research findings will play an important role to guide a process of understanding factors affecting academic perfomance in primary school in lushotop District
-Also through this section ,the research will will explore the learning limitations to primary schools in tanzania particulary lushoto distirict
-The research will provide some solutions to academic perfomance and this will be a gudeline to the government to improve education career in Tanzania.
-However , the study will be useful for further research especially to the research who may wish to conduct a study concerning poor academic perfomance in primary school
-This research is useful to planners ,educators ,administrators and other educatioanl stkeholders to build awareness to students and teachers of Tanzania on problems and barriers hinder the perfomance of Mathematics and English subjects in primary schools.
-Being an exploratory study ,the research findings play an important role to guide a process of restructuring training programs and support for teachers and othefr stuff.
1.6 The scope of the study
The study will be conducted in Tanzania,speciffically in lushoto.access was the major factor for choosing this area of study.This District is located in the northern Eastern part of Tanzania .The study will be conducted in three primary school which are SHUKILAI,KITOPENI,and MAGAMBA.This study will take two months
,january and and February in the year 2012.
1.7 Limitations of the study
Research limitations refers to constraints or problems a researcher encoutered in conducting research .
in conducting this research ,the first limiting factor was time.Schedule for this study was limited because researchers contnued with studies at the college while collecting data.
Poor response of respondence was anothjer limiting factor .Some respondents were not ready to give appropriate information due to fear or being busy with their jobs
Financial factors,insufficient and delay of money from student's High Education Loans Board for conducting this study led to many problems including delay on writing the research report.
MEMBERS.
1.PHILIP LAULIAN ILETA TU/SEK/BEdSN/84/09
2.MHANDO GIDEON TU/SEK/BEdSN/287/09
3.UGULUMU VALENCE TU/SEK/BEdSN/327/09
4.MARWA DAUDI TU/SEK/BEdSN/147/09
5.NJIKU MAGRETH TU/SEK/BEdSN/186/09
6.MAGANGA TATU. TU/SEK/BEdSN/330/09
BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE STUDY:
This chapter highlight the main reason for the study .It also gives the bacground information,statement of the problem ,research objectives,research questions,scope of the the study ,significant of the study as well as limitation to the study.
1.1 Background of the study
Academic performance refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers (wiki.answers.com)
Academic perfomance is an outcome of teaching and learning process to a student with regard to academic instructions(ehow.com/about-4740750)
In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance, or how well a student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself. As career competition grows ever more fierce in the working world, the importance of students doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and government education departments alike.(www.ehow.com)
Although education is not the only road to success in the working world, much effort is made to identify, evaluate, track and encourage the progress of students in schools. Parents care about their child's academic performance because they believe good academic results will provide more career choices and job security. Schools, though invested in fostering good academic habits for the same reason, are also often influenced by concerns about the school's reputation and the possibility of monetary aid from government institutions, which can hinge on the overall academic performance of the school(www.ehow.com)
In the past, academic performance was often measured more by ear than today. Teachers' observations made up the bulk of the assessment, and today's summation, or numerical, method of determining how well a student is performing is a fairly recent invention. Grading systems came into existence in America in the late Victorian period, and were initially criticized due to high subjectivity.(www.ehow.com)
Different teachers valued different aspects of learning more highly than others, and although some standardization was attempted in order to make the system more fair, the problem continued. Today, changes have been made to incorporate differentiation for individual students' abilities, and exploration of alternate methods of measuring performance is ongoing.(www.ehow.com)
The tracking of academic performance fulfills a number of purposes. Areas of achievement and failure in a student's academic career need to be evaluated in order to foster improvement and make full use of the learning process. Results provide a framework for talking about how students fare in school, and a constant standard to which all students are held.(www.ehow.com)
Performance results also allow students to be ranked and sorted on a scale that is numerically obvious, minimizing complaints by holding teachers and schools accountable for the components of each and every grade.(www.ehow.com)
Performance in school is evaluated in a number of ways. For regular grading, students demonstrate their knowledge by taking written and oral tests, performing presentations, turning in homework and participating in class activities and discussions. Teachers evaluate in the form of letter or number grades and side notes, to describe how well a student has done. At the state level, students are evaluated by their performance on standardized tests geared toward specific ages and based on a set of achievements students in each age group are expected to meet..(www.ehow.com)
The subjectivity of academic performance evaluation has lessened in recent years, but it has not been totally eliminated. It may not be possible to fully remove subjectivity from the current evaluation methods, since most are biased toward students that respond best to traditional teaching methods. Standardized testing is best responded to by students that excel in reading, mathematics and test-taking, a skill that is not in itself indicative of academic worth. The tests reward visual learners, and give no chance for kinesthetic or auditory learners to show their abilities...(www.ehow.com)
The standardized test fails to recognize students with learning and physical disabilities that do not allow them to complete the test in the same manner or amount of time as other students. Evaluations from classroom teachers, though they give the most detailed information, may still retain bias if individual differentiation and learning styles have not been taken into account....(www.ehow.com/)
1.2 statement of the problem
Despite the fact that there is an increase number of school and the growing of educational sector ,still the performance academically is more challanging.
According to the minister ogf education and vocational training ,educational in Tanzania is compursory for seven until children reach the age of 15 years.(ehow.com/about-4740750)
In 2006 the gross primary enrollment rate was 110.3percent and the net primary enrollment rate was 97percent.Gross an net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary schools and do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance(ehow.com/about-4740750)
Announcing the results in Dar es salaam ,the minister fo Education and vocational training prof. Jumanne Maghembe disclosed that more than half of the nearly one million pupils who sat the examination in september 2009 had failed.(www.ngonewsafrica.org/?p892)
The results indicat that the the overall perfomance dropped by 3.32percent compared to lastn year 2008.Meaning that half of the candidate will not join form one(www.ngonewsafrica.org/?p892)
Maghembe said number of of pupils who did well in the examinations was only 49.41percent or 493333 candidates .They include 217250 girls or 43.25percent and 276083 boys or 55.65percent of the all candidates .(www.newsafrica.org/?p892)
Prof Maghembe singledout that mathematics and English as the two subjects in which the standard seven candidates perfomed extremely poor(www.ngonewsafica/org/?p892.
he said while the pass rate uin english was 35.44percentand mathematics a lowly 20.96percent(www.ngonewsafrica.org/?p892)
The following are the results of Mock examination from Shukilai Primary school conducted in the year 2008
Registered
boys girl Total
33 23 56
those who passed english subject
Boys girls total
18 15 33
those who failed english subject
Boys girls total
15 8 25
those who passed mathematics subject
Boys girls Total
13 12 25
those who failed mathematics subject
Boys girls Total
20 11 31
the following are the results of national examination from Shukilai primary school in the year 2009
registered
Boys girls Total
22 47 69
those who passed english subject
Boys girls Total
9 28 37
those who failed english subject
Boys girls Total
13 19 32
those who passed mathematics subject
Boys girls Total
7 18 25
those who failed mathematics subjects
Boys girls Total
15 29 44
the following are the results of national examination from Shukilai primary school in the year 2010
registerd
Boys girls Total
32 44 66
those who passed english subject
Boys girls Total
6 18 24
those who failed english subjects
Boys girls Total
16 26 42
those who passed mathematics subjects
Boys girls Total
10 15 25
those who failed mathematics subjects
Boys girls Total
12 29 41
1.3 General and specific objectives of the research
1.3.1 General objective of the study
The purpose of this research is to examine the factor that affect acadenmic perfomance in primary school in Lushoto District.
1.3.2 Specific objectives of the study
-To identify the teaching strategies /techniques been used in primary schools.
-To assess the environment and resources been used in teaching mathematics and english.
-To assess the compatibility and proffessionalism af mathematics and english teachers in primary schools.
-To examine the government support in the learning process.
1.4.Research questions.
-what are the teaching strategies /techniques been used in primary school?
-Is environment and resources been deployed in teaching and improving perfomance in mathematics and English?
-Are primary school's teacher possess the needed skills ,knowledge and compatible in teaching mathematics and English?
-Is there any government support in learning process?
1.5 significance of the problem
- In this section ,being an exploratory study ,the research findings will play an important role to guide a process of understanding factors affecting academic perfomance in primary school in lushotop District
-Also through this section ,the research will will explore the learning limitations to primary schools in tanzania particulary lushoto distirict
-The research will provide some solutions to academic perfomance and this will be a gudeline to the government to improve education career in Tanzania.
-However , the study will be useful for further research especially to the research who may wish to conduct a study concerning poor academic perfomance in primary school
-This research is useful to planners ,educators ,administrators and other educatioanl stkeholders to build awareness to students and teachers of Tanzania on problems and barriers hinder the perfomance of Mathematics and English subjects in primary schools.
-Being an exploratory study ,the research findings play an important role to guide a process of restructuring training programs and support for teachers and othefr stuff.
1.6 The scope of the study
The study will be conducted in Tanzania,speciffically in lushoto.access was the major factor for choosing this area of study.This District is located in the northern Eastern part of Tanzania .The study will be conducted in three primary school which are SHUKILAI,KITOPENI,and MAGAMBA.This study will take two months
,january and and February in the year 2012.
1.7 Limitations of the study
Research limitations refers to constraints or problems a researcher encoutered in conducting research .
in conducting this research ,the first limiting factor was time.Schedule for this study was limited because researchers contnued with studies at the college while collecting data.
Poor response of respondence was anothjer limiting factor .Some respondents were not ready to give appropriate information due to fear or being busy with their jobs
Financial factors,insufficient and delay of money from student's High Education Loans Board for conducting this study led to many problems including delay on writing the research report.
MEMBERS.
1.PHILIP LAULIAN ILETA TU/SEK/BEdSN/84/09
2.MHANDO GIDEON TU/SEK/BEdSN/287/09
3.UGULUMU VALENCE TU/SEK/BEdSN/327/09
4.MARWA DAUDI TU/SEK/BEdSN/147/09
5.NJIKU MAGRETH TU/SEK/BEdSN/186/09
6.MAGANGA TATU. TU/SEK/BEdSN/330/09
