Personal Characteristics and Performance in Mathematics

In Somaliland mathematics is performed poorly in secondary schools. In 2010-2014, the mean score of mathematics was 53.95% against 73.72% in Languages, 68.68% in Sciences, and 83.16% in S/Studies. But the influence of personal characteristics of the teacher had not been investigated. Guided by Trait Theory of Personality, the study used a cross sectional research design, on a stratified sample of 350 students and 16 teachers in 10 secondary schools in Borama District, in February of 2014. The study found teacher gender (t [14] = -.276, p = .785), and teacher qualification (F [1, 14] = .578, p = .568) had no significant influence on students' performance. But teacher experience (F [1, 14] = 4.375, p = .022), and self-efficacy (F [1, 14] = 10.790, p = .000) had a significant influence on students' performance. The study concluded that teacher's personal characteristics influence performance of students in mathematics. The study recommends that MoEHS conduct awareness education to change the attitude that mathematics is a male friendly subject; and that an experimental study be done to determine the actual effect of teachers' personal characteristics on the performance of students.