ABSTRACT

This study sought to determine the extent home environment and self-efficacy predict the Mathematics achievement of senior secondary school students in Umuahia Education Zone, Abia State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlational research design. The sample for the study consisted of 540 respondents drawn through multi-stage sampling procedure from 10,790 secondary school students in Umuahia Education Zone of Abia State. Three instruments titled: Home Environmental Factor Questionnaire (HEFQ); Students' Self-Efficacy Rating Scale (SSERS) and Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) were developed, validated and used for the study. The internal consistency reliability of the instruments were calculated using Cronbach Alpha procedure and reliability estimates of 0.84 for Home Environmental Factor questionnaire, 0.99 for Students' Self-Efficacy Rating Scale (SSERS) and 0.98 for MAT were obtained respectively. The data collected for the study was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to answer the research questions; while linear regression was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance. Results revealed as follows: Parental expectations, social class of the family and self-efficacy respectively to a significant positive high extent predicted the Mathematics achievement of senior secondary school students. Among the educational implications was that the study could provide supportive framework from which one can assess how the predictive power of home environment and self-efficacy on the Mathematics achievement of senior secondary school students. It was thus recommended that school teachers and parents should be educated on the importance of home environment and self-efficacy as predictors of the Mathematics achievement of students.