Influence of Teachers’ Experience on Quality Teaching of Mathematics in Kisumu County, Kenya

Teachers of Mathematics in Kenya have attended in-service programs for the purpose of enhancing their skills and improving the quality of teaching. However, this has not translated into improved performance as expected. There has been persistent low performance in Mathematics in secondary schools in general for the period 2012-2019, during which the mean score dropped from 20.12% to 19.86% nationally. The trend of low mean scores has been identified in secondary schools in Kisumu County, which dropped from 34.00% to 20.45% for the same years. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of teachers’ experience on quality teaching of Mathematics. The objectives of the study were to establish teachers’ teaching experience, establish teachers’ quality teaching of mathematics, and determine the influence of teachers’ experience on quality teaching of Mathematics. The study was anchored on Bowles’ (1970) Educational Production Function model. A descriptive survey design was employed in which the dependent variable was quality teaching of mathematics, and the independent variable was the teachers’ experience. The target population size was 234 teachers and 7 SQASO. The sample size was 70 teachers and 6 SQASO. Research instruments were Lesson Observation Guide (LOG) and SQASO Interview Guide (SIG). A pilot study was carried out using the test-retest method and the reliability coefficient for LOG .78 and SIG .82, respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, which involved arithmetic mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. Inferential statistics involved Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Qualitative data was analyzed by creating thematic categories and reported as verbatim excerpts. Findings revealed that teachers’ teaching experience had significant differences with teaching experience of over 10 years performing best (M=63.82; SD=5.39). It is recommended that teachers with teaching experience of over 10 years be appointed by the Teachers Service Commission as HoD mathematics in their various schools to ensure that there is quality teaching of the subject.