The Pls-pm Approach to Causal Modeling: an Analysis of Learners' Achievement in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination of 2014

Abstract

Students' performance in mathematics and sciences is closely associated with the scienti c and technological innovations worldwide.The Government of Kenya recognizes the important role mathematics and science must play in achieving 'Vision 2030' and invests resources in raising the quality of teaching mathematics, science and technology. English, a second or even the third language in Kenyan communities, is the language of instruction and assessment in schools. As the social sciences develop, hypothesized relationships become increasingly more complex, and therefore the need to use more versatile models. Partial Least Square Path Modeling is one of such models. Partial least squares path modeling allows research to study the measurement and structural models of the variables. We can illustrate the structural regressions in complex causal structures by means of Partial Least Squares Path Modeling. Group comparisons,i.e. comparisons of model estimates for di erent groups of observations,can also be carried out. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causal e ects of the pro ciency and achievement in languages on the achievement in mathematics and the sciences; i.e. chemistry, biology and physics. From the study, it can concluded that languages contribute highest to the development of science process skills which in turn contribute to the development of numeracy skills. In the study, multi-group comparison was also done between the school types to show the di erences in contribution of the construct variables. It was established that the path coe cients between literacy and numeracy are signi cantly di erent at 5% con dence level between boys and girls schools and between girls and mixed schools. This implies that there are di erences in the contribution of literacy skills to the development of numeracy skills from one school type to another,and therefore development of these skills call for di erent e orts for di erent school types. The study recommends that, other than the government focusing on mathematics and sciences only, there should be focus on the development of literacy skills in English and Kiswahili. Capacity development activities for mathematics and science teachers should also include enhancement of literacy skills in English and Kiswahili. Policy{makers should also consider planning for capacity development training for English and Kiswahili teachers.