Abstract:
The secondary school students’ background factors are important in the students’ life
and may determine the academic outcomes and. In Kenya, academic achievement is a key factor in determining the future career of the students and success is measured by the level of academic achievement. The academic achievement may be determined by the family socioeconomic status, family type and the home location. This study sought to establish the relationship between the students’ selected background factors (school category and socioeconomic status). This was an ex post facto research that employed a correlational research design, to determine whether there was a relationship between the students’ selected background factors and academic achievement. The population was 9048 form four students enrolled in public secondary schools in the Kericho County from which a representative sample of 384 students was obtained. A stratified sampling technique was used to select the study units to ensure all strata (single sex and mixed schools) in the population were represented. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the students’ background factors. The academic achievement was based on the scores obtained by students in Mock Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations. Descriptive statistics, Chi Square and Multiple Regression Analysis were used to analyze the data collected. The significant level was set at α =0.05. The data was analyzed using version 17 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. The study established that the greatest predictor of academic achievement was Socio Economic Status and school category. The study further established that there was no significant relationship between students’ gender and their academic achievement. The results are expected to provide information to policy makers, teachers and parents about the importance of the background factors that may shape the secondary school students’ academic achievement. The study concludes that the family SES and the category
of school attended by students are important in determining the students’ academic
achievement.
