Mathematics Performance at High School Certificate (HSC) Examination: Predicting the Risky from Selected Student Variables

An attempt was made to examine the relative contribution of sex, caste, parental education, parental occupation, location of prior schooling and Mathematics foundation knowledge towards Mathematics performance in terminal high school examination at the end of Grade 10. The sample consisted of 1731 high school pass outs whose Mathematics score in high school examination was recorded along with information on all the predictor variables. Multiple regression analysis revealed that Mathematics foundation knowledge as assessed at the entry point to secondary stage of education emer ged as the strongest predictor accounting for 46.8 per cent of variance while the rest five predictors explained only 2.1 percent of variance. Since poor Mathematics foundation knowledge substantially increases the risk of failure, it is suggested that early diagnostic assessment and remedial intervention would work out as an effective strategy for reducing the risk of student failure in Mathematics in secondary education.