| The main purpose of this study was to assess the mathematics achievement of secondary level students in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and to examine the factors that influence this achievement using structural equation modeling with LISREL.;Data were collected from 24 private and public schools from urban and rural locations using six different instruments. Students' achievement in mathematics was examined and the results were compared with those of 1986 students. The mean and standard deviation of the test scores in mathematics achievement for the current students were 27.06 (58.8%) and 8.67 respectively. Results revealed that level of mathematics achievement in the Kathmandu Valley had increased considerably during the past decade. Differences in mathematics achievement of current students by gender, location of school, and type of school were examined. In general, boys outperformed girls, urban school students scored higher than rural students, and students from private schools performed better than students from public schools in mathematics. There were significant two-way and three-way interactions involving gender, location, and type on mathematics achievement. Most of these interactions were ordinal, but an important exception was that in private schools, boys and girls were equal in mean mathematics achievement on the total test and the arithmetic subtest. In algebra, girls outperformed boys.;A structural equation model on mathematics achievement was developed and tested for goodness of fit. Following modification on the first split-half sample, it was cross-validated on the remaining split-half sample. The cross-validated model was adjusted and then tested on the first split-half sample. Hypotheses related to exogenous and endogenous concept variables in the model were tested and significant variables that influenced the mathematics achievement were examined.;The structural equation model of mathematics achievement proposed in the study was adequately fit to the observed data after a few reasonable modifications. Out of the 16 predictor concept variables in the model, 8 variables (class attendance, parental support, peer interaction, teachers' certification, teachers' experiences, prior mathematics background, location of school, and type of school) had significant direct effects and four variables (achievement motivation, age, parental education, and parental educational pressure) had significant indirect effects on mathematics achievement. |
