Performance evaluation of schools’ math education from a cultural, social and economic point of view by data envelopment analysis modeling

Abstract

This paper aimed at investigating the impacts of some cultural, social and economic factors of the students’ families on the students’ education and attitude toward mathematics. This study has been carried out through the use of data envelopment analysis. Data envelopment analysis is a linear programming method that its main purpose is to compare and evaluate the efficiency of a number of similar decision-making units, and to compare and analyze them, which have different values of consumed inputs and produced outputs. In this study, the inputs are the various aspects of cultural, social and economic conditions (such as family income, physical and mental health condition of the family members, and parents’ occupation) of the families of 300 sixth-grade elementary school students in district 4 of Tehran, and the outputs are the extent of achievement in the mathematics test and the interest of the students of the mentioned schools to the activities related to the mathematics course and moral discipline. After the completion of the investigations, the effective and ineffective units were identified and the results were completely interpreted.