ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this study was to examine the Influence Of Parental Involvement And Academic Performance Of Secondary School Students. In this study, two research question and two research hypotheses were formulated to guide this study. Six (6) schools were randomly selected out of nine (9) secondary schools in Uruan Local Government Area and two hundred and forty (240) Government students formed the sample size for the study. The study was a survey designed. Two instruments were used for data collection in the study, a structured questionnaire and Government performance Test (GPT). The data collected were analyzed statistically using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC). From the findings, it was discovered that parental involvement goes a long way to play a vital role in influencing and promoting the academic performance of students in Government in secondary schools.
Influence Of Parental Involvement And Academic Performance Of Secondary School Students
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is essential for the development of society. The more educated the people of a society are, the more civilized and well disciplined the society might be. Mainly, family has responsibility to socialize children for making them productive members of society. The more the parent involve in the process of imparting education to their children, the more the children might excel in their academic career and to become the productive and responsible member of society.
It has been assumed that academic achievement of students may not only depend on the quality of schools and the teachers, rather the extent of parental involvement has vital role to play in academic achievement of their kids. The focus of this study is to examine a relationship (if any) between the extent of parental involvement in academic activities of their children and the level of their children’s academic performance in Government (Sleegers, 2005).
The transition from middle school to secondary school may be an overwhelming and stressful experience for young adolescents. Developmentally, students are entering a period in their lives when their physical, cognitive, psychological, and social characteristics are beginning to evolve. Secondary school students experience both a contextual change and a personal change during this transition. It may often a confusing time for students, their families, and the other adults in their lives who seek to support their healthy development and learning. The secondary school learning environment may be more complex than elementary school and academic achievement expectation increase. Children are more likely to have higher academic achievement levels and improved behavior when families are involves in their education (Bryan, 2005). Learning begins at home through interaction with one’s family.
Parental involvement in a child’s education along with environmental and economic factors may affect child development in areas such as cognition, language, and social skills. Numerous studies in this area have demonstrated the importance of family interaction and involvement in the years prior to entering school (Bergsten, 2004; Hill, 2001; Wynn, 2002). Research findings have also shown that a continued effort of parental involvement throughout the child’s education can improve academic achievement (Driessen, Smith & Sleegers, 2005; Fan, 2001; Hong & Ho, 2005). Academic failure has been linked with risk behavior and negative outcomes such as substance abuse, delinquency, emotional and behavioral problems (Annuziata, Houge, Faw, & Liddle 2006).
There is little research available on the relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement of secondary school students. A majority of the research in this area has been conducted solely with elementary school stuents (Baily, Silvern, Brabham, & Ross, 2004; Marjoribanks, 2005). This study may provide an in-depth look at one aspect of parental involvement in the academic activities of their children, and academic achievement of secondary school students. Beside the passing students, a significant majority secured less than 50 percent marks. Parental involvement in school has been linked with academic achievement.
Although little research has been done in the area of parental involvement and secondary school students, the literature review examines the many factors that may contribute to the level of parental involvement and academic achievement in secondary schools. The master’s research project sought to identify the different levels of parental involvement in academic activities and how parental involvement affects academic achievement of secondary school student.
Influence Of Parental Involvement And Academic Performance Of Secondary School Students
1.2 Statement of the problem
Parents are often faced with unique challenges that hinder them from meeting the learners’ needs. they include; insufficient time, career or job type, level of education, order of priority, set time environment, opinion to voluntary work at school, time taken to respond to school activities, attending parents meetings, conferences, and also discussing academic progress of the child. If the above needs are not attended to, there is a likelihood of the child not performing well because he or she is not adequately supported. Insufficient parental involvement may lead to poor performance of the child academically. (K.N.E.C report, 2006)
Parents from public schools tend to be reluctant and therefore, the preschool children are not exposed to varied earning opportunities. This affects their acquisition of learning skills such as numeracy and literacy skills as compared to children from private preschools. Underachievement at school or failure to reach a satisfactory level of literacy and numeracy is a national problem and it’s caused by various factors such as poor parental involvement. Academic performance of students in Government has remained very low for a long time, the study therefore sought to establish the influence of parental involvement in the academic performance of students in the area.
