THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
The study looked at the impact of parents’ socioeconomic status on students’ academic performance at the secondary level in selected public secondary schools in Lagos State’s Shomolu Local Government Area. In addition, some relevant and related literature was reviewed under sub-headings in this study.
In this study, the descriptive research survey was used to assess the opinions of the selected respondents for this study, with the use of a questionnaire and a sampling technique.
For this study, a total of 200 (n=200) respondents were sampled. Three null hypotheses were developed and tested using the t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation tools at a significance level of 0.05.
1. There is a significant relationship between parental socioeconomic status and academic performance in students.
2. Parental socioeconomic status has a significant impact on children’s social adjustment.
3. Due to parental socioeconomic status, there is a significant gender difference in academic performance of both males and females.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
In two unmistakable ways, parents have the greatest single influence on their children’s development. Parents serve as socializing agents by providing goals and value systems from which the child develops a variety of behavioral patterns.
In some cases, parents adopt a carefree attitude toward their children’s learning, even their social orientation, which has resulted in low academic performance and maladaptive behaviors in their immediate society (Hake, 1999). Ndubuisi (2005) found a link between parental attitudes and their children’s social orientation and academic achievement.
Ndubuisi believes that the dimensions of value placed on their children’s well-being, whether positive or negative, have a significant impact on the child’s positive or negative adaptation to society, as well as the way students carry out their academic work in school.
Many factors, both inside and outside of the school system, contribute directly or indirectly to a child’s educational development. These factors are influenced by either heredity or environment. Many psychologists, including Freud and Adler, now downplay the importance of heredity in the overall development of the child, while emphasizing the importance of the environment.
Craft et al. (2002) contributed to a better understanding of the relationship between a child’s home environment and his academic performance in school. A child is both the product and the mirror of society. While the school is in charge of the formal education system, the home provides both formal and informal educational experiences.
Many psychologists have argued that a child’s immediate environment (home) should be made quite stimulating in order to promote intellectual development and good academic performance. According to Locke (1970), we are born with a blank slate, and our environment determines what fills the vacuum.
This is what he meant by “Tabula Rasa.” In other words, the environment we live in can either enhance or detract from what we inherited from our parents.
According to Mudock and Mudock (2004), the first six years of a child’s life are critical because anything that goes wrong during this time has a long-term impact on the child as he grows up. It is during this early period that the child’s personal characteristics and mental health are formed.
The child learns to love and be loved, as well as how to deal with sibling rivalry. Also, if the environment is not conducive, the child develops feelings of hostility and aggression at this age. This early socialization process is important because it helps a child adjust to environments outside of his or her home.
Psychologists and sociologists such as Jersild (2005) and Hurlock (2006) believe that if solid foundations for the acquisition of basic skills are not laid for the child when he or she is young, learning becomes a problem later in life because it is often unsuccessful.
Joyce and colleagues (2005) have long established that in ineffective schools where high-quality education is provided, there is usually frequent communication between the school and parents, and this is primarily positive, such as at award days and parent days, and two-way, with parents frequently initiating contact with the school.
This should include parents monitoring accountability efforts and serving as advisors in school improvement efforts. This can be accomplished by having parents serve on the school’s standing and ad hoc special committees and boards, such as the special events committee, the disciplinary committee, and the governing board. This way, parents gain firsthand knowledge of the school’s needs and problems and can collaborate with the school to solve them (Aloe, 2006).
When parents have the necessary knowledge and skills related to the school curriculum, they can act as information sources, the audience for school academic activities, and/or class assistants. There appears to be ample evidence that parental involvement in homework and assignments may improve children’s academic performance.
Parental positive and cooperative attitudes toward school development have been found to positively influence children’s learning outcomes in school. Such parental behaviors are reflected in good attendance at
PTA meetings, sending children to school on time, paying fees on time, requiring children to complete homework on time, and parents visiting the school on a regular basis to monitor their children’s progress. Teachers have a difficult job and will appreciate anyone who supports and recognizes their efforts.
1.2 Problem Description
The issue of low socioeconomic status among parents and its impact on students’ academic achievement cannot be overstated. The majority of parents in Nigeria today are impoverished, and the majority of them are unemployed. This can be attributed to the country’s poor economic situation as well as the global economic recession. As a result, parents lack the resources to support themselves and their children.
The majority of Nigerian parents fail to fulfill their obligation to send their children to school. Many of them do not adequately care for their children in school because they lack the financial means to carry or foot their children’s school bills.
This has resulted in many children whose parents are poor missing school on a regular basis, with the majority of the children eventually dropping out. These parents do not buy necessary books for their children or pay for other school-related expenses (Jimoh, 2006).
Not only that, but poor children are not properly cared for. Children whose parents are not wealthy, for example, do not eat well before and after school. As a result, the majority of them arrive at school on an empty stomach and do not pay attention to what is going on in the classroom.
A child requires proper feeding to supplement cognition, but poor children are not fed adequately, let alone on a balanced diet. Children whose parents are poor are expected to live in an unfriendly environment where they are unable to read freely and where study materials are insufficient for them to carry out meaningful academic work due to a lack of funds. As a result of these factors, the children perform poorly in school. As a result of the aforementioned issues, this research was required.
1.3 The Study’s Purpose
The primary goal of this study was to investigate the impact of parents’ socioeconomic status on the academic achievement of students in five senior secondary schools in Lagos State’s Somolu Local Government Area.
The following are the study’s specific objectives:
2. To see if the socioeconomic status of the parents influences their children’s social orientation.
3. To investigate whether the socioeconomic status of parents influences their children’s academic achievement.
4. To investigate whether there is a link between parents’ socioeconomic status and their children’s academic achievement.
5. To determine whether there is a gender difference in student academic performance as a result of socioeconomic status.
6. To compare the academic performance of children from high socioeconomic families to those from low socioeconomic families.
1.4 Research Issues
In this study, the following research questions were raised:
1. Does the socioeconomic status of parents influence their children’s social orientation?
2. Does a parent’s socioeconomic status influence their children’s academic performance in school?
3. Is there a link between parental socioeconomic status and children’s academic achievement?
4. Does gender difference affect children’s academic performance in school?
5. How can the difference in academic performance between children from high socioeconomic families and those from low socioeconomic families be determined?
1.5 Hypotheses for Research
To guide this study, the following research hypotheses were developed:
H01: There is no statistically significant relationship between parental socioeconomic status and students’ academic performance.
H02: There is no significant relationship between parental socioeconomic status and their senior secondary students’ social adjustment.
H03: Due to parental socioeconomic status, there is no significant gender difference in academic performance of both males and females.
H04: There is no gender difference in children’s academic performance at school due to socioeconomic status.
H05: There is no significant difference in academic performance between children from high socioeconomic families and those from low socioeconomic families.
1.6 Importance of the Research
This research will be extremely beneficial to the various segments and groups of people in society. As an example,
(1) The students will benefit from this study because its findings and recommendations will help them recognize the importance of parental care and positive values in their academic and social success. It will make students more tolerant of parental control and care.
(2) Parents would benefit from this study as well, because it will enable them to be more involved in their children’s upbringing if they want them to be successful in both academics and life. This study will educate parents on the best methods for raising a child at home.
(3) Teachers would benefit from this study because it would educate them on how to best train their children at home and at school as surrogate parents.
This study will undoubtedly benefit society because it will teach adult members of society that the parental value system has something to do with the child’s behavior and academic success in school.
1.7 The Study’s Scope
The study looked at the impact of parents’ socioeconomic status on the academic achievement of students in five senior secondary schools in Lagos State’s Somolu Local Government Area.
1.8 Term Definitions
In this study, operational definitions of terms were provided. Almost all of the variables in the study were defined in this manner.
(1) Parents: This refers to our father, mother, or ancestors, such as our first parents (Adam and Eve).
(2) Students: A person who is enrolled in a college, polytechnic, or university; a boy or girl who attends school; or anyone who studies or is dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge.
(3) Academic Performance: This refers to the level or rate at which students perform academically in school. It also shows the level at which students complete their schoolwork in a given period of time, as well as the outcome.
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THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS
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