TABLE
OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
HYPOTHESES
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER
TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
FAMILY FACTORS THAT INFLUENCES
STUDENTS’ ADJUSTMENT
AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
PEER INFLUENCE AS IT AFFECTS
STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
PARENTAL SOCIAL-ECONOMIC
BACKGROUNDS AND STUDENTS’
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
DESIGN
POPULATION
SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
INSTRUMENTS
VALIDITY
RELIABILITY
PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION
DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 DESCRIPTION
OF DATA
4.2 TEST
OF HYPOTHESES
CHAPTER
FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY
CONCLUSIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
SUGGESTION
FOR FURTHER STUDIES
REFERENCES
APPENDIX:
QUESTIONNAIRE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The social economic status of the
parents is determined by their education, job, income, political power and
prestige in society. Parson and Sardo-Brown (2001) described the
“Socio-economic Status is the term used to distinguish between people’s
relative position in the society in terms of family income, political power,
educational back ground and occupational prestige”. According to these
indicators peoples are categories in social economic status classes or groups.
The group has higher degree, better job, higher income and some status in the
society is categorized as upper class, the other which have relatively low
income less education and less status are categories as middle class and the
group which is low on these indicators is known as lower class.
Bond (1981) study the relation of
social economic status and educational achievement. He concluded that the
students from different classes do not perform at the same level of
achievement. The
Performance of students belongs to
lower class was poor and the reason identified by him was the non supportive
attitude of teachers towards them.
Kaeley (1990) studied the influence
of SES, entry style and instructional variables on learning of Mathematics in
Neo-literate society. He concluded that SES affects the achievement in
mathematics. The findings of his research further showed that the classroom
instructions have no significant effect on mathematics achievement.
Verma and Tiku (1990) conducted a
research to study the SES and general intelligence. He found no interaction
between intelligence and socio-economic status was noted with regard to high
school students.
Mirza (2001) conducted a research to
study the “relationship of SES with achievement” and the findings showed that
socio economic status of students has fairly significant effect on their
achievement without giving the clear description regarding which socio economic
status class has greater achievement and which perform poorly.
Sirin (2005) in his research reviewed
the research studies already conducted during the period of 1990-2000 on the
same topic. The result showed medium to strong relationship between socio
economic status and achievement.
Barry (2005) also reported the same
result; i.e. high achievers belong to high SES and low achievers belongs to low
socio-economic status. Ewijk and Sleegers (2010) also concluded that SES is an
important determinant of academic achievement. Academic performance is the
outcome of all those activities which are going on in the environment around
the individual. According to Piaget (1969,) this change occurs in the result of
assimilation, accommodation and adaptation of new ideas.
Vygotsky (1978,) said that “every
function in child’s development appears twice: first on the social level and
then on individual level”. This means that individual academic achievement is
affected by social interaction. It does not negate the Piaget’s point of view,
it only gives broader view that an individual achieve not at his own but the
social environment around him also affect his academic performance.
According
to Olotu (1994), in the quest of finding survival feet, the nation has evolved
series of socio-economic and educational measures and policies such as;
Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP), Austerity measures, Universal Primary
Education (UPE), Universal Basic Education (UBE) and devaluation of the Naira.
These measures have not improved the social-economic and educational status of
families in the country. They have rather increased their sufferings and
widened the socio-economic gap between families.
Johnson
(1996) lamented that parents become poor due to these hard measures, such that
they can no longer provide adequately for good education of their children.
Also, they can no longer provide shelter, clothing and special need of their
children in school (such as provision of text books, school uniforms and good
medical care and so on).
According
to Danesy (2004), complimenting environmental and socio-economic factors to
produce high academic achievements and performance include good teaching, counseling,
good administration, good seating arrangement and good building. Dilapidating
buildings, lacking mental stimulating facilities that are characterized with
low or no seating arrangement will also be destructive.
Okon (2006) emphasized that socio-economic
status of a person affect his or her attitude and life chances. These attitudes
include: positive or negative attitude towards academic, food, dressing, drug
use and abuse and the group the individual belongs.
In the same vein, Aluede and Maliki
(1998) emphasized the socio-economic status of parents as a major determinant
of the attitude of students towards anti-social behaviors. They further stated
that students of low socio-economic families lack basic necessities of life and
are both economically weak and socially depressed. Such students develop
certain negative psychological feeling which often lead to frustration and
could culminate in the manifestation of poor academic achievement.
Kallaghan (1972) observed that
there is a positive correlation between socio-economic status of parents and
students attitudes and behaviour manifestations. He opined that the
relationship between the two variables may be the economic advantage of the
parents, which enables them to give their children the materials money can buy.
A child from a high socioeconomic background is enriched with necessities of
life, receives stimulating experiences that translates into a healthy attitude
towards life generally.
Socioeconomic status
can be defined as a person’s overall social
position to which attainments in both the social and economic domain
contribute. (Ainley et al., 1995). When used in studies of children’s school
achievement, it refers to the SES of the parents or family. Socio-economic
status is determined by individual’s achievements in: education; employment and
occupational status; and income and wealth.
Students from low-socio-economic
status backgrounds are less well adjusted academically and
personal-emotionally, as well as having less attachment to their university
than their peers from higher social economic status backgrounds.
Several comprehensive reviews of the relationship
between socio- economic status and academic performance exist (Amato, 1987;
Williams et al., 1991; Mukherjee, 1995; Ainley et al., 1995). These studies and
reviews make it clear that children from low social economic status families
are more likely to exhibit the following patterns in terms of academic
performance compared to children from high social economic status families:
1.
Have lower
levels of literacy, numeracy and comprehension;
2.
Have lower retention rates (children from low
SES families are more likely to leave school early);
3.
Have lower
higher education participation rates (children from low SES families are less
likely to attend university);
4.
Exhibit
higher levels of problematic school behavior (for instance truancy);
5.
Are more
likely to have difficulties with their studies and display negative attitudes
to school; and
6.
Have less
successful school-to-labour market transitions.
These results remain the same irrespective of how
socio- economic status is measured and whether the studies are based on
individual or aggregate level data (Graetz, 1995).
Similarly, studies of children’s educational
achievements over time have also demonstrated that social background remains
one of the major sources of educational inequality. (Graetz, 1995). In other
words, educational success depends very strongly on the socio-economic status
of one’s parents. (Edgar, 1976, Graetz1995).
Adebayo (1981) observed that the
social status of individuals is a reflection of their economic status and he
went further to explain that socio-economic status is usually a measure of the
income and occupation of the individual, irrespective of his or her educational
or social standing. According to him this has a tremendous influence on
students’ behaviour.
Ezewu (1987) posited that
socio-economic status can affect the academic performance of students in terms
of early attendance at school, attendance of best schools and the provision of
necessary materials. The students from low socioeconomic status would find it
difficult to obtain his needs from his parents. So he or she may belured into
anti social behaviour in order to meet his needs.
Giddens (1996) in a longitudinal
study of the influence of socio-economic status of parents on children’s
behavior found out that children with behavioral problems come from families
with low socio-economic background.
Okon (2006) emphasized that
socio-economic status of a person affect his or her attitude and life chances.
These attitudes include: positive or negative attitude towards academic, food,
dressing, drug use and abuse and the group the individual belongs.
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
The problems that are inherent in students’
social adjustment and academic performance cannot be over emphasized. This is
because the high rate of failures among student has been attributed to high
level of illiteracy, poverty and low socio-economic status coupled with high
rate of paternal and maternal deprivation of students’ academic needs, which
was necessitated by poor socio-economic situation of the country.
The crucial factor in poor homes is
that Parents of low economic status cannot fulfill the legitimate needs of
their children. This financial incapability makes students vulnerable to the
deceit of anti social behavior, which may affect the academic performance of
the child either positively or negatively. Parent of low economic status may
not be able to pay the school fees of the children, purchase their educational
materials such as books, uniforms and other necessary items for the child’s
success in school. When a student lacks the privilege of being provided for and
supported to succeed in his or her education, the child may not have high
educational achievement (Ayo 2002). Parents who cannot afford the basic
necessities for their children as a result of low economic status would not
help the children in optimizing his potentials and capabilities to excel as
expected.
The above problems, give rise to
the examination of the effect of socio economic status on students’ social
adjustment and academic performance.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to:
1.
To
find out the effect of SES on the student.
2.
To
find out whether Parent SES have influence on student social adjustment and
academic performance.
3.
To
find out factors in the environment that militates against students’ academic
performance and social adjustment.
4.
To
find out if occupation of parent have effect on students’ academic performance.
5.
To
know if there is any relationship between socio-economic status and students’
academic performance.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.
What
are the possible effects of SES on students social adjustment?
2.
Do
parent SES have influence on students’ social adjustment and academic
performance?
3.
To
what extent do environmental factors militates against students’ academic
performance and social adjustment?
4.
Do
occupations of parent have any impact on the academic performance of students’?
5.
Is
there any relationship between socio-economic status and students’ academic
performance?
HYPOTHESES
The
following hypothesis would be tested in this study:
1.
There
will be no significant effects of SES on students’ social adjustment.
2.
There
will be no significant relationship between parent SES and students’ academic
performance
3.
There
will be no significant difference between environmental factors and students’
academic performance.
4.
There
will be no significant relationship between the educational qualification of
parents’ and students’ academic performance.
5.
There
will be no significant influence of socio economic status on students’ academic
performance.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.
The
findings will be of immense worth to parent and adults to know the impact of
socio economic status and social adjustment in their children’s academic
performance and to know the consequences there-in.
2.
The
study will also help the students greatly because it will enlighten them on
some variables attributable to their academic failure and to consult the school
counselor who would be of help in resolving the problems.
3.
The
study would also be of benefit to the school counselors, psychologists,
sociologists, educators, government and general public with a thorough
understanding of different socio economic , the associated problems and the
extent to which these problems influence students in school.
4.
At
the end of the research work, the
government and policy makers will see need for providing all secondary schools
with adequate counselors, sociologists and psychologists who would help in
student related problems such as; the socio economic status, parental influence
and variables so as to help foster their academic performance.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This
study was limited to Ejigbo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Social Economic Status: This is the term used to distinguish between
people’s relative position, rank in relation to others in the society in terms
of family income, political power, educational back ground and occupational
prestige.
Academic Performance: This is referred to as the result
of a task given to student in an academic environment.
Social Adjustment: This is the ability to integrate successfully with others in a defined
environment.
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