ABSTRACT
The study examined the effect of socio-economic status of
parents on students’ academic performance at the secondary level in selected
public secondary schools in Shomolu
Local Government Area of Lagos State. Also, this study reviewed some relevant
and related literatures under sub-headings.
The descriptive research survey was applied in this study for
the assessment of the opinions of the selected respondents for this study, with
the use of the questionnaire and the sampling technique.
A total of 200 (n=200) respondents were sampled for this
study. Three null hypotheses were formulated and tested, with the application
of the t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation tools at 0.05 level of
significance.
1.
There is a significant difference between parental
socio-economic status and students’ academic performance.
2.
There is a significant relationship between parental
socio-economic status and children’s social adjustment.
3.
There is a significant gender difference in academic
performance of both male and female due to parental socio-economic status.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Tale of contents vi
CHAPTER ONE 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.1
Theoretical Framework/Rationale 4
1.2
Statement of the Problem 6
1.3
Purpose of the Study 7
1.4
Research Questions 8
1.5
Research Hypotheses 9
1.6
Significance of the Study 9
1.7
Scope of the Study 10
1.8
Definition of Terms 11
CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review 12
2.1
Theories of Socio-Economic Status 13
2.2
Influence of Socio-economic Factors on Academic Performance 16
2.3
Influence of Parental Conflicts on Academic Success 20
2.4
Influence of Broken Home on Academic Success 21
2.5
Influence of Parental Discipline Factor on Academic
Performance 24
2.6
Influence of Home Factors on Academic Performance 28
2.7
Influence of Family Size Factors on Academic Performance 29
2.8
Influence of Birth Order Factor on Academic Performance 32
2.9
Parents’ Support to Children’s Education 33
2.10 Summary of Review 37
CHAPTER THREE: Research Methodology 42
3.0
Introduction 42
3.1 Research Design 42
3.2
Population of the study 43
3.3
Sample size and sampling technique 44
3.4
Research instrument 44
3.5
Validity of Instrument 45
3.6
Reliability of the Instrument 46
3.7
Procedure for Data Collection 46
3.8
Procedure for Data Analysis 47
CHAPTER FOUR: Data Analysis and Presentation of Results 48
4.1
Introduction 48
4.2
Descriptive Analysis of Respondents’ Bio Data 48
4.3
Descriptive Analyses of Research Questions together with
Data Collected from
the Respondents 51
4.4
Testing of Hypotheses 60
4.5
Summary of Findings 63
CHAPTER
FIVE: Discussion, Summary, Conclusion
and Recommendation 64
5.1
Introduction 64
5.2
Discussion of Findings 64
5.3
Summary of the Study 67
5.4
Conclusions 68
5.5 Recommendations 69
References
Appendices
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Parents are the greatest single
influence on their children’s development in two indisputable ways. Parents act
as socializing agent in providing goals and value system from which the child
develops various patterns of behaviours.
In some situations, parents adopt care free attitude towards
the learning of their children, even their social orientation, and this has in
many instances, caused the low academic performance of children even their
maladaptive behaviours in their immediate society (Hake, 1999). According to
Ndubuisi (2005) there is a positive correlation between parental attitude and
children’s social orientation and academic achievement. Ndubuisi is of the
opinion that parents’ dimensions of value placement on their children’s
well-being or otherwise, significantly affects the child’s positive or negative
adaptation to the society and even the way students carry out their academic
work in school.
Many factors contribute directly or indirectly to the
educational development of a child both within and outside the school system.
These factors stem from either heredity or environment. Many psychologists such
as Freud and Adler now de-emphasize the significant role of heredity in the
total development of the child while underlining the prominence of the
environment. Craft et al (2002), made some contributions to the understanding
of the relationship between the child’s home background and his academic
performance in school. A child is the product and reflection of the society.
While the school runs the formal education system, the home provides formal and
non formal educational experiences.
Many psychologists have advocated that the immediate
environment (Home) should be made quite stimulating so as to enhance the
development of a child’s intellect and good academic performance. According to
Locke (1970) we are like a clean slate at birth and that the environmental
influences determine what fills the vacuum. This is what he referred to as
“Tabula Rasa”. In other words, whatever we inherited from our parents may be
enhanced or dampened by the kind of environment we live in.
Studies carried out by Mudock and Mudock (2004), show that
the first six years of a child are very important because whatever goes wrong
at this stage will have long lasting effect on the child when he grows up. It
is during this early period that the personal characteristics and mental health
of the child are established. The child learns how to love and be loved and how
to cope with sibling rivalry. Also, it is at this time that the child develop
feelings of hostility and aggression if the environment is not conducive. This
early socialization process is important because it helps a child adjust to
places outside his home.
Psychologists and sociologists like Jersild (2005), Hurlock
(2006), believe that if solid foundations are not laid for the acquisition of
basic skill when the child is young, learning becomes a problem later in life
as it is often unsuccessful. Joyce and others (2005) have long established that
in effective schools where high quality education is provided, there is usually
frequent communication between the school and parents and this is mainly
positive, such as at award days and parent days and two-way, with parents often
initiating contact with the school.
This should involve parents monitoring efforts to
accountability and acting as advisors in school improvement efforts. This may
be achieved by having parents serve on standing and ad-hoc special committees
and boards of the school such as special events committee, disciplinary
committee and governing board. This way, parents get first hand knowledge of
the needs and problems of the school and work co-operatively with the school in
resolving them (Aloe, 2006).
When parents possess the necessary knowledge and skills
relevant to the school curriculum such parents may serve as information
sources, the audience for school academic activities and/or class assistants.
There also seems to be ample evidence to suggest that parental involvement in
home work and assignments may improve children’s performance in school.
Parental positive and co-operative attitude towards the
development of the school has been found to influence positively on children’s
learning outcomes in school. Such parental behaviours are reflected in good
attendance at PTA meetings, sending children to school on time, fees are paid
on time, children are made to complete homework on time and parents visit the
school regularly to monitor the progress of their children. Teachers have a
remarkably difficult job and will appreciate any one who supports them and
acknowledges their work.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The problem of low socio-economic
status among parents, and its attendant effect on the academic achievement of
students cannot be overemphasized. Most parents in Nigeria today are poor, and
majority of them are unemployed. This can be linked to poor economic situation in the country and the
world economic recession. As a result, parents lack the wherewithal to maintain
themselves and their children. Most Nigerian parents fail in their duties to
send their children to school. Many of them whose children are in school, do
not take adequate care of them because they lack the financial power to carry
or foot their children’s school bills. This has caused many children whose
parents are poor to constantly absent themselves from school, while majority of
the children have finally dropped out of school. These parents do not purchase
relevant books for their children or foot other school expenses for the child
(Jimoh, 2006).
Not only that, the children of the poor
are not properly cared for. For instance, children whose parents are not rich,
do not feed well before and after school. Thus most of them go to school in an
empty stomach, and while in school, they do not pay attention to what is going
on in the classroom. A child needs proper feeding to complement cognition, but
children of the poor do not feed adequately not to talk of balanced diet. For
lack of money, children whose parents are poor, are meant to live in an
unfriendly environment where they are incapable of reading freely and the
materials to study are not available for them to carry out meaningful academic
work. As a result of these, the children record poor academic achievement at
school. The above problems therefore, necessitated this study.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study was to
examine the effect of socio-economic status of parents on the academic
achievement of students in selected five senior secondary schools in Somolu
Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The specific objectives of the study
include:
2.
To
determine whether parents’ socio-economic status affects their children’s
social orientation.
3.
To
examine whether parents’ socio-economic status affect their children’s academic
achievement.
4.
To
examine whether there is relationship between parents’ socio-economic status
and children’s academic achievement.
5.
To
investigate whether gender difference exists in the academic performance of
students due to socio-economic status.
6.
To
determine the difference between the academic performance of children who come
from high socio-economic and those from the low socio-economic families.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions were
raised in this study:
1.
Does
parents’ socio-economic status affect their children’s social orientation?
2.
Does the
socio-economic status of parents affect their children’s academic performance
in the school?
3.
Is
there any relationship between parental socio-economic status and children’s
academic performance?
4.
Does
gender difference affect academic performance of children in the school?
5.
How can
the difference between the academic performance of children who come from high
socio-economic and those from the low socio-economic families be determined?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were
formulated to guide this study:
H01: There is no significant difference between parental socio-economic
status and student’s academic performance.
H02: There is no significant relationship between parental
socio-economic status and social adjustment of their senior secondary students.
H03: There is no significant gender difference in academic performance
of both male and female due to parental socio-economic status.
H04: There is no gender difference in the academic performance of
children in the school due to socio-economic status.
H05: There is no significant difference between the academic
performance of children who come from high socio-economic and those from the
low socio-economic families.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study will be of great benefit to
the various segments of individuals and group of individuals in the society.
For instance
(1)
The
students will benefit from this study because its findings and recommendations
will help them to appreciate that they need parental care and positive values
for them to be successful in school and society at large. It will make the
students to be more adaptive to parental control and care.
(2)
Parents
would also benefit from this study because it will enable them to be up and
doing in the upbringing of their children if they want them to be successful in
both academic and in life. This study will enlighten parents on the best
methods of bringing up a child in the home.
(3)
Teachers
would be beneficiaries of this study because, it will enable them to be more
enlightened on how best to train their children in the home and at school, as
surrogate parents.
(4)
The
society will undoubtedly, benefit from this study because it will enable the
adults members of the society to learn that parental value system has something
to do with the child’s behaviour and his/her academic success in the school.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study examined the effect of
socio-economic status of parents on the academic achievement of students in
selected five senior secondary schools in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos
State.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Operational definitions of terms were
appropriately provided in this study. Virtually, all the variables in the study
were defined accordingly.
(1)
Parents: This means father, mother or ancestors
e.g. our first parents (Adam and Eve).
(2)
Students: This means a person who is studying at
a college, polytechnic or university; boy or girl attending schools; anyone who
studies or who is devoted to the acquisition of knowledge.
(3)
Academic Performance: This refers to the level or rate at
which students in school perform in their academic career. It also shows the
level at which students carry out their school works at a given period of time
and the result of it.
(4)
Socio-Economic Status: This refers to the level of social
stratification of individuals in a given society. It is the socio-economic
distinction amongst members of the society.
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