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IMPACT OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF
THE STUDENTS AT SECONDARY LEVEL
Fauzia Naheed, Muhammad Arshad Dahar 1 and Aabida Lateef 1
1
Division of Continuing Education, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Corresponding Authors’ Email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT: The aim of present study was to find out the impact of parental involvement in the academic achievement of
their children at secondary level. The first objective of the study was to find out parental involvement in educational activities
of their children studying at secondary level. Second was to explore the level of academic achievement of students studying at
secondary level. Third was to find the relationship between the parental involvement and the academic achievement level of
secondary students. The present study was conducted in district Rawalpindi. The respondents of 120 students of 10th (who
passed 9th class exams) Grade of secondary schools were taken as sample of the study. Through simple random sampling
technique, four schools were selected as sample of the study. A close ended questionnaire for parental involvement was used as
a tool of study. To determine student’s achievement level, their 9th class result was used. For statistical analysis, correlation
was applied to find out the relationship between parental involvement and students’ achievement. Regression analysis was
applied to find out the impact of parental involvement on students’ academic achievement. It was concluded that parental
involvement has a significant impact on secondary student’s achievement level. Hence, it was proved from the results of study
that parental involvement plays a vital role in their children academic achievements.
Key words: parents, parental involvement, academic achievements

INTRODUCTION When parents are involved in their children’s education, their

Learning is a desirable change towards the right direction. It children’s attitude towards their school and education
is a lifelong process. It is very important process that starts becomes more positive. As a result, students get promotion
from birth and continues till death. This process can be a from elementary level and experience a new stage of learning
successful experience if parents show their interest and and change, even at that stage parent play a vital role in their
involvement in learning activities of their children. Parents success. The parents, who remain in close contact with the
are considered first teacher of their child who make their teacher, seek them in every matter through which they can
children socialize and train them for the adjustment in society enhance their child learning. These parents show a great
[1]. The educated people are assets of any society. The concern towards their children and try to provide as much
society will be more civilized and disciplined with its resources as they can to enhance their children literacy and
educated citizens. Commonly, it is considered a family learning [3]. Parental involvement is very essential especially
responsibility to make their children more productive for their for school based activities. There are many school based
society. Students’ achievements and social adjustment is activities that demand parental involvement such as having
influenced by many factors. These factors are their contact with their child school teacher, having a check and
relationship with parents, neighborhoods and peer groups. balance over their child attendance in school, regular
All the above, parental involvement is very important monitoring of learning activities provided by school. These
element. Those students who get involvement and attention entire factors contribute a lot in academic achievement of
from their parents can be more successful in their educational students at secondary level. It is a fact that mostly students
career and more productive for the society. It is common become more concern about learning activities provided by
perceived assumption that academic achievements of students their school. As students get promotion from middle to
cannot be achieved by only providing them with good school secondary level the parental expectations also increased [9].
and learning environment until parents play their positive role A study in which researchers used a sample of minority
towards their studies. families, have very low income. They concluded that those
Parents involvement in their children education and its impact mothers that are highly qualified also have higher
on their children educational progress is remained a topic of expectations and dreams about academic achievements of
worth investigated for many researchers. As a result there is their children. Mothers’ positive expectations and beliefs
plenty of work in shape of articles, reports, and studies. All matter a lot in student’s academic achievements. Different
sorts are very informative and useful because parental researches favor this fact that parents education contribute
involvement is a topic of interest from last few decades. towards the social atmosphere of home [10].
There are many researches that provide evidences that Mothers’ education and family income are very important
parental involvement has a positive and strong effect on elements that contribute in physical and learning
students’ achievement and wellbeing [11-13]. environment. [6]. It was found that parent’s education and
It is a common perception that parental involvement with their income have a positive relation with student’s academic
their children in early age plays a positive role towards their achievements. Most of parents that are sample of this study
personality building and social adjustment. At early stage of are highly involved in educational activities of their children
life parents of every child are their role model and they try to and expressed their desires for educational excellence of their
copy them in every way of life and this is a good opportunity children. During this study parents freely expressed their
for their parents to shape up their habits in a desired way. expectation which they have about their children. They are
Parental involvement is very influential for their children found fully aware of the significance of staying involve in
achievement level [2]. educational activities of their children. All parents express a
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common wish that they always want to be aware of that how No doubt there are some researches who have found the
their children spend their time outside the house. Majority of parental involvement and its effect on different achievement
parents claim that they have good relation with their children levels and domains. Most of the researches are conducted to
and their teachers [5]. find parental involvement at elementary and higher level but
Academic achievements indicate to which extent a student still there is need of an in-depth study to point out many other
has achieved aims and goals of an instructional environment. aspects which need consideration at university level.
At school level, mostly academic achievement is considered Objectives of the Study
as cognitive objectives achievement but it is a misconception. 1. To find out parental involvement in academic activities
Academic achievements means achievement of many of their children studying in secondary level classes.
constructs that cover the different domains of learning. 2. To find out of academic achievement of children
Achievement field is very broad and mostly it depends on its studying in secondary level classes.
indicators on the basis of which it is measured and evaluated 3. To see the relationship, if any between the parental
Parental involvement is very important component of involvement in the academic activities of their children
educational achievements but there is need of a clear vision and academic achievement of their children.
of different dimensions of parental participation and their 4. To find out the impact of parental involvement in
contribution towards academic achievement of their children. students’ achievement.
It was concluded that parents and child communication and Hypotheses of the study
parent’s expectation about their excellence in educational Ho1: There is no significant relationship between parental
field have a positive impact on academic achievements. But involvements in academic activities of their children
on other side parents’ strict rules and monitoring have most studying in secondary level classes.
of times shown negative impact [7]. Ho2: There is no significant impact of parental involvement
A study was conducted to explore the relationship between on students’ achievement level at secondary level.
parental involvement in activities of reading and
comprehension of English and achievement of six grade METHODS AND MATERIALS
students in the subject of English. There were 125 students of
Research Design
six grade and their parents were part of this study. It was
A correlation study was conducted to determine to which
concluded on the bases of results of a survey questionnaire
extent parental involvement is playing role in student’s
that significant correlation is found between parental
achievement level. It was quantitative survey that aimed at
involvement and students’ achievement. Significant impact
finding out the impact of parental participation on educational
was found on students’ English reading and comprehension
success level of the student. The present study provided the
[4].
possible existing relationship between parental involvement
Secondary education is very important stage of learning that
and academic achievement of the students at secondary level.
contributes a lot towards the social adjustment of students.
Population
After promotion from elementary to secondary level, students
All students studying at secondary level in 9 th Grade of
experience different types of changes which are both
Rawalpindi schools constituted the population of study.
contextual and personal changes. Sometimes these rapid
Sampling Procedure
changes confuse students and it is high time for their parents
The sampling was made in two stages. In first stage four
and family to support the student to overcome these hurdles.
public and four private schools were selected. In second stage
Secondary school environment mostly seems more complex
120 students of 9th class from four public and four private
in the context of achievement of academic goals. At this stage
secondary schools were selected randomly. It was made
parents and family support the students to improve their
possible that there should be participation of both categories
behavior.
from public and private schools. Boys and girls both were
The main focus of present study was to find a connection and
selected as sample of the study.
association between parent’s engagement in their children
Instrument of Study
educational activities and academic achievement level of
Close ended questionnaire was used as an instrument of
their children. Many studies were conducted to find out
parental involvement. Instrument was designed after
parents involvement and its connection with their children
literature review. Seven questions were included to get
educational excellence. After reviewing different studies on
demographic information of respondents. There were twenty
parental involvement most of the researchers concluded that
questions about different roles and engagements of parents in
parental involvement begin to decrease as children step in
their children educational activities, which were supposed to
their adolescent and become more independent in their
have an impact on secondary student’s achievement level. To
studies. At this level parental involvement takes a different
determine the academic achievement of 9th class, results of
path. Now its focus is also extracurricular along with
respondents were got from school.
academic achievements. It is found that parental participation
Data Collection
has a vital and important part in literacy development of their
The self-report questionnaire was administered to the sample
children. Even such involvement gives an increase to
students. The researcher visited the sample schools to collect
communication skill and self-esteem of students. There is
the data.
positive correlation found between students’ learning
outcomes and parental involvement at elementary level [8].
DATA ANALYSIS

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For analysis of the data, correlation was applied to find out 19 Do your parents encourage you to use the .507 .000
the relationship between parental involvement and students’ library?
achievement. Regression analysis was applied to find out the 20 Do your parents celebrate your academic .530 .000
impact of parental involvement on students’ achievement. achievements to motivate you?
Table 1 indicates the relationship between independent
RESULTS variable parental involvement and dependant variable that is
Boys and girls of 9th class studying in public and private students’ academic achievement. It indicates to which extent
school were selected as sample of study. In first part of two variables correlate with each other. Results show that at
questionnaire students were asked about different 0.05 level of significance, there are some variables that are
demographic aspects. In first question they were asked about significantly related to the student’s achievement level. The
the category of their schools in which they were studying. result also indicates that few variables that have no direct
Majority of respondents (65%) were student of private school impact on students’ achievement level when they are
and remaining (35%) respondents were studying in public measured at 0.05 level of significance such as parents’ advice
schools. Gender data indicated that (62%) respondents were for doing home work, arrangement of tuition instead of
boys and (38%) were girls. Parents’ education is very personal attention, regular monitoring of attendance and
important element so to get information about respondent’s encouragement on their achievement are parental
parent’s education they were asked about the last level of involvement activities that according to result have no
their mother and father education. It was found that 53% significant impact on achievement level.
mother’s level of education was intermediate. 30.7% Table2: Impact of parental involvement on students’
mother’s education level was masters while 19.3 % had achievement level
completed middle level. It was indicated by the data that 65% Sr. Statements t Sig.
of respondent’s fathers’ level was masters’. 20.8% was fall in 1 Do your parents advise you for doing home -1.104 .272
bachelor level while remaining 15.5% were Matric. In other work?
question they were asked about number of sibling. The data 2 Do your parents monitor your home work? 1.040 .301
indicated that majority of students belonged to small families 3 Do your parents monitor your television -.304 .762
of two to four brothers and sisters. viewing habit?
Table: 1 Correlation between parental involvement and 4 Do your parents help you to complete your -.067 .947
Students’ achievement level assignments?
Sr. Statements P Sig. 5 Have your parents arranged tuition for you at -.777 .439
1 Do your parents advise you for doing home .143 .060 home?
work? 6 Are your parents strict about your attendance? -.690 .491
2 Do your parents monitor your home work? . 109 .117 7 Do your parents monitor your regular .745 .458
3 Do your parents help you in doing home work? . 197 .016 attendance?
4 Do your parents monitor your television . 130 .078 8 Do your parents consult teachers about your -.637 .526
viewing habit? progress in studies?
5 Do your parents support you to follow school . 345 .000 9 Do your parents check your marks in class 1.137 .258
discipline? test?
6 Are your parents strict about your sleep time? . 133 .073 10 Do your parents encourage your good .551 .583
7 Do your parents help you to complete your . 322 .000 academic performance?
assignments? 11 Do your parents encourage you to use the 1.217 .226
8 Have your parents arranged tuition for you at . 071 .220 library?
home? 12 Do your parents celebrate your academic .329 .742
9 Are your parents strict about your attendance? .159 .042 achievements to motivate you?
10 Do your parents monitor your regular -.116 .104 Table 2 indicates impact of parental involvement on students’
attendance? achievement level at secondary level. Results show that
11 Do your parents contact your teacher for .305 .000 individually there is very low and insignificant impact of
checking attendance? parental involvement on dependent variable student’s
12 Do your parents asked you about your .425 .000 achievement level when it is measured at 0.05 significance
teachers’ method of teaching? level. It indicates that parent’s advice for doing homework,
13 Have your parents any contact with your .409 .000 their monitoring of homework and television watching,
teacher? providing help in completing assignments and arranging
14 Do your parents consult teachers about your .397 .000 tuition, all these activities have low correlation with
progress in studies? achievement level of students that’s why results also indicate
15 Do your parents check your marks in class .484 .000 that these activities have no direct and strong impact on
tests? students’ achievement level. Consultations with their teacher
16 Do your parents contact with your teachers for .318 .000 and motivation and encouragement from parents also have
not doing home work? significant impact on students’ achievement at secondary
17 Do your parents encourage your good .055 .277 level.
academic performance? Table 3: Analysis of variance
18 Do your parents attend your school functions? .420 .000 Model F Sig.
Regression 5.096 .000
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