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Heyneman and Loxley's (1983) findings are particularly important here. They examined the influence of family background and school factors on pupils' science achievement from 16 developing and 13 industrialized countries. Various school attributes (such as the availability of textbooks and school libraries, teachers' school attainment, and length of the instructional program) were analyzed as a block of school qualities
Teachers materials
Batista, Harbison, Holsinger, and Helio (1986), tracking 4,902 pupils over 2 years, found that teacher quality and instructional materials exerted significant influence while the character of school buildings did not
The relationship between gender and the academic achievement of students has been discussed for decades (Eitle, 2005). A gap between the achievement of boys and girls has been found, with girls showing better performance than boys in certain instances (Chambers & Schreiber, 2004). Gender, ethnicity, and father’s occupation are significant contributors to student achievement (McCoy, 2005; Peng & Hall, 1995).
Above and beyond the other demographic factors, the effects of SES are still prevalent at the individual level (Capraro, M., Capraro, R., & Wiggins, 2000). The SES can be deliberated in a number of different ways; it is most often calculated by looking at parental education, occupation, income, and facilities used by individuals separately or collectively. Parental education and family SES level have positive correlations with the student’s quality of achievement (Caldas &Bankston, 1997; Jeynes, 2002; Parelius, D., &Parelius, A., 1987; Mitchell &Collom, 2001; Ma & Klinger, 2000). The students with high level of SES perform better than the middle class students and the middle class students perform better than the students with low level of SES (Garzon, 2006; Kahlenberg, 2006; Kirkup, 2008).
The achievement of students is negatively correlated with the low SES level of parents because it hinders the individual in gaining access to sources and resources of learning (Duke, 2000; Eamon, 2005; Lopez, 1995). Low SES level strongly affects the achievement of students, dragging them down to a lower level (Sander, 2001). This effect is most visible at the post-secondary level (Trusty, 2000). It is also observed that the economically disadvantaged parents are less able to afford the cost of education of their children at higher levels and consequently they do not work at their fullest potential (Rouse & Barrow, 2006).
ABSTRACT
The students' academic performance may be influenced by various external factors other than their personal characteristics. For the development of a society, it becomes necessary to provide quality education to its people
In light of these five strategies for improving student performance, it is evident that students’ academic success does not depend solely on their mental and physical abilities; rather, other external factors also contribute to academic excellence. To put the aforementioned strategies in perspective, Hijazi and Naqui (2006) identify three types of factors regarded as influencing student academic achievement: environmental, socioeconomic, and
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Contemporary Issues In Education Research – First Quarter 2013 Volume 6, Number 1
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psychological factors. One important aspect of socioeconomic factors is parental education (e.g., Ferguson & Ladd 1996; Mestry et al., 2007; Kurian, 2008). The consensus among researchers is that student academic achievement depends largely on parents’ involvement in matters related to the education of their children. Kurian (2008) affirms that parents’ active participation is not only essential to improving discipline in schools, but also promotes student academic achievement, as demonstrated by good grades. The findings reveal that children of educated parents have a higher level of life satisfaction and fewer problems (Sudhir&Lalhirimi, 1989) and are relatively more confident, self-reliant, and free from anxieties and other psychological problems (Jehangir, Tahir, & Saeed, 2000). However, these behavior traits may vary by school and the level of teachers’ involvement in molding and polishing a child’s personality.
Nevertheless, for parents to effectively become involved in their children’s learning and thereby exert a positive influence on the children’s academic performance, they must have had previous experience with the formal education system. The situation may vary by parent; for example, mothers with higher education can provide more support to their children in problem-solving situations at the preschool level. Englund, Luckner, Whaley, and Egeland (2004) reveal that “children can be encouraged to develop higher expectations of educational attainment during the early years of their education. The educated mothers are also more involved in their children’s studies and helped them as compared to mothers with no or less education.” The study suggests high academic achievement at later stages of schooling among children with early involvement by educated mothers. Parents maintain their interest and concern in their children’s studies in higher-level classes as well (Perveen&Alam, 2008). While the situation may not be any different with regard to fathers’ education level (Houtenville& Conway, 2007; Desforges&Abouchaar, 2003), Marks (2007) suggests that the impact of the mother’s level of education is greater than the father’s on overall academic performance of their children. This is probably because the men in most cases fulfill all of the economic needs of the family, while the women act as housewives and perform home duties such as cooking, washing, and looking after their children. However, this may not be entirely the case in Uganda, as the majority (66%) of the working population is engaged in the agricultural sector (UBOS, 2012), which employs both men and women. Though the population of Uganda includes more females than males, the proportion of women in formal employment is lower than that of males. Thus, children spend most of their time with mothers. The mother in most cases ensures that the children learn the social and moral etiquettes as well as receive religious education. In light of the fact that a majority (70.5%) of households in Uganda are male-headed (UBOS, 2012), most important decisions in a home are certainly made by the man—women are not actively involved in the decision-making process regarding household assets, cash, or income flows, or when and how often to have children. As a result, their role in choosing a school for their child is limited. The country is marked by a
Does the school institution influence students' achievement levels after account-ing for their family background? This question has received enormous attention from researchers in the United States and Europe. Following the skeptical findings of the Coleman (Coleman et al., 1966) and Plowden (Peaker, 1971) study groups, researchers in the West have investigated the effects of many material ingredients and social practices found within schools (for reviews, see Fuller, 1986a; Hanushek, 1981; Purkey& Smith, 1983; Rutter, 1983). The bulk of this evidence on school effects continues to come from the U.S. and England. Much less is known about the school's efficacy within developing countries. An early review, based on just nine empirical studies in the Third World, concluded that schools hold little influence on achievement, net the effect of family back-ground (Simmons & Alexander, 1978). In the subsequent decade, more than 50 additional school effects studies (with multivariate or experimental designs) have been completed in developing countries. Much of this empirical work suggests that the school institution exerts a greater influence on achievement within developing
First,Ispeakt o the school'saggregateinfluencewithin the ThirdWorld.Central to this issue is the question of how we identify relevant family background and socialclassvariableswithin non-Westerncultures.I f thesecontrolsa re misspecified, then the relative influence of the school may be overstated. Before detailing individual studies, I will outline limitations of the literature as a whole. This will provide a critical frameworkf or interpretingt he detailed findingst hat are subse-quently discussed. Second, this review identifies those elements of Third World schools that appear to be most consistently associated with higher pupil achievement. Still responding to Coleman(Colemane t al., 1966), researchersin the ThirdWorldremainfocused on the effects of material inputs, such as textbook availability or overall school expenditure levels. A critical posture is taken throughout this review, urging investigatorsto ask how materialingredientsactuallya re mobilizedand organized within schools and classrooms. Beyond their applied importance, developing countries present theoretically interesting conditions. First, the school institution often operates within commu-nities where any commitment to written literacy or numeracy is a historically recente vent. Therefore, aschool of even modestqualitym ay significantlyinfluenceacademicachievement.Second,socialclassstructuresindevelopingcountriesoften are less differentiatedthan in highly industrializedsocieties.Advantagesrooted in social class and related parenting practices may be more or less influential within the Third World. In fact, family practices related to the child's cognitive develop-ment may be less strongly associated with social class within developing countries. Third, given the low level of material resources available in many Third World schools, the influence of social practices within classrooms may play a greater role than do material inputs, as appears to be the case in the U.S. (for a recent western European study, see Helmke, Schneider, &Weinert, 1986). Research in developing