The Effects of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement - Research Proposal Example

THE EFFECT OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON ACHIEVEMENT SUBMITTED BY Wanda R. Ingram Reg. No. /Enrolment No. Argosy Atlanta (University Emblem) Under the Supervision Of Faculty Name DEPARTMENT University Year of course The Effects of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement Introduction It has become a fact that parental involvement in the education of their children contributes many advantageous, not only to the students, but to the family and institution as well. The overall development of a student depends, to a large extent, on the presence of cordial and healthy educative environment and the encouragement of his/her parents. Studies around the world document that parental involvement and student development are positively correlated (Tsubata, 2002, Jeynes 2005, Kim, 2002). The involvement of parents in students' education and development has many facets. Irrespective of the situation and level of involvement, it has been empirically proved that parental support and encouragement do result in student achievements, which contribute to social, emotional and academic development of students. The participation of parents can be formal or informal and constant or irregular. However, the most important thing is how effectively parents are participating in various educative programs/activities at home, school and in society to help children develop skill such as social, emotional and academic skills. Henderson & Berla remark that "when schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to succeed not just in school, but throughout life" (Gianzero, 1999 p.2). This overall development of students is evidenced by many studies across the world. At this juncture, the present study aims to explore the development of students in all respects by virtue of their parents' support. The study is intended to understand whether parent involvement in education can enhance the student achievement-socially, emotionally and academically. It also tries to throw lights on the effective ways of parental involvement that are high chances of student success in life. The study does not classify the students in respect of ethnicity, race, family and financial background. All types of students and parents are included in the survey to contribute their opinions and perspectives that, the researcher thinks, is necessary to come out with unbiased and generalized conclusions. The study focus on three aspects to empirically conclude that students' overall development is possible with parents' involvement in their education. These aspects are social achievement, emotional achievement, and academic achievement. The Research Problem As stated in the last paragraph, researchers all over the world are of the opinion that parental involvement does make positive results to students. But, little is studied and talked about the overall development of students as a result of the participation of their parents in their studies and other activities at school and home. Therefore, the present study is relevant in this context to examine whether the parental involvement can contribute to the overall development of students or not. The study put emphasis on three important variables, the validation of which is the ultimate objective of the study. Social Achievement The ability to socialize and communication skill is considered to be one of the key factors of success in life. Human beings are to interact with the fellow beings not only to communicate with them but also to understand and empathize with them in times of their troubles. Social interaction should be developed and encouraged by parents as well as teachers to equip students to keep away from the social evils and keep them ahead in the efforts to solve social problems. Emotional Achievement Now-a-days the success or otherwise of anyone is assessed on the basis of his/her Emotional Quotient (EQ) rather than Intelligent Quotient (IQ). It is also possible in schools and colleges to apply this parameter as the criterion for evaluation of student performance. Academic Achievement Academic performance has been considered as a performance criterion of students from time immemorial. Students' achievement in terms academic results are used as one of the variables here. The academic data are collected from the school/college authority. Objectives of the study Any research has some objectives, which act as the direction for the smooth flow of research processes. It helps the researcher to make sure that whatever he does in the process of research is relevant or not. The broad objective of the present study is to explore whether parental involvement does result in the overall development of students. The study also seeks to achieve the following objectives: 1. To explore whether parental involvement results in the social, emotional and academic development of students 2. To assess the methods, which can effectively help parents and teachers make students' overall development Hypothesis A research to be complete must have a hypothesis to prove or disprove something. A hypothesis is an assumption about the probable outcome of research, which is yet to be tested. The research problem, objectives and hypothesis are interrelated and expressed in different ways so as to extend the scope of the study. The probable outcome is the solution to the research problem, which demanded the very need for a research. The present study is also undertaken with three hypotheses. They are stated as below: Parental Involvement is positively associated with the Social Development of students Parental Involvement is positively associated with the Emotional Development of students Parental Involvement is positively associated with the Academic Development of students The above hypotheses are called null hypotheses by statisticians and in case the above statements turn to be untrue, its alternatives hypotheses are formed and accepted. The alternative hypotheses are the exact opposite of the null hypothesis and need not be expressed. Initially they are implied and in case the null hypotheses are found to be invalid after the research, the alternative hypotheses are accepted. Research Methodology Research Design Every research has a unique way of exploring the solution to its problem. This distinct steps or way of doing a particular research is known as research methodology. The present study is an exploratory study as it is related to establish relationship between various variables such as parent involvement, social, emotional, and academic development. It makes use of both qualitative and quantitative data. A qualitative research is one which makes use of non-economic/financial data for the purpose of analysis and interpretation whereas a quantitative research makes use of economic data for decision making. For the purpose of the present research, qualitative date includes the opinion collected from respondents through a survey. Quantitative data are collected from the academic records of students maintained by college/school authority. The grade of students in academic as well as non-academic activities is used as quantitative data, which act as parameters to assess the performance of the students. The study takes a sample survey in which the respondents are surveyed with appropriate tools and procedure to collect data there from. Population Population is the total number of units under study. Since the present study is conducted to analyze the effectiveness of parental involvement on student achievement, all people concerned with education such as parents, teachers and students constitute the population of the study. The population is finite and population frame cab be had from school/college authorities. This population frame is sued to draw samples to constitute the respondents for the study. Therefore, there are three sets of population for the study, namely parent population, student population and teachers/faculty population. Sampling Design This study is basically a survey research. A survey research can be carried out in two ways. First, a complete enumeration survey wherein all the units in the population / universe are studied to arrive at the conclusion. The result of complete enumeration method is always reliable and the researcher need not worry about the accuracy of the result. But it is impossible in many cases as it is time consuming, expensive, and non-operational. Sample survey is the alternative method wherein a selected number of units from the population are taken for a detailed study and the conclusions derived there from are generalized for the entire population. This is a superior method from the view point of cost, time. Accuracy can also be ensured as the sample units are the real representatives of population. The present study takes a sample survey approach wherein the selected respondents from the three sets of population are surveyed with questionnaire to collect data on various relevant topics. Sampling Procedure Sampling procedure is the process of drawing sample units from population to infer about the population. The selection of sampling procedure is important because the one selected must be appropriate to the problem under study. As there are a number of sampling methods, the researcher has to select the apt one which ensures high accuracy, low personal bias and other considerations like time, cost etc. Random Sampling/ Probability Sampling method is the most commonly used method as it ensures the presence of all the above parameters. Thus, the method used for the present study is Simple Random Sampling Method as it is highly trustworthy from the view point of accuracy, reliability and less personal bias. The samples are taken from the population by using lot method, which gives equal chance for each and every item of the population to be included in sample. This reduces the personal bias of both the researcher and employees in the population. As there are three sets of population, three sets of samples are drawn from the respective population to form the sample size for the study. Sample Frame Sample frame refers to the number of sample units included in the sample for the study. Here, sample size is determined as a certain percentage of population. Since anything beyond 10% of the population sounds ideal in this regard, the sample size for the present study is restricted to 20% of population. Therefore, 20% of the population should be taken as the sample from each set of population. Data Collection The study relies both on primary and secondary data. Primary source include the survey carried out among the various respondents such as parents, teachers and students. The survey among these three sets of samples is conducted by a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire is well structured and care must be taken to include only closed questions and they are to be arranged logically. The secondary sources include all student records which have been kept and maintained by school/college authority. Data Editing The data collected from primary source always need editing. Editing is the process of eliminating the errors and mistakes in the raw data so as to make them usable for further analysis. Editing is done for eliminating mistakes, completing an incomplete data, omitting errors etc. The secondary data need not be edited as they are in processed form and they have been collected by somebody for some other purpose. Data Coding The quantitative and non-quantitative data which have been edited are now converted in to another form called codes for easy and convenient analysis. Codes are used to convert data which are lengthy and cumbersome for analysis. Analysis is performed using simple statistical methods like percentage and measures of central tendencies. Data Analysis Once the data are edited and coded for correction and convenience for further processing, the next step is analysis. Analysis involves the conversion of raw data into meaningful information so as to make them appropriate for arriving at logical finding and conclusions. A detailed analysis is intended to be carried out using SPPS package. The analysis involves the establishment relationship between various variables and exploring the reasons thereof. Simple statistical and mathematical tools such as average and percentages are extensively used and Karl Pearson's Correlation is used to measure the correlation between parental involvement and student achievement. Limitations of the Study The study is basically a sample survey research. Therefore, sampling errors are the first and foremost problem of the study. However, maximum effort has been made by the researcher to minimize the sampling errors by properly selecting the sample method and sample units. Another limitation of the study is that it relies heavily on secondary data, though the authenticity of which is highly desired. However, every effort is put by the researcher to make cross check between various connected data and thereby avoids all mistakes and errors. In addition to that whatever be the findings, they can be attributed to the period of the study and therefore any generalization may no longer be valid and acceptable. Conclusion The present study is intended to analyze the parental involvement in the education of their students and their achievement. The study seeks to measure whether there is any relationship between parental involvement and student overall development. It takes a sample survey approach that collects all the relevant data through mailed questionnaire. The data collected are analyzed using SPSS package. References Gianzero Gina (Henderson & Berla (1997)). (1999). Promoting Parental Involvement, Improving Student Outcomes, Retrieved March 15, 2009, fromhttp://www.sandiegodialogue.org/pdfs/Parental%20Involvement%20doc.pdf Helaire, Lumas J. and Pamela Trotman Reid. (2004). Parental Involvement in Education. Encyclopedia of Applied Developmental Science, Retrieved March 15, 2009, from http://sage-ereference.com/applieddevscience/Article_n302.html Jeynes, William H. (2005). Parental Involvement and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/publications-series/family-involvement-research-digests/parental-involvement-and-student-achievement-a-meta-analysis Johns, Mary Sue. (1994). The New Crusade: Parent Involvement. School Arts, 94, (4). 16+ Tillman, Linda C. (2006). Parental Involvement. Encyclopedia of Educational Leadership and Administration, Retrieved March 15, 2009, from, http://sage-ereference.com/edleadership/Article_n417.html Tsubata Kate. (2002). Parental Involvement Produces Best Result. The Washington Times, January 14, 2002. 4. Read More