Hello teachers, students, and researchers, I am here again today, Wednesday, 2nd April, 2020, to share a guide on how to measure parental involvement in pupils’ education through research.
Parental involvement in their wards' education dates back to the pre-colonial era when mothers were considered to be the first teachers to children to inculcate moral values and cultural heritage.
Although the research unequivocally affirms the positive and long-lasting effects of parent, family, and community involvement on student learning, this data is often overlooked in local, state, and national discussions about raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps.
Some parents rarely encourage their children on the need to perfect on their school work, let alone interact with teachers on the strengths, developments and challenges of the pupil in school. These and many more are likely causes for pupils’ failure and poor performances.
An attempt to proffer solutions to the problems mentioned above forms the thrust for this study to empirically investigate to what level parental involvement in education affects the performance of pupils. For the purpose of this write, parental involvement in pupils’ education are conceptualized as:
- Parental Financial Support
- Parents Interaction with Teachers
- Parental Academic Socialization (Motivation)
I have put in over seven years into educational researches, and I have discovered that it is a popular problem among research students to be able to construct their instruments for collection of data even when this is a major component for the success of the research. In the coming days, I would be sharing more research guides and tips for students and teachers. This is my way of supporting the @Steemiteducation and the #Education-Hive community.
I decided to put below the following guide question for a researcher who is interested in working on a topic related to "Parental Involvement in Pupils’ Education".
Questionnaire Items to measure Parental Involvement in Pupils’ Education
Variable 1: Parental Financial Support
| S/N | Statement | Agreed | Disagreed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parents do not delay the payment of their wards’ school dues/levies. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 2 | Parents put in their best to ensure pupils come to school in time. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 3 | Parents always acquire writing materials and textbooks for pupils irrespective of cost. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 4 | Parents consider their wards’ uniforms as essential requirements for their education | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 5 | Parents see volunteering to financially support of school projects as a priority. | Agreed | Disagreed |
Variable 2: Parents Interaction with Teachers
| S/N | Statement | Agreed | Disagreed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Parents regularly attend Parent-teachers Association meetings to discuss issues bothering their wards’ performances. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 7 | Parents readily come to seek information concerning pupils’ requirements. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 8 | Parents freely discuss pupils’ behaviour at home concerning school work with teacher. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 9 | Parents are eager to check pupil’s performance in class work and discuss developments with teacher. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 10 | Parents send verbal or written appreciation to teachers when pupils’ improve. | Agreed | Disagreed |
Variable 3: Parental Academic Socialization (Motivation)
| S/N | Statement | Agreed | Disagreed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Parents always communicate with children about their expectations for education. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 12 | Parents influence pupils’ determination to be outstanding in academic activities. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 13 | Parents link school work to current events during discussions to stress the relevance of education in daily living. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 14 | Parents provide a stimulating home learning environment to make learning enjoyable and rewarding. | Agreed | Disagreed |
| 15 | Parents focus on activities which are directed at building pupils’ problem solving skills. | Agreed | Disagreed |
For the sake of users using mobile phones, the below view would be helpful:
Variable 1: Parental Financial Support
- Parents do not delay the payment of their wards’ school dues/levies
- Parents put in their best to ensure pupils come to school in time
- Parents always acquire writing materials and textbooks for pupils irrespective of cost
- Parents consider their wards’ uniforms as essential requirements for their education
- Parents see volunteering to financially support of school projects as a priority
Variable 2: Parents Interaction with Teachers
- Parents regularly attend Parent-teachers Association meetings to discuss issues bothering their wards’ performances
- Parents readily come to seek information concerning pupils’ requirements
- Parents freely discuss pupils’ behaviour at home concerning school work with teacher
- Parents are eager to check pupil’s performance in class work and discuss developments with teacher
- Parents send verbal or written appreciation to teachers when pupils’ improve
Variable 3: Parental Academic Socialization (Motivation)
- Parents always communicate with children about their expectations for education
- Parents influence pupils’ determination to be outstanding in academic activities
- Parents link school work to current events during discussions to stress the relevance of education in daily living
- Parents provide a stimulating home learning environment to make learning enjoyable and rewarding,
- Parents focus on activities which are directed at building pupils’ problem solving skills
I am your Research Assistant @Uyobong. We hope to meet again tomorrow for some helpful educational research tips. Feel free to use the comment section of this post to ask questions so we can interact the more.