The Influence of Parental Separation on Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The major objective of this study is to investigate the influence of parental separation on the academic achievement of secondary schools students in Lagos Educational District II. Specifically, the researcher seek to :
- Investigate the influence of single parent family on students academic performance
- Investigate the influence of parent socio- economic status on students academic performance
- Investigate if students from single parent family will performed better than students intact family
- Investigate if students gender have any influence on students academic performance.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Student’s achievement is a timely topic in the world of education. With initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) and the sweeping accountability reform movement, student achievement comes to the forefront of many of today’s educational debates. It is therefore quite concerning to educators to encounter achievement gaps among student populations. This literature review examines parental separation on academic performance of adolescent students. In reviewing literature on academic performance and family structure, parental separation (Angel- Castillo, & Torres-Herrera, 2008; Bachman, Coley, & Chase-Lansdale, 2009; Hampden-Thompson, 2009; Heuveline, 2003; Jeynes, 2009, 2006; McLanahan & Sandefur, 2004; National Center for Education Statistics, 2008; Uwaifo, 2008; Waldfogel, Craigie, & Brooks- Gunn, 2010; Xu, 2008; Yara & Tunde-Yara, 2010; Zill, Zimiles & Lee, 2001). However, some studies offer alternative perspectives (Chiu & Ho, 2006; Pong, 2007, 2008). Therefore, a thorough review of the literature is necessary to ground this research and to guide the study. After a brief discussion of the theoretical framework for the study, this chapter presents the related literature.
Theoretical Framework
Three common theoretical threads are apparent in the literature regarding academic performance:
Social cognitive theory
Attachment theory
Theory of moral absolutism
Each of these theoretical frameworks provides conceptual underpinnings for the literature on academic performance. A closer look at each theory provides greater understanding of the subsequent literature.
Social Cognitive Theory
The research on academic performance is grounded in Bandura’s (2002) social cognitive theory because the theory holds that portions of an individual’s knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. The theory states that when people observe a model performing a behavior and the consequences of that behavior, they remember the sequence of events and use this information to guide subsequent behaviors. Observing a model can also prompt the viewer to engage in behavior they already learned. In other words, people do not learn new behaviors solely by trying them and either succeeding or failing, but rather, the survival of humanity is dependent upon the replication of the actions of others. Depending on whether people are rewarded or punished for their behavior and the outcome of the behavior, the observer may choose to replicate behavior modeled. Media provides models for a vast array of people in many different environmental settings. Human development is influenced, in part, by environmental agents. School structure is an environmental agent that impacts human development and therefore student achievement. According to Santrock (2007), social cognitive theory is “the view of psychologists who emphasize behaviour, environment, and cognition as the key factors in development”. School structure is an environmental factor that affects the development of students and, in turn, impacts student achievement.
Attachment Theory
Attachment theory was first conceptualized by John Bowlby and later refined by Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton, 2002). The theory contends that a strong emotional bond with at least one primary caregiver is crucial for healthy child development. Attention is given in much of the literature to the child’s mother as the primary caregiver (Cavanagh & Huston, 2008). Attachment theory offers insights into the depressed academic achievement of students from some subgroups of nontraditional families. Further, it is consistent with Pong’s (2008) platform that students from single-parent households in which the mother is present can still experience competitive academic achievement levels.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the research design together with the population, sampling procedure, the sample size, instrumentation, validation and reliability of the research instrument, administration, data treatment and data analysis for hypotheses testing.
Research design
Descriptive Survey design was adopted for this study. The design entails the collection and use of data systematically from a given population to describe certain characteristics features of the population. The design is considered appropriate for this study being that the work is intended to collect data from small group with view to describing the entire population vis –a –vis determining the effect of parental separation on academic performance of adolescent students Lagos Educational District II.
Population
The target population of the study comprised adolescents from all junior secondary school students in Lagos Educational District II. The accessible population consists of students in Lagos Educational District II.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter presents the result of the research carried out on parental separation on Academic Performance of Adolescents students in Lagos Educational District II, Lagos State. Three research hypotheses were formulated and tested. The data were analyzed using frequency count, percentage, Correlation Analysis. The summary of the results were discussed below:
Analysis of Socio-demographic characteristic of respondents
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The study examined the effect of parental separation on academic performance of adolescent students . The first chapter of the study dealt with the introduction of the topic. It is made up of the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study and operational definition of terms.
The second chapter of the study dealt with the literature review which consisted of the theoretical framework, review of related concept, review of empirical study and research hypotheses. Relevant theories such as Social cognitive theory, Attachment theory and Theory of moral absolutism. Based on the objectives of the study hypotheses are formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance.
The third chapter of the study dealt with the methodology. This includes the research design, population of study, sample and sampling technique, research instruments, Validity and reliability of research instrument, research procedure, and methods of statistical analysis.
The fourth chapter was concerned with the Sampled of three hundred (300) from students were selected randomly, the analysis was presented in sections. Section one presented respondents characteristics, section two examine the results of findings, and section three is the discussion of findings. While the chapter five dealt with the summary of the study, conclusion, recommendations, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies.
The following hypotheses were tested in this study:
H1: There will be no significant relationship between parental separation and academic performance of the adolescents.
H2: There will be no significant relationship between parental separation and the social relationship of the adolescents.
H3: There will be no significant relationship between parental separation and adolescent’s interpersonal relationship.
Conclusion of the study
It is important to remember that as divorce rates continue to increase so does the likelihood that students of divorced parents may have a greater risk of adjusting in areas of educational performance. Students feel the impact of separation as it carries over into the classroom. Students from divorced families show decreased functioning in academic performance and display oppositional behaviour, or signs of anxiety and depression.
These students lack the ability to concentrate in class; declining attendance and willingness to participate in class indicate students are having difficult time adjusting to a transition in family dynamics.
Parental separation has great impact on development of social attitudes of adolescent students in secondary school.
The social behaviours of secondary school adolescents in homes where parents live together differ from the social attitudes of those students from separated parents.
The social attitudes of male and female secondary schools’ adolescent students from separated homes are virtually the same.
Finally, parental separation has a negative impact on the social attitudes of adolescents since the value and attitudes, the customs and traditions of the society are taught to young children in the family by their parents. Therefore, there is connection between parental separation and social attitudes of secondary school adolescents students. Students from separated homes are likely more disposed to negative social attitudes than students from parents living together.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on the finding of this research.
- Counselors, psychologists, social workers and teachers should identify students from divorced families and counsel them and the separated parents should also be counseled on social needs of their children so that their academic work will not suffer at school.
- To reduce divorce or separation rates, couples should have enough time for each other and made love and understanding the corner stone of their marriage. For instance, there should effective communication among couples since communication serves as the blood of any relationship.
- Pre-marital pregnancy and forced marriages should be discouraged by organizing family life education, seminars, games etc in the schools, churches and communities as much as possible since these situations often result in high state of marriage disruption.
- Parents should be reminded of their joint responsibility for raising the child even when the marriage is annulled. This encourages concern about their children’s welfare and co-operation over child rearing issues.
- School counsellors should see themselves as parents and guides to the students. Some level of cardinality and friendliness should exist between them and the students so that the students will be free to confide in them.
- Government; community organization courts and religions organizations should work together to ensure that all unhappily married couples have access to coun-selling that is both affordable and child cantered.
- There should be affective relationship and marriage skill classes. Healthy parenting invariably begins with emotional healthy parents. Encourage people to establish effective relationships; classes of relationship and marriage skills should be incorporated into high school curricular and be a requirement for graduation.
- Sequel to the influence of family on adolescents’ social and interpersonal relationships, divorce and conflicts in the home could be avoided by strengthening and improving the quality of family life.
- Family casework should be taken with every seriousness as this could help to ameliorate the adverse effects of divorce on the family. Casework should include educating the marriageable age about the great task of marriage life.
REFERENCES
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