Family Environment and Academic Performance Among High School Students

The Elementary School Journal Volume 86, Number S O 1986 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/86/8603-0002$01.00 Teachers have strong opinions about parent involvement. Some believe that they can be effective only if they obtain parental assistance on learning activities at home. Others believe that their professional status is in jeopardy if parents are involved in activities that are typically the teachers' responsibilities. The different philosophies and beliefs of teachers reflect the two main, opposing theories of school and family relations. One perspective emphasizes the inherent incompatibility, competition, and conflict between families and schools and supports the separation of the two institutions (Parsons, 1959; Waller, 1932; Weber, 1947). It assumes that school bureaucracies and family organizations are directed, respectively, by educators and parents, who can best fulfill their different goals, roles, and responsibilities independently. Thus, these distinct goals are achieved most efficiently and effectively when teachers maintain their professional, general standards and judgments about the children in their classrooms and when parents maintain their personal, particularistic standards and judgments about their children at home.

In today’s competitive global setting, pupil’s performance is an important element of the school’s achievement. Pupil’s performance can significantly be affected by range of variables. Researches depict family structure as a salient variable. This study looked at the family structure of Junior High School pupils in Ayeduase Sub-Metro of Kumasi and their academic performance. The objectives were to assess the difference in relationship between the academic performance of children from single-parent families and two parent families and also to determine the difference in parental involvement in children’s academic performance. The research utilized a case study of 80 J.H.S. students in Ayeduase Sub-Metro, Kumasi between the ages of 12–18 years who were sampled by using stratified sampling technique. The sample consisted of all J.H.S 1, J.H.S 2 and J.H.S 3 students in order to maintain reliability. Chi-square test of independence was used in testing the first research hypothesis which was to determine the relationship between children in single-parent families and two parent families (family structure) and the dependent variable (academic performance). The result of the study indicated that, there was no significant difference in relationship between children from single-parent and two parent families (family structure) as independent variable and academic performance of pupils (p=0.791) as the dependent variable. The finding of this study provided evidence that family structure indicated no significant effects on academic performance of children. The study recommends that further studies should be carried out to include other family factors. Chi-square test of independence was used in testing the second hypothesis which was to determine the difference in parental involvement in children’s academic performance. The result of the study also indicated that, there was a significant difference in parental involvement in children’s academic performance (p=0.223).

This study critically explores the impact of family structure on the cognitive growth of high school students. Family structure plays a pivotal role in shaping the cognitive development of adolescents, influencing their academic performance, problem-solving abilities, and overall intellectual growth. With changing family dynamics globally, including nuclear families, single-parent households, extended families, and blended families, it becomes essential to understand how these variations affect cognitive outcomes during the formative high school years. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative assessments of cognitive abilities with qualitative interviews to gain deeper insights into students’ experiences within different family environments. The study reveals that students from stable family structures, characterized by consistent emotional support and effective communication, tend to exhibit enhanced cognitive abilities, including better memory retention, critical thinking, and adaptive learning skills. Conversely, students from disrupted or less cohesive family environments may face cognitive challenges due to stress, reduced academic engagement, and limited access to educational resources. However, the findings also highlight that family structure alone does not determine cognitive growth; factors such as socioeconomic status, parental education levels, and school support systems play significant mediating roles.

The purpose of this research study is to explore first graders’ understanding of parental involvement in a rural high school, to investigate students’ feeling and attitude towards their parents’ participation in high school education, to understand rural students’ expectation of parent-teacher collaboration, and further to examine potential differences caused by gender, degree of parental involvement, and level of academic performance. Qualitative data was collected by means of individual interviews and questionnaires among first-grade students in a rural high school in Heilongjiang Province. The research involves 12 interview participants and 115 students for questionnaires. After transcribing verbally all the individual interviews, both line-by-line coding and software N-Vivo were utilized to analyze transcriptions in order to generate main codes and themes to describe students’ understanding and perception and further explore differences across individual interview participants. Questionnaire data was entered into Excel program to create figures supporting findings of interviews. 
\nFindings show that rural high school students understand parental involvement as interactions involving parents, teachers and students in four aspects- material, supportive, communicative and environmental. Effective communication, initiation of providing supports, good relationship, and comfortable environment were highlighted in students’ expectations. Secondly, the feelings of confident, proud, warm, happy, relax, pressure, and distrust were related by students to their parents’ various practices of involvement in high school education. Moreover, students identified three different attitudes towards parental involvement: positive, negative, and dependent. It was found that students’ attitude towards the communicative parental involvement was highly depended on the content and the frequency. Besides, students tend to express their neutral attitude towards activities that were not implemented in the high school such as participation in school decision making and parent-teacher association. Thirdly, academic scores and motivation of study were discovered to be affected by parents’ involvement. Parent involvement with positive feeling and positive attitude were more likely to be related to positive effects on academic outcomes by students. 
\nThe research suggests a three-way communication among parents, teachers and students at school and in the community. Findings imply that it is necessary for rural high schools and rural parents to work together with students in the establishment of home-school cooperation. Students’ reaction and expectation provide valuable implications for practices of parental involvement in rural high school. Individual differences are also recommended to be taken into considerations in the practices.

Although studies have demonstrated that Chinese immigrant parents tend to be highly involved in their children’s education, little is known about Chinese American children’s perceptions of parental support and involvement at young ages. Using a mixed method approach, we examined Chinese American and European American preschoolers’ conceptualizations of parental involvement in their schooling. Participants consisted of 180 children aged 4 balanced with gender (60 low-SES children of Chinese immigrant families, 60 middle-SES children of Chinese immigrants, and 60 European Americans). To capture views of school learning constructed by children, we employed two scenarios that depicted children’s school attendance in interviews with individual children. Qualitative analysis of children’s free responses demonstrated four types of key themes that captured their perceptions of parental involvement: (a) recognition and appeal to parental support, (b) parents’ demands and expectations, (c) parents’ reasoning, and (d) parents’ direct involvement. Chinese American children were significantly more likely to mention parents’ direct involvement than European American children. There was no socioeconomic difference in children’s reference to the four types of parental involvement within the Chinese American group. Chinese immigrants’ family processes, academic socialization, and parent–child relationships are discussed.

This study examined pupils', parents', and teachers' perceptions of parental involvement and its relationship to pupils’ academic performance, using a descriptive–correlational design. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and open-ended teacher responses. Most pupils were enrolled in intermediate grades (Grades 4–6), the majority of parents were aged 31–40, and all participating teachers were female. Pupils reported high parental involvement in expectations, communication, and homework support, but lower involvement in school participation. Correlation analysis showed a moderate, positive, and significant relationship between pupils’ perceived parental involvement and academic performance (r = 0.359, p = 0.01). Teachers’ ratings similarly revealed a moderate-to-strong significant association (r = 0.406, p = 0.003), while parents’ self-rated involvement showed a negligible and non-significant relationship. Overall, findings suggest that strengthening trust, flexibility, and school-based participation is essential for sustaining effective parent–school partnerships and enhancing pupils’ academic outcomes.

A family is a fundamental unit in society. However, the structure of a family has been changing from the traditional family structure comprising of parents and their children to other forms of family structures that provides alternative dependence system. The emerging family structures may have an influence on academic performance in secondary schools’ as students depend on the family emotional and material support. This study examined the influence of family structure influence on students’ academic performance within Bungoma East Sub-County. The study objectives were to examine the Nuclear family structure influence on academic performance of students’ public secondary schools in Bungoma East Sub-County; to examine the Single parent family structure influence on academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Bungoma East Sub-County. This study was guided by Bronfenbronner’s principles of ecological theory of child on child development, a risk and protective model. Descriptive research design and mixed methodology was used to determine the extent to which variation in family structure and school setting influences students’ academic performance. A sample size of 323 respondents was used in the study and a response rate of 95.7% was achieved. The questionnaire and interview schedule provided data that was analysed and presented findings through frequency tables, pie-charts, bar charts and others. Inferential statistics was used to analyse and ascertain relationship between family structure and academic performance. A regression analysis between family structure background and academic performance was performed and a Pearson Correlation test done to reveal significant correlation between the variables. The findings of this study revealed that good performance of learner with nuclear family was due to economic support, family support, parental motivation and home study environment. Nuclear family background positively influenced academic performance of student and it significantly accounted 16.7% variance in student performance. Single parent family background attributed good performance of learners with small percentage as shown by 92(30%). Single parent family background negatively influenced academic performance of student and it significantly explained 1.6% variance in student performance. Policy makers should always take the subjective views of their wards into consideration in order to avert the problem of single parenthood, step parenthood and grandparenthood in the society. By doing so, the increase in nuclear family parenthood will provide socio-economic support and motivation needed for students to perform well in their academics. Boarding schools setup will reduce the parenting influence.

The purpose of this study was to assess how family structure, gender, and family environment were related to both academic performance (end-of-the-year grades and quantitative and verbal achievement factor scores) and school behavior (number of days absent, number of days tardy, and number of in-school detentions). Subjects were 219 middle-class eighth graders (96 boys, 123 girls). Generally, students in two-parent nuclear families had better academic performance and less problematic school behavior than did students in either mother-custody or stepfather families. Boys had more detentions than did girls. Despite significant differences among the three family structures, the family structure variable accounted at most for only 1% of the variability in academic performance and school behavior. A family environment that emphasized achievement and intellectual pursuits accounted for variability in end-of-the-year grades beyond that accounted for by family structure, gender, and family conflict. The joint consideration of family structure, gender, and family environment accounted at most for 11% of the variance in academic performance and school behavior. For students in the mother-custody and stepfather families, contact with father was unrelated to academic performance. Findings are discussed in terms of models of achievement motivation and behavior.

This study explores perceptions of parental involvement among parents and teachers within the Israeli education system. The research focus is on presenting and comparing the perspectives of each group, to understand the dynamics between these two crucial stakeholders in children's education. The aim of the study was to understand and compare parents' and teachers' perceptions of parental involvement in the Israeli education system. The hypothesis was that there would be differences in how these two groups view parental involvement. Examining these perceptions uncover potential areas of misalignment or conflict that might impact the effectiveness of parent-teacher collaboration. The primary methodological approach employed in this study was Facet Theory, supplemented by conventional statistical analyses. The study participants comprised 215 teachers from various schools nationwide, teaching grades 1-12, and 215 parents with children in the same grade range. To collect data, participants were asked to complete an anonymous self-report parental involvement questionnaire in which they classified parental functions based on their degree of agreement, ranging from absolute disagreement to approval and desire for such activities. This approach allowed for a comprehensive examination of parents' and teachers' perspectives across various educational levels. The findings of this study indicate that parents' and teachers' perceptions of parental involvement differ fundamentally. Teachers' current perceptions of parental involvement were consistent with views reported in the literature three decades ago or more. They do not desire parental involvement beyond what they deem "necessary" and are averse to interference in their professional practice. According to this study's results, teachers perceive parental involvement to include the following functions: controlling school processes, participating in "obligatory" activities inherent to the parental role, and "service provision" -when needed, and they prefer that parents do not exceed the boundaries of "service provider." Conversely, the parents' perceptions of parental involvement aligned with more recent research, which advocates for balanced parental engagement. Accordingly, parents are viewed as partners in the educational process at school, and it is believed that collaborative efforts between parents and school staff lead to improved student academic achievements. The research findings provide evidence that parents' perceptions of parental involvement consist of supporting and supplementing school resources, supervising school processes, partnership in extracurricular pedagogical processes, and maintaining awareness of internal pedagogical processes. Moreover, evidence suggests that these components relate to two loci of control: the school and its environment and the parent alone. The comparison between teachers' and parents' perceptions revealed significant differences; observing them can serve as a solid foundation for fostering dialogue between the two parties. This dialogue can lead to a mutual understanding and a clear, agreed-upon definition of parental involvement, paving the way for a collaborative approach between parents and teachers in the Israeli education system and ultimately promoting student success. This study has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting the findings, including a parent sample with higher educational attainment (83.3% holding academic degrees vs. 27.3% nationally) and predominantly female participants in both parent (86%) and teacher (93.5%) groups, which may reflect natural patterns of educational engagement but could limit broader generalizability. The online distribution method made it challenging to calculate precise response rates, and data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced participants' perspectives on parental involvement. The findings are primarily applicable to the Israeli educational context and may require adaptation when considered in other cultural settings.

Advances in technology assisted education are revolutionizing the educational process as most know it today. What impact, if any, does technology-assisted education have on the future of higher education? In this study, we examine data from an ongoing evaluation of the distance education program for graduate level business students in a private university. The study addresses the impact of technology-assisted learning on academic performance among distance learners and their on-campus counterparts. The study further explores the relationship between academic performance and students' technological adeptability. The findings indicate, when adjusted for gender (females out-performed males), there were no significant differences in academic performance between distance learners and their on-campus counterparts. Analysis also shows no significant differences in overall academic performance between technology-adept students and those without technological skills. These findings may remove at least some perceived barriers in the decision to initiate distance education programs.

<p>Parents and children have been affected by the COVID-19 Movement Control Order (MCO). Parental involvement is often linked to children’s academic performance. This study first examined the link between parental involvement and children’s academic performance during the MCO. Next, it examined the differences in academic performance before and during the MCO. Malaysian secondary school students (<em>N</em>=130, 61.6% female) aged 16-17 (<em>M</em>=16.42, <em>SD</em>=0.4967) responded to questions about their parents’ involvement from before and during the MCO and completed the Inventory of Parental Influence. Exam grades from before and after the MCO were also collected. The results revealed a low to moderate positive correlation (<em>r </em>= 0.291,<em> p</em><0.05) between parental involvement in three areas (discussions, home care, and communication) and academic performance. During the MCO, students’ perception of parental involvement at home increased, <em>t</em>(129)-5.82, <em>p<.</em>05). However, there was also a significant decrease in students’ academic performance during the MCO when compared to before the MCO, <em>t</em>(123) = 2.058, <em>p</em><0.05. Implications and future research recommendations are suggested.</p>

Irregular breakfast consumption in adolescence and the family environment: Underlying causes by family structure

Aim: This study compared the effect of yellow filters and corrective lenses on the academic performance of primary school children with abnormal contrast sensitivity.
 Study Design: The study employed quantitative study design involving the measurement of variables.
 Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in Owerri North, Imo State, Nigeria, from February, 2019 to November, 2019.
 Methodology: The study included 34 children between 7-12 years old in private and public schools with abnormal contrast sensitivity comprising 7-9 year-olds (64.7%); 10-12 year-olds (35.3%); Males (52.9%) and Females (47.1%). Using basic optometric procedures and Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity chart, children with abnormal contrast sensitivity were identified for the study. Academic performance was assessed by comparing the previous midterm summative test result (pre-test) with the current midterm summative test result (post-test).
 Results: Paired sample t-Test showed no significant difference in academic performance of children using corrective lenses (p = .47), and those using corrective lenses with yellow filters (p = .94) respectively at 95% confidence interval. Also, children using corrective lenses compared with those using corrective lenses with yellow filters showed no significant difference (p =.57) in academic performance. Further, no significant age and gender variation in academic performance was identified (7-9 yrs: p =.38; 10-12 yrs: p =.79; Males: p=.38; Females: p =.79).
 Conclusion: Corrective lenses and Corrective lenses with yellow filters had no effect on academic performance of primary school children 7-12 years of age with abnormal contrast sensitivity.

Does Objective Scoring of Applications for Radiology Residency Affect Diversity?

Parental involvement in school plays a significant role in children’s academic school functioning. This study aims to measure the influence of organizational culture on high school students’ academic performance in Chian mediated by parental involvement. This study employed a quantitative survey methodology, utilizing Google Forms questionnaire designed on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 7. The survey was distributed to 162 high school students selected through simple random sampling. Before proceeding with data analysis, the questionnaire’s validity and reliability are assessed initially. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using Smart-PLS software is employed for analyzing and interpreting the data to address the formulated research questions and hypotheses. The results of this study shows that organizational culture has relationship with parental involvement and students’ academic behavior. (1) Participative Decision-Making Progress culture and Innovation Orientation culture have positive effect on parental involvement to enhance students’ academic performance in high schools; (2) Achievement Orientation culture has no significant positive impact on parental involvement to enhance students’ academic performance in high schools; (3) Parental involvement acts as a mediator in the relationship between organizational culture and students’ academic performance. Thus, it is recommended education institutions foster a culture of innovation and decision-making participation culture to create a supportive learning environment that boosts the engagement of both parents and students, which in turn leads to better academic performance.