Abstract
The present study was conducted to study the academic achievement of high school students in relation to their parental encouragement. The study was conducted on 200 school students of 10th class of Kangra district of H.P. The study revealed that government and private high school students differ significantly in their academic achievement, government and private high school boys as well as girls differ significantly in their academic achievement respectively. The study further revealed that, government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement. The boys from government and private high school do not differ significantly while on other hand, government and private high school girls differ significantly in their parental encouragement. In the end it was also found that there does not exist any significant relationship between the academic achievement and parental encouragement of high school students.
INTRODUCTION
Parental encouragement is one of the aspects of parent treatment patterns. In recent years, to improve the quality of education and their academic achievement, the parents help and guide them so that the students may not feel disheartened at a particular point of difficulty. Parent participation in school activities can enhance student’s learning, behavior and also lowers down their workload. The study of academic achievement of high school students in relation to their parental encouragement is very complex in nature. Today, it has become a major issue. In order to improve the academic achievement of the students, it is necessary to improve the quality of education.
Parental Encouragement
Parental encouragement refers to a clear and overt attempt by either or both parents to influence their children towards education. Parental encouragement seems to have many dimensions and can be measured from many perspectives (i.e. those of parents, adolescents and teachers). Aspects of family functioning, such as parent-child relationships, relationships between parents, parents behaviour with children and children’s perception of parents, seems to be related to educational outcomes and expectations. Parents’ attendance at extracurricular activities and adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ personal educational support seems to influence adolescents’ educational expectations. Thus, in encouragement, the parent help the child, guide him / her so that he / she may not feel disheartened at the time of difficulty and provides the proper home environment for the psychological as well as the academic development of their children.
Academic Achievement
Dictionary of psychology, Chaplin (1965) defined educational or academic achievement as specified level of attainment or proficiency in academic work as evaluated by the teachers, by the standardized test or by a combination of both. Good (1959) defined academic achievement as, “The knowledge, attitude and skills developed in the subjects, usually designed by test scores or remarks assigned by the teacher.”
Dictionary of psychology, Chaplin (1965) defined educational or academic achievement as specified level of attainment or proficiency in academic work as evaluated by the teachers, by the standardized test or by a combination of both.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Agarwal (1986) conducted a study on the “effect of Parental Encouragement on the Educational Development of students (Secondary stage)’’ and find out that the parental encouragement and educational development were found to be positively correlated. Duhan and Balda (2001) conducted a study on “Parental Stimulation, Socio-economic level and language development of Pre-school children” and revealed that the educated parents possess better skills in providing an enthusiastic and positive environment for the development of different concepts in children as they have better comprehension and understanding of aspirations and needs of their children. Goal (2002) conducted a study on “Feeling of security, Family attachment and values of Adolescent Girls in relation to their Educational Achievement’’ and concluded that the family attachment and achievement scores were negatively related. A related factor responsible for higher educational achievement was parental attitude. Sharma (2002) conducted a study on “A Study of effect of Parental Involvement and Aspiration on academic achievement of +2 students.’’ and found that 1) Achievement scores of children belonging to high average and low groups of parental educational aspirations were not equal. 2) The academic achievement scores were different from the children belonging to different parental involvement groups. Pandey and Ahmad (2008) conducted a study on “Significance of difference between Male and Female adolescents on Academic Performance, Achievement Motivation, Intelligence and Socio-economic Status” and find out that there is no significant difference on the measures of academic performance between male and female adolescents. Alam (2009) conducted a study on “Academic Achievement in relation to creativity and Achievement Motivation – A Correlational Study” and concluded that there is significant difference between boys and girls, urban and rural students with regard to their academic achievement. Kaur (2010) conducted a study on “Gender Differences in Perception of Home Environment of Adolescents” and found that the male adolescents perceive an autocratic atmosphere in which many restrictions are imposed on them by the parents in order to discipline them. Female adolescents perceive their parents to be more protective of them as compared to their male counterparts.
1 .4 Rationale of the Study
The present study focuses on the academic achievement of high school students in relation to their parental encouragement, and therefore, the researcher feels that the parents and students will be the forerunners who will benefit immensely from the study. In today’s time, students face a number of problems and hurdles in their school with respect to their relationship with peers and teachers, their academic achievement, organizational process in school etc. The researcher feels that this study will motivate teachers and parents of high school students to provide better learning environment for their students and to their children.
The researcher feels that the present study will help parents to realize the need to encourage students to gather more experience and help them appreciate the learning that the school and policy makers plan with respect various programmes, subjects etc. for example, parents often fail to understand the need for children to study new subjects related to their academics
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS
Parental Encouragement: Refers to the scores obtained by the students in the ‘Parental Encouragement Scale’ prepared and standardized by Dr. R.R. Sharma in 1988.
Academic Achievement: Refers to the end term performance of the students in different curricular subject areas of their study. In this study the total scores of the respective students in the 9th class examination has been accepted as their academic achievement score.
High School Students: The high school students, in the present study refer to the 10th class students of Government and Private Schools of Teh. Padhar, Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
- To compare the government and private high school students in their academic achievement.
- To compare the government and private high school boy students in their academic achievement.
- To compare the government and private high school girl students in their academic achievement.
- To compare the government and private high school students in their parental encouragement.
- To compare the government and private high school boy students in their parental encouragement.
- To compare the government and private high school girl students in their parental encouragement.
- To establish the relationship, if any, between the academic achievement and parental encouragement of high school students.
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
- Government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their academic achievement.
- Boys from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their academic achievement.
- Girls from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their academic achievement.
- Government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement.
- Boys from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement.
- Girls from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement.
- There is no significant relationship between the academic achievement and parental encouragement of high school students.
DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study is delimited to 200, 10th Class students of private and government schools located at Teh. Baijnath, District Kangra of Himachal Pradesh.
METHODOLOGY
In order to accomplish the objectives of the present study, the descriptive survey method of research was used.
Population and Sample of the Study:
In the present study all the 10th class high school students of private and government Schools located at Baijnath Tehsil of District Kangra of Himachal Pradesh constituted the population of the present study. From the population a sample of 200 school students (100 from government and 100 from private schools) were taken by purposive sampling under non-probability sampling technique.
Tool Used:
“Parental Encouragement Scale (PES)” developed and standardized by Dr. R. R. Sharma (1988) was used to collect the data from students
Statistical Techniques Used:
In the present investigation the investigator has used both the descriptive and inferential statistical techniques like Mean, Standard Deviation, Standard Error Deviation, ‘t’-test and Pearson’s r.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA
Table 1. Significance of Difference in the Academic Achievement of Government and Private High School Students
| Group | N | Mean | SD | SED | Df | ‘t’ | Remarks |
| Government | 100 | 384.93 | 68.15 | 12.20 | 198 | 5.16 | Significant at 0.01 Level |
| Private | 100 | 448.21 | 101.73 |
It is evident from the Table 1 that the mean values of the government and private high school students on ‘academic achievement’ are found to be 384.93 and 448.21 respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of difference the ‘t’ ratio was found to be 5.16. The table value of ‘t’ with 198 degrees of freedom is reported to be 1.97 and 2.60 at 0.05 and 0.01 level of significance respectively. As the calculated value of ‘t’ is found to be more than the table value of ‘t’ at both the levels therefore, the calculated ‘t’ ratio is found to be significant.
Hence, the hypothesis, “Government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their academic achievement.” was rejected. In other words, it may be concluded that, government and private high school students differ significantly in their academic achievement.
Table 2. Significance of Difference in the Academic Achievement of Boys from Government and Private High Schools
| Group | N | Mean | SD | SED | df | ‘t’ | Remarks |
| Government school Boys | 39 | 383.56 | 5.32 | 15.96 | 104 | 3.11 | Significant at 0.01 Level |
| Private school Boys | 67 | 433.22 | 106.00 |
It is evident from the above Table 2 that the mean values of the government and private high school boys on academic achievement are found to be 383.56 and 433.22 respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of difference the ‘t’ ratio was found to be 3.11. The table value of ‘t’ with 104 degrees of freedom is reported to be 2.63 and 1.98 at 0.01 and 0.05 level of significance respectively. As calculated value of ‘t’ is found to be more than the table value of ‘t’ at both the levels therefore, the calculated ‘t’ ratio is found to be significant.
Hence, the hypothesis “Boys from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their academic achievement’’ was rejected. In other words, it may be concluded that, government and private high school boys differ significantly in their academic achievement.
Table 3. Significance of Difference in the Academic Achievement of Girls from Government and Private High Schools
| Group | N | Mean | SD | SED | df | ‘t’ | Remarks |
| Government Girls | 61 | 385.80 | 73.74 | 17.04 | 92 | 5.44 | Significant at 0.01 Level |
| Private Girls | 33 | 478.63 | 81.49 |
It is evident from the above Table 3 that the mean values of the government and private high school girls on academic achievement are found to be 385.80 and 478.63 respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of difference the ‘t’ ratio was found to be 5.44. The table value of ‘t’ with 92 degrees of freedom is reported to be 2.63 and 1.99 at 0.01 and 0.05 level of significance respectively. As the calculated value of ‘t’ is found to be more than the table value of ‘t’ at both the levels therefore, the calculated ‘t’ ratio is found to be significant.
Hence, the hypothesis “Girls from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their academic achievement’’ was rejected. In other words, it may be concluded that, government and private high school girls differ significantly in their academic achievement.
Table 4. Significance of Difference in the Parental Encouragement of Government and Private High School Students
| Group | N | Mean | SD | SED | df | ‘t’ | Remarks |
| Government | 100 | 66.73 | 8.90 | 1.17 | 198 | 1.69 | Not-Significant |
| Private | 100 | 64.75 | 7.80 |
It is evident from the above Table 4 that the mean values of the government and private high school students on ‘parental encouragement’ are found to be 66.73 and 64.75 respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of difference the ‘t’ ratio was found to be 1.69. The table value of ‘t’ with 198 degrees of freedom is reported to be 2.60 and 1.97 at 0.01 and 0.05 level of significance respectively. As the calculated value of ‘t’ is found to be less than the table value of ‘t’ at both the levels therefore the calculated ‘t’ ratio is found to be not-significant.
Hence, the hypothesis, “Government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement’’ was accepted. In other words, it may be concluded that, government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement.
Table 5. Significance of Difference between Government and Private High School Boys on their Parental Encouragement
| Group | N | Mean | SD | SED | df | ‘t’ | Remarks |
| Government Boys | 39 | 67.00 | 8.44 | 1.61 | 104 | 0.81 | Not-Significant |
| Private Boys | 67 | 65.68 | 7.34 |
It is evident from the above Table 5 that the mean values of the government and private high school boys on parental encouragement are found to be 67.00 and 65.68 respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of difference the ‘t’ ratio was found to be 0.81. The table value of ‘t’ with 104 degrees of freedom is reported to be 2.63 and 1.98 at 0.01 and 0.05 level of significance respectively. As the calculated value of ‘t’ is found to be less than the table value of ‘t’ at both the levels therefore, the calculated ‘t’ ratio is found to be not-significant.
Hence, the hypothesis, “Boys from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement’’ was accepted. In other words, it may be concluded that, government and private high school boys do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement.
Table 6. Significance of Difference between Government and Private High School Girls on their Parental Encouragement
| Group | N | Mean | SD | SED | df | ‘t’ | Remarks |
| Government Girls | 61 | 66.55 | 9.15 | 1.86 | 92 | 2.43 | Significant at 0.05 Level |
| Private Girls | 33 | 62.03 | 8.38 |
It is evident from the above Table 6 that the mean values of the government and private high school girls on parental encouragement are found to be 66.55 and 62.03 respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of difference the ‘t’ ratio was found to be 2.43. The table value of ‘t’ with 92 degrees of freedom is reported to be 2.63 and 1.99 at 0.01 and 0.05 level of significance respectively. As the calculated value of ‘t’ is found to be more than at 0.05 level of significance therefore, the calculated ‘t’ ratio is found to be significant. Hence, the hypothesis, “Girls from government and private high schools do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement’’ was rejected. In other words, it may be concluded that, government and private high school girls differ significantly in their parental encouragement.
Table 7. Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation between Parental Encouragement and Academic Achievement of High School Students
| Group | N | df | R |
| Parental Encouragement | 200 | 198 | 0.006 |
| Academic Achievement |
It is evident from the Table 7 that the value of product moment coefficient of correlation between parental encouragement and academic achievement of high school students came out to be 0.006 which is not-significant. This indicates that two variables are not related significantly with each other. Hence, the hypothesis that “There is nosignificant relationship between the academic achievement and parental encouragement of high school students.” is accepted.
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS
After the analysis and interpretation of data the result shows that government and private high school students differ significantly in their academic achievement, along with this the government and private high school boys as well as girls differ significantly in their academic achievement respectively. The study further revealed that, government and private high school students do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement. , government and private high school boys do not differ significantly in their parental encouragement while on other hand, government and private high school girls differ significantly in their parental encouragement. In the end it was also found that there does not exist any significant relationship between the academic achievement and parental encouragement of high school students.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
- The children should be encouraged by their parents towards their studies so that they can have the higher degrees of academic achievement.
- School teachers and the society members should make their contribution equally in improving the academic achievement of the students. Proper home and class environment should be provided to the child for the good academic achievement.
- As the child grows his needs and aims also changes so that the parents should encourage their children accordingly. Effective method used by teachers in the classroom also enhances the academic development of the students.
- Proper motivation should be provided to the children by their parents so that to be better in their academics. Besides the parental encouragement, the curriculum construction also shows its effect on the academic achievement of students. The parents should be friendly in nature so that the children can share their school problems with them and they can find their solution. Over-ambitious attitude of parents and teachers affect the academic achievement thus parents and teachers should not curb student’s interest and potential.
- Guidance services should be provided to parents as well as students related to their problems to enhance their academic achievement. There should be healthy interaction between students and teachers so that they can share their ideas, views with each other. Teachers should enhance the interest of students towards studies by creating creative environment and by providing maximum opportunities to the students.
REFERENCES
Agarwal, K. L. (1986). A Study of Effect of Parental Encouragement upon the Educational Development of Students.In Fourth Survey of Research in Education (1983-1988). Ed. M. B. Buch, New Delhi: NCERT, Sri Aurbindo Marg, Vol. 1, p. 332.
Agarwal, Kusum. (1986). A Study of the Effect of Parental Encouragement on the Educational Development of Students (Secondary Stage). In Fifth Survey of Research in Education (1988-1992). New Delhi: NCERT, Sri Aurbindo Marg, Vol. 2, p. 11.
Alam, Md. Mahmood. (2009). Academic Achievement in Relation to Creativity and Achievement Motivation-A Correlational Study. Edutracks: A Monthly Scanner of Trends in Education, May 2009, Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 31-32.
Duhan, Krishna and Balda, Shanti. (2001). Parental Stimulation, Socio-Economic Level and Language Development of Pre-School Children. Indian Educational Abstracts, January 2002, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 62.
Goel, Swami, Pyari. (2002). Feeling of Security, Family Attachment and Values of Adolescent Girls in Relation to their Educational Achievement. Indian Educational Abstracts, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan. 2003, NCERT, p. 51.
Kaur, Jagpreet. (2010). Gender Differences in Perceptions of Home Environment of Adolescents. Journal of Community Guidance and Research, Nov. 2010, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 337-342.
Pandey, S.N. and Ahmad, Md. Faiz. (2008). Significance of Difference between Male and Female Adolescents on Academic Performance, Achievement Motivation, Intelligence and Socio-Economic Status. Journal of Community Guidance and Research, March 2008, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 34-38.
Sharma, S. Nidhi. (2002). A Study of Effect of Parental Involvement and Aspirations on Academic Achievement of +2 Students. Indian Educational Abstracts, January 2003, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 61-62.
Sharma, Seema. (2010). A Study of Academic Achievement of Undergraduate Students having Differential Levels of Cognitive Style. In M. Ed. Dissertation submitted to Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Krishma Educational Centre, Nerchowk, pp. 9-14.
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[1] Research Scholar, Dept. of Education H.P.University Shimla.
[2] Research Scholar, Dept. of Education H.P.University Shimla.
