International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies

ISSN: 2202-9478
[Link]

Relationship between Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement in Model

Primary and Secondary School of Haramaya University, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional
State, Ethiopia

Abate Assefa1*, Birhanu Sintayehu2

1
Department of Psychology, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Haramaya University, Ethiopia
2
Department of Educational Planning and Management, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Haramaya University, Ethiopia
Corresponding author: Abate Assefa, E-mail:abatsefa@[Link]

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parental involvement and
Received: December 14, 2018 students’ academic achievement in Model Primary and Secondary School of Haramaya University,
Accepted: April 28, 2019 Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Correlational research design was employed to carry out the
Published: April 30, 2019 current study. Questionnaire interview and document analysis were employed to was employed
Volume: 7  Issue: 2 to collect the data from selected respondents. The sample consists of 52 parents and 60 students
purposively selected. The students were selected by their academic rank which means 50% were
high achievers whereas below50% were lower achievers from the 8th, 10th and 12th grades. Parents
Conflicts of interest: None of 30 top scoring and 30 low scoring students were selected purposively. Parental involvement
Funding: None was measured by using self-developed questionnaire with 10 items and eight interview guide
questions were used, and students’ academic achievement was measured by their recorded scores
by their respective grades in the past three years four interview guide questions were employed.
The first finding was that there was statistically significant positive relationship between parental
involvement and students’ academic achievement, (r=0.64, p<0.01). The second finding was that
the portrayed students who ranked from 1st to 10th from grades 8, 10 and 12 were highly involved,
supported and followed by their parents on their education. The third finding was that students who
were scored below 50% and ranked last 10’s from perspective grades were children whose families
were less encouraged and involved. In general, parents’ involvement in supporting their students to
boost their academic achievement is moderate. It is recommended that more detailed studies can be
conducted in the future in different areas as well as country wide.

Key words: Parental, Involvement, Relationship, Academic, Students’ Achievement

INTRODUCTION & William, 2007). Parental involvement, according to Van-

Children are the future of any nation and the progress of any dergrift and Green (1992), has two independent components:
one being parents as supporters, the other component being
nation depends upon the education that they acquire today, the
parents as active partners. Parents’ active involvement in their
same kind of education they will apply on themselves or their
children’s schooling can be through the mere use of a services,
nation future. So, it is necessary for any nation to take special
contribution, attendance consultation, delivery of services,
care of children by providing them excellent education (Abdul,
and implementer of delegated power and in decision making
Syeda, Madiha & Qandeel, 2015). No doubt, education is a
at every stage. The involvement of parents means that parents
power that influences individuals’ lives. Parents’ participation in participate in one or more school associated activities, such as
the education process can increase the performance of their chil- parent-teacher meetings, volunteering at school, stimulating
dren. When the guardians are involved in their family education their child with homework, encouraging the child to upgrade
at residence place, their performance will be high in the institu- achievement. The involvement of parents in each stage of child
tion (Henderson & Berla, 1994). The more parents engage with education is necessary and the parents leave imperishable im-
their children, the higher scores their children achieve. prints on the lives of their children (Singh, 1995).
Education is a giant industry which equips citizen for the Findings of different studies have shown that parental
future, and needs diverse stakeholders to be engaged on it. Pa- involvement in children’s education has a significant pos-
rental involvement in schooling is one of the utmost important itive correlation with academic achievement. The higher
for the escalating students’ academic achievement. Parental the parents’ involvement in children’s education, the higher
involvement may be defined as parental participation in the ed- the academic achievement obtained. There are two forms of
ucational processes and experiences of their children (Jeynes parental involvement in influencing the academic achieve-

Published by Australian International Academic Centre [Link].

Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license ([Link]
[Link]
Relationship between Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement in Model Primary and
Secondary School of Haramaya University, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia 47

ment, communication, and interest in the homework (Ngu, Students’ Academic Achievement
Zahyah & Muhajir, 2016). Similarly, other studies have also Academic achievement refers to the level of schooling in
shown that parents’ interest in homework has a positive cor- which students have successfully completed and their abili-
relation with children’s academic achievement (Zahyah et ty to attain success in their studies (Larocque et al., 2011). It
al., 2002). Parental involvement includes a wide variety of is commonly measured through examinations or continuous
actions that parents take for the benefit of their children’s ac- assessments, but there is no general agreement on how it is
ademic success at school (Levanda, 2011, as cited in Anathe, best evaluated or which aspect involves procedural knowl-
2015). These include parenting style, parental expectations edge, such as skills, or declarative knowledge, such as facts.
and aspirations, home rules and parental supervision, par- The importance of parents’ participation is very obvious
ents’ attitudes towards children’s activities, helping with from the fact that it increases the knowledge and interest
homework, visiting the school to talk to teachers, and be- of child in academic activities. Moreover, MetLife (2005)
liefs regarding their child’s education (Fan & Chen, 2001; states that children show better academic results when
Levand, 2011; Porumbu & Necsoi, 2013; Shute, Hansen & their parents are enthusiastically involved and support their
Underwood, 2007). learning.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Relationship between Parental Involvements and
Parental Involvements Students’ Academic Achievements
Deferent scholars define parental involvement in different The impact of parental involvement on student academic
ways. It is defined by Grolnick and Slowiaczek (1994, p. 15) achievement has been recognized by teachers, administra-
as “the dedication of resources by the parent to the child with- tors, and policy-makers who consider parental involvement
in a given domain”. Similarly, Larocque, Kleiman, and Dar- to be one of the integral parts of new educational reforms
ling (2011) state that “family involvement can be generally and initiatives. The finding of a recent study revealed a
defined as the parents’ or caregivers’ investment in the edu- strong relationship between parental involvement and ac-
cation of their children”, to more specific ones that perceive ademic achievement of students (Ambachew, Amare, &
parental involvement as “parents’ behaviors in home and Geleta, 2018). It is believed that the relationship between
school setting meant to support their children’s educational parental involvement and academic achievement is impact-
progress” (El Nokali, Bachman, & Votruba-Drzal, 2010). In ed by various factors. Some of the most prominent, and
some studies, however, researchers choose to avoid a general thus most frequently investigated factors, include ethnicity,
definition of parental involvement and instead they focus on prior achievement, and socioeconomic status (Kohl et al.,
specific types of the involvement exhibited by parents (Kohl, 2000).
Lengua, & McMahon, 2000). Therefore, studies that manage to control for the effect
The term “parents’ involvement” also refers to all the of some of these variables, although rare, are valuable and
objects, forces and conditions in the dwelling house, which able to provide a more realistic picture of the effect of pa-
lure the child physically, intellectually and emotionally. Bak- rental involvement on student achievement. For example,
er (2003) points out that different home environments vary after controlling for child’s ability, socio-economic status,
in many aspects such as the parents’ degree of education, and ethnicity, Zellman and Waterman’s (1998) findings in-
economic status, occupational status, spiritual background, dicated a significant positive correlation between parental
attitudes, values, interests, parents’ future expectation for in-school involvement and students’ reading scores. Addi-
their children, and family size among others. Parents’ in- tionally, after controlling for children’s intelligence, Topor,
volvement differs from one family to another, and it affects Keane, Shelton, and Calkins (2010) reported that parental
children’s academic performance differently. Where things involvement was significantly related to academic perfor-
like gifts, prizes and their favorite/desirable places provided mance and children’s perception of cognitive competence. It
make positive reinforcement in children and generate higher should be noted that in this particular study parental involve-
performance. Parental involvement is also seen as one com- ment was measured by teachers’ perceptions of positive atti-
ponent of learning institution for the children. Likewise, the tudes parents had toward their children’s education, teachers,
term parental involvement is defined by Adelman and Tay- and schools. It did not, however, take into account any wider
lor (2007) as parental collaboration, “Schools are located in view of parental involvement in school or at home, hence
communities, but are often “islands” with no bridges to the casting a shadow of doubt on validity of the results. Similar
“mainland.” Families live in neighborhoods, frequently with concerns were raised regarding Izzo, Weissberg, Kasprow,
short association with each other or to the schools their chil- and Fendrich (1999) study results that indicates that parental
dren go to. Nevertheless, the gap among parents, communi- involvement is a significant predictor of student academic
ty, teachers and school society affect each other, for the good achievement.
or ill outcome. Referable to the mutual interest of society, all Problem arose when some of the reported significant
have goals to share, which relate to instruction and socializa- correlations became non-significant once the previous stu-
tion of the young, schools, families, and communities must dent performance was controlled. These studies are just
join forces with each other if they are to minimize problems a few examples indicating that, as is often the case with
and maximize outcomes. complex phenomena, the findings related to parental in-
48 IJELS 7(2):46-56

volvement are frequently full of inconsistencies. Literature relationship among variables. Similarly, Gay, Mills and
searches by using the keywords “parental involvement” Airasian (2012, p. 204) stated that “Correlational research
and “academic achievement” yield thousands of entries, involves collecting data to determine whether, and to what
many of them are representing scholarly research of the degree, a relationship exists...” In correlational research
effects of parental involvement on academic achievement designs, investigators use the correlation statistical test to
of children at various levels of education. To summarize describe and measure the degree of relationship between
and yield more generalizable results regarding the relation- two or more variables or sets of scores. In this design, the
ship between parental involvement and student academic researchers do not attempt to control or manipulate the
achievement, numerous meta-analyses were conducted variables as in an experiment; instead, they relate, using
over the past two decades. Although the overall goals of the correlation statistic, two or more scores for each per-
these meta-analyses aligned, their findings differed, con- son (e.g., a student motivation and a student achievement
firming the need for a systematic research review of these score for each individual).
results. Thus, the attempt made to see the relationship between
parental involvement and students’ academic achieve-
ment; why students achieve different score? Is there any
Objectives
parental contribution to students’ academic achievement in
The general objective of the study was to examine the re- the existing differences? The Pearson’s Product-Moment
lationship between parental involvement and students’ coefficient was used to see relationship between the two
academic achievement in Model Primary and Secondary variables i.e., parental involvement and students’ academic
School of Haramaya University. More specifically, the achievement.
study sought to Parents and students were purposively selected for the
1. Investigate the relationship between parental involve- study. The samples used for the study consisted of 60 stu-
ment and students’ academic achievement in Model Pri- dents taken from grade 8th,10th and12th by using purposive
mary and Secondary school of Haramaya University. sampling technique. These students were selected by their
2. Identify the contribution of parental involvement to academic rank which means 50% (30 students) were high
students’ academic achievement in Model Primary and achievers whereas below 50% (30 students) were lower
Secondary School of Haramaya University. achievers from grade 8th, 10th and 12th. Parents of 30 top scor-
3. Pinpoint the extent to which parents were involved in ing and 30 low scoring students were selected purposively
students’ academic achievement in Model Primary and to examine the cause or reason for existing relationship and
Secondary School of Haramaya University. differences among the top and lower achiever and the role
4. Assess the means by which parents are supporting their of parents on existed disparities. Finally, three consecutive
children in Model Primary and Secondary School of years of recorded students score document were reviewed
Haramaya University. to cross-check whether collected information about students’
achievement was consistent or not.
Research Questions
This study was guided to answer the following basic re- Description of the Study Area
search questions: The study area, East Hararghe, is located in the Eastern
1. What is the relationship between parental involvement part of Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia. Its al-
and students’ academic achievement in Model Primary titude ranges from 500 to 3,400 meters above sea level.
and Secondary School of Haramaya University? It contains, three agro-ecological zones, highlands (eleva-
2. What is the contribution of parental involvement to tions above 2,300 m), midlands (elevations between 1,500
students’ academic achievement in Model Primary and and 2,300 m), and lowlands (elevations below 1,500m).
Secondary School of Haramaya University? The low lands occupy the largest area (62.2%), followed
3. To what extent are parents involved in students’ aca- by midlands (26.4%) and highlands (11.4%) (Tolossa
demic achievement in Model Primary and Secondary and Tafesse, 2008). East Hararghe has 18 districts with
School of Haramaya University? a total population of 2,723,850, of which 1,383,198 are
4. What are the means by which parents are supporting males and1, 340,652 of them are females. With an area of
their children in Model Primary and Secondary School 17,935.40 km2, East Hararghe has a population density of
of Haramaya University? 151.87 per km2. The majorities (90%) of the populations
depend on agriculture in the rural area; 8.27% of them are
urban inhabitants, and a further 1.11% is pastoralists (CSA,
METHOD 2007).
Correlational research design was employed in carried Thus, this study has been conducted in one single pub-
out the current study since it gives an opportunity to see lic school which is called Model Primary and Secondary
cause the relationship between parental involvement and School of Haramaya University. The School is located in
students’ academic achievement. As Creswell (2012, one of the most popular and biggest Universities in Ethi-
p. 338) states that “Correlational research designs provide opia. It provides education for children who live inside
an opportunity for you to predict scores and explain the the campus, and for children who live around the campus.
Relationship between Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement in Model Primary and
Secondary School of Haramaya University, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia 49

This school is also one of the best schools found around view were appropriately altered to reflect the results of
here as its name indicated “model school.” It teaches chil- the pilot study.
dren starting from early age in its daycare to kindergar-
ten (KG). After that students can learn from 1st grade to
Data Collection Tools
12th grade and they can even proceed to the university. The
primary purpose of the school is to serves university com- Data pertinent to the study were obtained from primary and
munity’s children. As demographic data of the respondents secondary sources. As a means of collecting data, question-
indicated in the Table 1 that only 5% of the parents in the naires, semi-structured interview and document analysis
school were illiterate and remaining 95% were educated. were used. The questionnaire adapted and developed by the
Since the clients of the school are community of the uni- investigators. The items are 5 point-likert-scales in nature
versity, they are relatively well-educated. The reason be- (ranging from 1 to 5). The questionnaire was designed in
hind the authors selected this school to conduct this study a way that respondents to give their bibliographic infor-
is to examine extent of these educated parents involves mation as well as the actual data about the research. The
on their children’s schooling. In addition, to proof author first part of the questionnaire consisted of six variables that
William’s (2005) findings which stated as highly educat- focused on biographical information about respondents.
ed parents are likely to make more sacrifices in order to The second part consists of 10 items regarding the Paren-
establish children’s educational success, they often more tal provisions of key school materials for their children.
likely acknowledge the importance of parental support in Before dispatching the questionnaire a pilot test was con-
education and they are more likely to place a priority on ducted in Bate primary and secondary school of Haramaya
becoming involved themselves. Unlikely, Anthony (2014, town and the internal consistency of the items was checked.
p. 39) argued that “parental involvement does affect pupil’s The result of the pilot test shows that the reliability com-
academic performance but it influenced by other factors puted by Cronbach alpha was 0.93 which is an acceptable
such as school ownership, parental socio-economic back- range (Vanderstoep & Johnson, 2008). Moreover, interview
ground, school environment, parental occupation, parental guide was also considered as means for securing important
education and the class size.” Finally, this study aimed to data. Both parents and students were interviewed by the
compare the results of the study which was conducted in researchers face to face. To elicit detailed information, of
the same region with the different context of school en- eight items which focused on parental involvement on their
vironment and dissimilar educational level of the parents children’s schooling were designed for parents while the
entitled with “The relationship between parent involve- remaining four items aimed to assess academic achieve-
ment and students’ academic achievement motivation” in ment of the students. The main purpose of interview was
Eastern Hararghe zone senior secondary and preparatory to obtain details of data about the relationship between pa-
schools, Ethiopia by Ambachew et al. (2018). rental involvement and students’ academic achievement.
This procedure helped the researchers to triangulate and
strengthen the information obtained through the question-
Pilot Test
naire. Finally, 30 top achievers and 30 low achievers stu-
Prior to the actual data collection, a pilot study was con- dents’ from three consecutive years of recorded score doc-
ducted. This was made to check whether the items can ument were reviewed to triangulate data collected by over
generate the expected information and to identify any is- mentioned tools.
sues that may arise from the respondents during the data
collection process. Moreover, validity test was conduct-
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
ed to check whether the prepared tools can generate the
desired information and to judge its internal consisten- This section consists of two parts. The first portion of this part
cy (relevance). This was because to identify difficult or discusses the demographic characteristics (age, sex, educa-
vague questions and concepts and to make change based tional qualification and grade) of study participants. The sec-
on the results of the tests. As Festinger et al. (2005, ond part of this section presents analysis and interpretation of
p. 158) stated, “to increase the accuracy and usefulness the collected both quantitative and qualitative data for main
of findings by eliminating or controlling as many con- text. To address basic research questions, the researchers em-
founding variables as possible, which allows for greater ployed correlational research design and mixed research meth-
confidence in the findings of a given study.” To do so, od. Thus, extensive data were collected and used to confirm
30 copies of questionnaires were hand delivered to 15 findings from different data sources through triangulated data
parents and 15 children by using availability sampling sets of the purpose to see collected data in depth and breadth
techniques in Bate primary and secondary school of Ha- and consequently to validate the generalizability of the study.
ramaya town. The result of the pilot test shows that the Questionnaires were distributed to 58 parents and 60 students
reliability computed by Cronbach alpha was 0.93. and with the total sampled 118 respondents. Of the total number
alpha lies at acceptable range (Vanderstoep & Johnson, of questionnaire distributed to the groups 112(94.9%) were
2008). The content validity cheeked by face validity by appropriately filled and returned.
same respondents; as assumption they are going to judge Both descriptive and inferential statistics procedure were
whether the instruments looks ok to them (Vanderstoep employed to analyze the data collected, and SPSS version 20
& Johnson, 2008). In short, the questionnaire and inter- computer software were adopted. To analyze quantitative
50 IJELS 7(2):46-56

data, following statistical tools such as percentage, frequen- In the same Table, the distribution of children’s age indi-
cies, mean, standard deviation, and the Pearson’s Prod- cated that only three children (5%) were age between 11-14.
uct-Moment Coefficient (r) were used to guide the analysis In addtion, 46 children (76.7%) were between age 15-18 years
and interpretations of the findings. Data collected from docu- and remaining 11(18.3%) of the children aged 19-22. This
ments analysis from the school were analyzed to cross-check implies that majority of the selected participates put down the
information from various sources and to obtain date that may age range between 15-18 years. In category two, variable two
not be revealed in questionnaires items and interview. depicts that, of the 60 participating children, 32 (53.3%) and
In Table 1 variable one, the distribution of parents’ age in- 28(46.7%) were female and male, respectively. Therefore,
dicated as ten parents (19.2%) between 20-30 years; 26 par- majority of sampled children were females. Regarding grade
ents (50%) between 31- 40 years; 16 parents (30.8 %) above level of children, 20 students (10 top and 10 low achievers)
41 years; This implies that majority of the respondents put from each grade level i.e. the 8th, 10th and 12th grades.
down the age range between 31-40 years. In short, parents Table 2 indicated descriptive data (Mean and Standard
of students in model school neither too older nor too youth. Deviations) 10 items of questions with 5 point-likert-scales
Variable two depicts that, of the 52 participating parents, in nature (ranging from 1 to 5) disseminated for both parents
24 (46.1%) and 28(53.9%) were female and male, respective- and their children aimed to assess the extent in which paren-
ly. Therefore, majority of communicated parent as sample tal involvement on provisions of key school materials for
of respondents were males. Regarding educational qualifi- their children. In computing of the results, high mean score
cations of the total respondents, 6(11.5 %) were PhD hold- showed the more parental involvement on provision of key
ers. In addition, 11(21.1%), 8 (15.4%) and 10 (19.2%were school materials while low mean score implies frequently
qualified for their MA/MSc degree, first degree and diploma less parental involvement provision of key school materials
respectively. Again, while 7.5% and 12.5 % were certificate for their children’s perception.
and bellow grade 8 respectively. Finally, only 5(9.6%) were As it was indicated in Table 2 item #1, the computed
illiterate or unable to write and read. mean (3.94) of the parents and (4.0) of children were showed

Table 1. General characteristics of respondents

No Categories No Variables Items Frequency Percentage
1 Parents 1. Age of parents 21‑30 Years 10 19.2
31‑40 Years 26 50
41‑50 Years 16 30.8
Total 52 100.0
2. Sex of parents Female 24 46.1
Male 28 53.9
Total 52 100.00
3. Educational qualification of parents Illiterate 5 9.6
Bellow grade 8 7 13.6
Certificate (10+1 or 12+1 5 9.6
Diploma 10 19.2
Degree 8 15.4
Master 11 21.1
PhD 6 11.5
Total 52 100.00
2. Children 1. Age of children 11‑14 Years 3 5
15‑18 Years 46 76.7
19‑22 Years 11 18.3
Total 60 100.0
2. Sex of children Female 32 53.3
Male 28 46.7
Total 60 100.00
3. Grade 8th 20 33.3
10th 20 33.3
12 th
20 33.4
Total 60 100.0
Total Respondents 112 100.00
Relationship between Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement in Model Primary and
Secondary School of Haramaya University, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia 51

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics on the level of Parental #2, the computed mean of the parents (2.38) and (2.27) of the
involvement on the provisions of key school materials for children which indicated that parents hardly checked their
their children children note books, assignment and homework. Likewise,
No Items Respondents Mean SD the computed standard deviation were (.75) and (.67) which
indicated that there was no difference among them by check-
1 Parents provides Parents 3.94 0.91 ing their children note books, assignment and homework.
all necessary Children 4.00 0.96 The computed mean of the both parents and children were
school materials (2.32) indicated that parents hardly checked their children’s
Both 3.97 0.93
notebooks, assignment and homework. Likewise, average
2 Parents regularly Parents 2.38 0.75
the computed standard deviations of the respondents were
checked school Children 2.27 0.67
assignments (.71) which indicated that there was no difference among
Both 2.32 0.71 them by checking their children’s notebooks, assignments
3 Parents Provided Parents 3.46 0.70 and homework.
time for studying Children 3.40 0.68 As it can be seen from Table 2 item #3, the computed
at home mean (3.46) and (3.40) of the parents and children respec-
Both 3.43 0.69
tively, and it indicated parents sometimes provided time
4 Parents discuss Parents 3.60 0.99
for studying at home for their children. Also, the computed
about his/her Children 3.84 0.97 standard deviation (.70) and (.68) of the parents and chil-
school teachers.
Both 3.72 0.98 dren correspondingly showed that there was almost no vari-
5 Parents check Parents 2.56 0.92 ability among them in providing time for studying at home
his/her school to their children. The computed mean of the respondents
attending Children 2.76 0.94 were (3.43) which it indicated parents sometimes provided
progress Both 2.66 0.93 time for studying at home for their children. Also, the av-
6 Parents prepare Parents 3.70 0.70 erage computed standard deviation (.69) of the participants
food after and Children 3.75 0.75 showed that there was almost no variability among groups in
before schooling providing time for studying at home to their children.
Both 3.73 0.72
As it has been indicated in Table 2 item #4, the computed
7 Parents provides Parents 3.26 1.30 mean of parents (3.60) and children (3.84) showed that par-
money for
Children 3.69 1.15 ents usually talking about their children’s school teachers.
transport if it
necessary Both 3.48 1.42
Also, the computed standard deviation (.99) and (.97) par-
ents and children respectively and it indicated that there was
8 Parents give Parents 3.44 0.73
no variability among the groups talking about their children’s
him/her letter to Children 3.55 0.76
school
school teachers. The average computed mean of participants
Both 3.49 0.74 were (3.72) which showed that parents usually talking about
9 Parents facilitate Parents 2.62 1.22 their children’s school teachers. Also, the computed standard
conducive home deviation (.98) indicated that there was no variability among
environment to Children 2.82 1.21 the groups talking about their children’s school teachers.
studying Both 2.72 1.21 As it can be seen from Table 2 item #5, the computed
10 Parents provide Parents 2.30 0.81 mean (2.56) and (2.76) parents and children respectively that
rewards to indicated that sometimes parents checked their children’s
Children 2.22 0.85 school attendance progress. Besides, the computed standard
motivates and
encourages my deviation (.92) and (.94) parents and children correspond-
Both 2.26 0.83
students ingly indicated that there was no variability among them by
Interpretation of five rating scales as follows: mean score
checking their children’s school attendance progress. The
1.00‑1.50=Never, 1.50‑2.50=Rarely, 2.50‑3.50=sometimes, computed mean of the groups were (2.66) that indicated
3.50‑4.50=Usually and 4.50‑5.00=always ( Bluma, 2012). that sometimes parents checked their children’s school at-
tendance progress. Besides, the computed standard deviation
was (.93) indicated that there was no variability among them
that parents were usually provided all necessary school ma-
by checking their children’s school attendance progress.
terials for their children. Moreover, the computed standard
As it was indicated in Table 2 item #6, the computed
deviation were (.91) and (.96) respectively which indicated mean (3.70) and (3.75) parents and children corresponding-
that there was almost no variability among them in providing ly and it showed that parents usually prepare food after and
all necessary school materials to their children. The average before schooling for their children. Moreover, the computed
computed mean (3.97) of the participants showed that par- standard deviation (.70) and (.75) of the parents and children
ents were usually provided all necessary school materials for that directed that there was no variability among them in pre-
their children. Moreover, the computed standard deviation of paring food after and before schooling to their children. The
the participants was (.93) indicated that there was almost no computed mean of the participants were (3.73); showed that
variability of respondents in providing all necessary school parents usually prepare food after and before schooling for
materials to their children. As it was shown in Table 2 item their children. Moreover, the computed standard deviation
52 IJELS 7(2):46-56

was (.72) showed that there was no variability among them In this study, t-test was conducted to confirm the mean
in preparing food after and before schooling to their children. score mean of the total score of parents with total score of
As it has been indicated in Table 2 item #7, the comput- the children and whether there was statistically significance
ed mean (3.26) and (3.69) parents and children that depicted difference between the responses of two groups at 95% confi-
that parents were usually provide money for transport if it dence interval. As shown in Table 3, as indicated the result of
necessary for their children. Likewise, the computed standard Levene’s test for equality of variances, the P-value was great-
deviation (1.30) and (1.15) parents and children respectively er than alpha (p>.05), so equal variance assumed line was
which displayed that there was almost no variability among considered to make analysis of independent sample groups.
them by providing money for transport as if necessary. The As it was depicted in Table 3, comparing mean of the
computed mean was (3.48) which depicted that parents were total score of parents with total score of the children, 3.14
usually provide money for transport if it necessary for their and 3.24 respectively, meaning that parental involvement
children. Likewise, the computed standard deviation was on provisions of key school materials for their children was
(1.42) which displayed that there was almost no variability average accordingly both group reaction. In addition, as
among them by providing money for transport as if necessary. shown in the Table 3, p- Value in equal variances assumed
As it was depicted in Table 2 item #8, the computed mean line was p=0.000, p<0.05, therefore, there was statistically
(3.44) parents and (3.55) children, and it displayed that par- significant difference in mean scores of parents and children.
ents were sometimes gave letter to school for their children. Therefore, both parents and children had insignificant dif-
Similarly, the computed standard deviation (0.73) and (0.76) ference on perception regarding parental provisions of key
parents and children respectively indicated that there was al- school materials for their children.
most no variability among them by giving letter to school for The first section of Table 4 depicts that grade 8th top and
their children. The computed mean of respondents were (3.49) low score of selected students in 2017/2018 academic year.
it showed that parents were sometimes gave letter to school The result indicated that 90.1% was the highest recorded
for their children. Similarly, the computed standard deviation score from 62 students’ grade eight students who took elev-
was (0.74) which indicated that there was almost no variabil- en subjects in academic year. The second and third highest
ity among them by giving letter to school for their children. scores were 89% and 84% respectively. On the other hand,
As it can be seen from Table 2 item #9, the computed among the ten lower achievers in the same grade and aca-
mean (2.62) and (2.82) parents and children respectably demic year, 44.3%, 44.5%, 44.6% were the last three lowest
and it indicated parents were usually provided all necessary recorded marks. Students’ score mark in grade eight indi-
school key materials for their children. Also, the comput- cates that the difference between high achiever 90.1% and
ed standard deviation (1.22) and (1.21) parents and chil- low achiever 44.3% were 45.8%. Moreover, the past two
dren correspondingly indicated that there was no difference years (grade 7th and 6th) of the recorded score of both top and
among them by providing all school materials to their chil- low achievers, support the grade 8th the above listed scores
dren. The computed mean of the participants were (2.72) of 2017/2018 academic year. Therefore, almost all students’
and it indicated parents were usually provided all necessary recorded score in three consecutive years from grade 8th,
school key materials for their children. Also, the computed 7th and 6th were consistence. Interviewee “X” from parents
standard deviation was (1.21) which it indicated that there replied as “parent who express their high esteem for educa-
was no difference among them by providing all school mate- tion and to support their children in academic areas do ini-
rials to their children. tiate a positive perspective in their children which has been
The last but not the least, item #10, as it was indicated in associated with acquired traits from home’’. This is directly
Table 2, the computed mean (2.30) and (2.22) parents and associated with their parents level of involvement.
children respectively and it showed that parents were some- At the same academic year of grade 10th 86.7% mark was
times provided rewards to motivate and encourage their chil- the highest recorded score from 40 students in eleven sub-
dren. Moreover, the computed standard deviation (.81) and jects. The second and the third recorded score were 85.9%
(.85) parents and students correspondingly and it indicated and 83.4% respectively. On the other hand, among ten lower
that there was almost no variability among them in provid- achievers 54.1%, 56.9% and 57.3% were three low recorded
ing rewards to motivate and encourage them. The computed score. Likewise, the past two years (grade 9th and 8th) of the
mean of both groups were (2.26) and it showed that parents recorded score of both top and low achievers, support the
were sometimes provided rewards to motivate and encour- grade 10th the over mentioned scores of 2017/2018 academic
age their children. Moreover, the computed standard devia-
tion of the respondents were (.83) and it showed that there
Table 3. Comparison between the parents and children’s
was almost no variability among them in providing rewards
total scores on parental provisions
to motivate and encourage them.
However, parents were rarely supporting their children Participants N M SD t df p
in checking their school note books, assignment and home- Parents 52 3.14 0.374 60.586 110 0.000
work, and hardly providing rewards to motivate and encour- Children 60 3.23 0.346 72.164
age them. Likewise, parents were occasionally helping their The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level (2‑tailed)
children in providing time for studying at home, checking Sig=Level of Significance, t=t‑value, df=Degree of freedom,
their school attending progress, giving them letter to school Sig (2‑tailed) = two tailed of significance and MD=Mean
and facilitating conducive home environment for studying. difference
Table 4: Distribution of three years highest and lowest students’ classroom scores (Grade 8th, 10th and 12th of academic year 2017/2018)
Recorded Score of Grade 8th students’ in 2017/18
Student’s low scored students for Three Consecutive Years Student’s High scored students for Three Consecutive Years
name by th th th name by
Grade 8 in Grade 7 in Grade 6 in Grade 8th in Grade 7th in Grade 6th in
Code 2018/7 2017/6 2016/5 Code 2018/7 2017/6 2016/5
#1 48.1 76.5 74.6 #1 90.1 88.1 88.5
#2 47.4 75.9 74.4 #2 89 83.1 85.4
#3 46.6 73.9 72.4 #3 84 82.7 83.7
#4 46.3 71.9 70.9 #4 83 82.3 83.2
#5 46.1 71.6 70.2 #5 82 82.2 83.1
#6 45.7 65.2 66.7 #6 74 81.8 82.7
#7 45.5 59.7 66.6 #7 72.3 81.4 81.4
#8 44.6 57.3 62 #8 72 80.8 79.3
#9 55.5 52.2 60.1 #9 71 79.3 79
#10 44.3 50.7 59.4 #10 79.7 77.9 78.2
Total # of #of #of #of students = 73 Total # of #of #of #of students = 73
students = 10 students = 62 students = 68 Subject = 10 students = 10 students = 62 students = 68 Subject = 10
Subject = 11 Subject = 10 Subject = 11 Subject = 10
Recorded Score of Grade 10th students‘ in 2017/18
Student’s low scored students for Three Consecutive Years Student’s High scored students for Three Consecutive Years
name by th th th name by
Grade 10 in Grade 9 in Grade 8 in Grade 10th in Grade 9th in Grade 8th in
Code 2018/7 2017/6 2016/5 Code 2018/7 2017/6 2016/5
#1 65.9 63.8 63.8 #1 86.7 85.9 83.4
#2 63.1 61.7 61.7 #2 83.1 82 79.6
#3 58.4 57.3 56.9 #3 78.7 76.8 75.6
#4 54.1 76.8 76.6 #4 73.9 94.9 84.5
#5 74.8 73.9 72.8 #5 84.4 83 82.1
#6 72.4 71.1 70.1 #6 80.4 79.4 79.1
Secondary School of Haramaya University, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

#7 67.5 63.3 65.9 #7 78.8 77.5 86.7

#8 63.8 63.7 63.1 #8 85.9 83.4 83.1
Relationship between Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement in Model Primary and

#9 61.7 61.4 58.4 #9 82 79.6 78.7

#10 57.3 56.9 54.1 #10 76.8 75.6 73.9
Total # of #of #of #of students = 59 Total # of #of #of #of students = 59
students = 10 students = 40 students = 52 Subject = 10 students = 10 students = 40 students = 52 Subject = 10
Subject = 10 Subject = 10 Subject = 10 Subject = 10
53

(Contd...)
54 IJELS 7(2):46-56

year. Therefore, almost all students’ recorded score in three

sequent years from grade 10th, 9th and 8th were consistence.

#of students = 56
Grade 10th in
This is also directly associated with their parents’ level of

Subject = 10
High scored students for Three Consecutive Years

involvement.
2016/5
77.9
70.9
62.4

83.9
80.2
99.8
97.5
95.9
91.4
94
The last section of the same Table indicated that,
grade 12th top and low achievers of selected students in
2017/2018 academic year. Result indicated that 81.4%
was the highest recorded score from 39 students grade
twelve whom took ten subjects in the academic year. The
second and third highest scores were 79.4% and 77.9%
respectively. On the other hand, among the ten lower
Grade 11th in

students = 44
Subject = 10
achievers in the same grade and academic year, 51%,
2017/6
79.4
72.1
64.3
97.6
91.4
82.5
75.3
97.8
96.1
91.5
#of
52.3%, 53.8% were the last three lowest recorded marks.
The results score mark indicates that the difference be-
tween high achiever 81.4% and low achiever 51% was
30.4%. Moreover, the past two years (grade 11th and
12th) of the recorded score of both top and low achiev-
ers, support the grade 12th the above mentioned scores of
Grade 12th in

students = 39
Subject = 10

2017/2018 academic year. Therefore, almost all students’

2018/7
81.4
76.4
64.9
62.1
91.8
82.6
79.5

96.1
93.7
#of

recorded score in three consecutive years from grade 12th,

99

11th and 10th were consistence.

This is directly associated with their parents level of
Recorded Score of Grade 12th students’ in 2017/18

involvement. In short, above finding clearly indicated stu-

dents who seriously followed and supported by their par-
ents score best grade whereas those who score worst mark
students = 10
Student’s

Total # of
name by

students who were less attention given by their parents ex-

Code

#10

cept very few exceptional students in both extreme. How-

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9

ever, Topor et al. (2010) argued that parental involvement

was significantly related to academic performance and chil-
dren’s perception of cognitive competence. Likewise, Izzo
et al. (1999) stated that parental involvement was a signif-
icant predictor of student academic achievement. Most of
#of students = 56

the children reflected on interview as the parents who in-

Grade 10 in

Subject = 10
th

volve themselves in their children’s school work have them

low scored students for Three Consecutive Years

2016/5
57.8
54.9
52.3
79.2
74.4
71.2

68.9
62.3
53.8
74

encouraged and this positively influence academic perfor-

mance of students. Most of the interviewed parents’ replied
as the activities that parents need to spare their children in
home related activities that encourage children’s academ-
ic performance. These activities include: parents working
with children on their homework, Parents talking to chil-
Grade 11 in

dren about school - related topics and parents sparing time

students = 44
Subject = 10
th

2017/6

to take their children on field trips.

65.9
55.6
53.8
83.4
76.4
73.3
67.7

68.7
61.3
#of
69

However, this does not mean that all students who

scored excellent as result of their parental involvement
whiles all students who scored low grade because of less
participation of their parents. Moreover, the study revealed
that parents check their children’s notebooks, assignments
Grade 12 in

and home works, check their school attendances, facili-

students = 39
Subject = 10
th

2018/7

tate conducive home environment to study and motivating,

65.9
56.6
54.6

76.4
73.8
69.2
69.1
68.7
62.2
#of
51

rewarding, encouraging their children most of the time

rarely. Most of the students reacted on interview as the
parent’s involvement helps the children to improve their
Table 4: (Continued)

behavior. Children know how to deal with their school

fellows and teachers in school. Parents also give advice
and awareness to study hard for the child’s future. Parents
students = 10
Student’s

Total # of
name by

encourage children to do their revision. Parents encourage

Code

#10
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9

children to make a lot of exercises for each subject. Par-

ents thought it was important for children to go forward in
in the homework.
Relationship between Parental Involvement and Students’ Academic Achievement in Model Primary and
Secondary School of Haramaya University, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia 55

From the Table 5, it was shown that the computed Karl that the parents need to help their children with their home-
Pearson’s coefficient of correlation r (112)= 0.64) of the re- work. This encourages them to perform better.
spondents was indicated that there was statistically a posi- Moreover, parents were rarely supporting their students
tive relationship between parental involvement and students’ by regularly checking their children’s notebooks, assign-
academic achievement, r (112) = 0.64, p < 0.01, two tailed. ments and homework, and providing rewards to motivate
This shows that the correlation between the two identified and encourage them. On other hand, sometimes parents
variables were moderate according to (Mukaka, 2012). Mu- were helping their children in providing time for studying
kaka further stated that correlation coefficient between 0.9- at home, checking their school attending progress, giving
1.00 is very high, 0.7-0.9 is high, 0.5-0.7 is moderate, 0.3-0.5 them letter to school, facilitating conducive home environ-
is low and less than 0.3 is negligible. Thus, it is possible ment for studying and providing rewards to motivates and
to conclude that the parental involvement and students’ ac- encouraging them. According to Ambachew et al. (2018),
ademic achievement is moderately significant. This means parental involvement encompasses three broad domains, par-
that when the level of parental involvement increases, the ent-child relations, parent-school relations, and parent-par-
degree of academic achievement of the students also increas- ent relations. In all three cases, it is generally assumed that
es and a vice-versa is true. Likewise, the finding is supported parents invest time with their children, school personnel, or
by Ambachew et al. (2018) as stated that contribution of pa- other parents with the expectation that their involvement will
rental involvement on academic achievement of students is yield a tangible return aimed to improve role performance
high and there is a strong positive relationship between the (i.e. better attendance, increased homework done, reduced
parental involvement and academic achievement of students. delinquency, etc.), increased achievement, or strengthened
Parents more involves on students’ schooling by facilitating relationships with school personnel. Lastly, parents were
favorable learning atmosphere, creating conducive home en- usually providing money or facilitating means of transport
vironment and providing key school materials and students if it is necessary; preparing food after and before schooling,
perform more. talking about their children’s school teachers and provid-
Regarding contribution of parental involvement to stu- ing all necessary school materials. Through the interview,
dents’ academic achievement, Interview results clearly indi- majority of the children complained that the parents do not
cated by parents that so child needs a lot of care regarding his attend the school meeting and are not involved in checking
or her studies from their parents. The children through the their school progress. The parents do not take initiative in the
interview highlighted communication as a major challenge children’s school work.
they are facing. Anthony (2014) indicated that if parents
do not communicate well with their children, teachers and
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
school environment, investing on their children’s education
is non-sense and worthless. Through the interview, the chil- Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions
dren revealed that they felt more motivated in their school and recommendation were made. Firstly, it is the possible to
work when their parents take initiative in their school work. conclude that there is positive relationship between parental
In addition, the extent in which parents are involving on involvement and students’ academic achievement. Thus, it
students’ education affairs by supporting them to enhance is recommended that parents devote their time, resource and
their academic achievement in model school is moder- their effort on their children’s schooling to enhance their ac-
ate. However, parents were supporting their students while ademic achievement, and they seriously follow and support
schooling on very important issues such as regularly checked their children for better academic standing. Secondly, the
school students’ note books, assignment and homework, level of parental involvement on supporting their children
check their children’s school attendance progress, facilitate on their education was moderate. Therefore, it is suggested
conducive home environment to studying and motivating, that school management and leadership should create aware-
rewarding, encouraging their children most of the time occa- ness and give short term training for school parents to im-
sionally. Some of interviewed students’ reacted that parents prove and enhance parental participation on their children’s
do not check the children’s homework and sometimes report schooling. Thirdly, parents rarely supported their children
cards. Through the interview, students were for the opinion by checking their school note books, assignment and home-
work, and providing them rewards to motivate and encour-
Table 5. Relationship between parental Involvement and age them. As a result, it is recommended that parents should
Students’ Academic Achievement (n=112, p<0.01) give attention to their children’s school note books, assign-
ment, homework, and provide them rewards to motivate
No Variables PI SAA
and encourage them. Lastly, parents were usually providing
1 Parental Involvement( PI) r 1 0.64 money or facilitating means of transport if necessary; pre-
p 0.82 paring food after and before schooling, talking about his/her
N 52 60 school teachers and they were providing them with all neces-
2 Students’ Academic r 0.64 1 sary school materials. But, it is suggested that parents spend
Achievement( SAA) more time with their children especially in communicating
p 0.82
with them about school activities, expectations of academic
N 52 60 achievement, the importance of achieving good results and
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2‑tailed) asking and giving them encouragement about the importance
56 IJELS 7(2):46-56

of homework. Majority of interviewed students recommend- children’s schooling. Journal of Educational Psycholo-
ed parents spend more time with their children and discuss gy, 89(3), 538-548
on school activities, expectations of academic achievement, Henderson, A. & Berla, N. (1994). The family is critical to
and the importance of achieving good results and always student achievement. Washington. Dc: National com-
ask and give encouragement to the children about the im- mittee for in education.
portance of homework. However, the findings of this study Izzo, C. V., Weissberg, R. P., Kasprow, W. J., & Fendrich, M.
cannot be generalized as it was conducted in one model pri- (1999). A longitudinal assessment of teacher percep-
mary and general secondary of the Eastern part of Ethiopia. tions of parent involvement in children’s education and
Furthermore, it is recommended that detailed study can be school performance. American Journal of Community
conducted in the future. Generally, parental involvement in Psychology, 27(6), 817-839.
supporting their children in education should be continued Jeynes J. & William, H. (2007). The relationship between
until them successfully in their future. parental involvement and urban secondary school stu-
dent achievement: A Meta-analysis. Urban Education
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