Factors Impacting Progress of Students’ Educational Efficiency: a Case of Secondary School Level

In this era of globalization and technological revolution, education is considered as a first step for every human activity. It plays a vital role in the development of human capital and is linked with an individual’s well-being and opportunities for better living (Battle & Lewis, 2002). It ensures the acquisition of knowledge and skills that enable individuals to increase their productivity and improve their quality of life. This increase in productivity also leads towards new sources of earning which enhances the economic growth of a country (Saxton, 2000). The quality of students’ performance remains at top priority for educators. It is meant for making a difference locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Educators, trainers, and researchers have long been interested in exploring variables contributing effectively for quality of performance of learners. These variables are inside and outside school that affect students’ quality of academic achievement. These factors may be termed as student factors, family factors, school factors and peer factors (Crosnoe, Johnson & Elder, 2004). The formal investigation about the role of these demographic factors rooted back in 17th century (Mann, 1985). Generally these factors include age, gender, geographical belongingness, ethnicity, marital status, socioeconomic status (SES), parents’ education level, parental profession, language, income and religious affiliations. These are usually discussed under the umbrella of demography (Ballatine, 1993). In a broader context demography is referred to as a way to explore the nature and effects of demographic variables in the biological and social context. Unfortunately, defining and measuring the quality of education is not a simple issue and the complexity of this process increases due to the changing values of quality attributes associated with the different stakeholders’ view point (Blevins, 2009; Parri, 2006). Besides other factors, socioeconomic status is one of the most researched and debated factor among educational professionals that contribute towards the academic performance of students. The most prevalent argument is that the socioeconomic status of learners affects the quality of their academic performance. Most of the experts argue that the low socioeconomic status has negative effect on the academic performance of students because the basic needs of students remain unfulfilled and hence they do not perform better academically (Adams, 1996). The low socioeconomic status causes environmental deficiencies which results in low self-esteem of students (US Department of Education, 2003). More specifically, this study aims to identify and analyze factors that affect the quality of students’ academic performance.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Educational services are often not tangible and are difficult to measure because they result in the form of transformation of knowledge, life skills and behaviour modifications of learners (Tsinidou, Gerogiannis, & culture to culture (Michael, 1998). The environment and the personal characteristics of learners play an important role in their academic success. The school personnel, members of the families and communities provide help and support to students for the quality of their academic performance. This social assistance has a crucial role for the accomplishment of performance goals of students at school (Goddard, 2003). Besides the social structure, parents’ involvement in their child’s education increases the rate of academic success of their child (Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995). The achievement of students is negatively correlated with the low SES level of parents because it hinders the individual in gaining access to sources and resources of learning (Duke, 2000; Eamon, 2005; Lopez, 1995). Low SES level strongly affects the achievement of students, dragging them down to a lower level (Sander, 2001). This effect is most visible at the post-secondary level (Trusty, 2000). It is also observed that the economically disadvantaged parents are less able to afford the cost of education of their children at higher levels and consequently they do not work at their fullest potential (Rouse & Barrow, 2006). The home environment also affects the academic performance of students. Educated parents can provide such an environment that suits best for academic success of their children. The school authorities can provide counseling and guidance to parents for creating positive home environment for improvement in students’ quality of work (Marzano, 2003). The academic performance of students heavily depends upon the parental involvement in their academic activities to attain the higher level of quality in academic success (Barnard, 2004; Henderson, 1988; Shumox & Lomax, 2001).

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of the study were to: a) Analyze the effect of socio-economic status, parental education and occupation on quality of students’ academic performance. b) Explore the effect of socio-economic status on student’s achievements. c) Find the difference in quality of students’ achievement in relation to their gender.

METHOD AND PROCEDURE

This descriptive study was conducted by using a survey method. The population was the secondary school male and female students from a metropolitan city of India. At the first stage twelve male and female public sector secondary schools (six each) were

randomly from each of the 12 schools. Thus the sample size for the study was 600 students (300 male and 300 female). The study was delimited to only demographic factors such as students’ gender, parents’ education, parents’ occupation and socio economic status. The quality of academic performance was measured by their achievement scores of the 9th

grade annual examination verified from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad and school records. Data regarding the variables such as parents’ education, parents’ occupation, SES, urban/ rural belongingness, and students’ gender were collected by using a questionnaire.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There are various factors inside and outside school that contribute for the quality of academic performance of students. This study only focused on some of the factors outside school that influence the student’s achievement scores. The key aspect for the educators is to educate their students effectively so that they may be able to show quality performance in their academics. To achieve this objective it is necessary for the educators to understand better about the factors that may contribute in the academic success of students. This study concluded that the higher level of SES is the best indicator contributing towards the quality of students’ achievement. Family characteristics like socio economic status (SES) are significant predictors for students’ performance at school besides the other school factors, peer factors and student factors. Higher SES levels lead to higher performance of students in studies, and vice versa (Hanes, 2008). Parental education also has effects on students’ academic performance. Parental occupation has little effect on their child’s performance in studies than their education. Student’s gender strongly affects their academic performance, with girls performing better in the subjects of Mathematics, and English as well as cumulatively. Girls usually show more efforts leading towards better grades at school (Ceballo, McLoyd & Toyokawa, 2004). It is very important to have comprehensible understanding of the factors that benefit and hinder the academic progress of an individual’s education.

REFERENCES

• Ballatine, J. H. (1993). The sociology of education: A systematic analysis. Englwood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

 Barnard, W. M. (2004). Parent involvement in elementary school and educational attainment. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 39- 62.

achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 90, 269-277.

• Duke, N. (2000). For the rich it’s richer: Print environments and experiences offered to first-grade students in very low- and very high-SES school districts. American Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 456–457.

• Eamon, M. K. (2005). Social demographic, school, neighborhood and parenting influences on academic achievement of Latino young adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(2), 163-175.

• Goddard, R. D. (2003). Relational networks, social trust, and norms: A social capital perspective on students' chances of academic success. Educational Evaluations & Policy Analysis, 25, 59-74.

• Henderson, A. T. (1988). Good news: An ecologically balanced approach to academic improvement. Educational Horizons, 66(2), 60-67.