Literture review.
Journal of Quality and Technology Management Volume VII, Issue II, December, 2011, Page 01 ‐ 14 FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ QUALITY OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL M.S. Farooq 1, A.H. Chaudhry 1, M. Shafiq 1, G. Berhanu 2 1University of the Punjab, Pakistan 2University of Gothenburg, Sweden ABSTRACT This study was conducted to examine different factors influencing the academic performance of secondary school students in a metropolitan city of Pakistan. The respondents for this study were 10 th grade students (300 male & 300 female). A survey was conducted by using a questionnaire for information gathering about different factors relating to academic performance of students. The academic performance was gauged by the result of their 9th grade annual examination.
Standard t-test and ANOVA were applied to investigate the effect of different factors on students’ achievement. The results of the study revealed that socio- economic status (SES) and parents’ education have a significant effect on students’ overall academic achievement as well as achievement in the subjects of Mathematics and English. The high and average socio-economic level affects the performance more than the lower level. It is very interesting that parents’ education means more than their occupation in relation to their children’s academic performance at school. It was found that girls perform better than the male students. Keywords: Quality performance, achievement, socioeconomic status, demographic factors, gender and academic achievement.
INTRODUCTION In this era of globalization and te chnological 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 co untry (Saxton, 2000). The quality of Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level 2| students’ performance remains at top pr iority for educators. It is meant for making a difference locally, regi onally, 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 17 th 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 re ferred 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 st atus is one of the most researched and debated factor among educationa l professionals that contribute towards the academic performance of students. The most prevalent argument is that the socioeconomic stat us of learners affects the quality of their academic performance. Most of the experts argue that the low socioeconomic status has negative effe ct on the academic performance of students because the basic needs of st udents remain unfulfilled and hence they do not perform better acad emically (Adams, 1996). The low socioeconomic status causes environm ental 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, & Fitsilis, 2010). So there is no commonly agreed upon definition of quality that is applied to education field. Th e definition of quality of education Journal of Quality and Technology Management |3 varies from 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 a ssistance has a crucial role for the accomplishment of performance goals of students at school (Goddard, 2003). Besides the social structure, pa rents’ involvement in their child’s education increases the rate of academic success of their child (Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995). The relationship between gender and the academic achievement of students has been discussed for decades (Eitle, 2005). A gap between the achievement of boys and girls has been found, with girls showing better performance than boys in certain instances (Chambers & Schreiber, 2004).
Gender, ethnicity, and father’s occupa tion are significant contributors to student achievement (McCoy, 2005; Peng & Hall, 1995). Above and beyond the other demographi c factors, the effects of SES are still prevalent at the individual level (Capraro, M., Capraro, R., & Wiggins, 2000). The SES can be delibera ted in a number of different ways; it is most often calculated by looking at parental education, occupation, income, and facilities used by individuals separately or collectively.
Parental education and family SES level have positive correlations with the student’s quality of achievemen t (Caldas & Bankston, 1997; Jeynes, 2002; Parelius, D., & Parelius, A., 1987; Mitchell & Collom, 2001; Ma & Klinger, 2000). The students with high level of SES perform better than the middle class students and the middle class students perform better than the students with low level of SES (Garzon, 2006; Kahlenberg, 2006; Kirkup, 2008). 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).
Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level 4| Krashen (2005) concluded that students whose parents are educated score higher on standardized tests than those whose parents were not educated.
Educated parents can better communicate with their children regarding the school work, activities and the information being taught at school.
They can better assist their children in their work and participate at school (Fantuzzo & Tighe, 2000; Trusty, 1999). Theory of Educational Productivity by Walberg (1981) determined three groups of nine factors based on affe ctive, cognitive and behavioral skills for optimization of learning that affect the quality of academic performance: Aptitude (ability, deve lopment and motivation); instruction (amount and quality); environment (home, classroom, peers and television) (Roberts, 2007). 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 pare nts for creating positive home environment for improvement in stud ents’ 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). There is a range of factors that affect on the quality of performance of students (Waters & Marzano, 2006). A series of variables are to be considered when to identify the a ffecting factors towards quality of academic success. Identifying the most contributing variables in quality of academic performance is a very complex and challenging job. The students in public schools belong to a variety of backgrounds depending upon their demography. This diversity is much vast and complex as ever before in Pakistani culture. Keeping in view all these discussions, researchers conducted this study to examine the effect of different factors on the students’ quality of academic achievement at the secondary school level in a metropolitan city of Pakistan. Journal of Quality and Technology Management |5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main objectives of the study were to:
a) analyze the effect of socio-econom ic status, parental education and occupation on quality of stud ents’ academic performance. b) explore the effect of socio-ec onomic status on student’s achievements in the subjects of Mathematics and English.
c) find the difference in quality of students’ achievement in relation to their gender.
Null Hypotheses:
a) There is no significant effect of socio-economic status, parental education and occupation on qu ality of students’ academic performance. b) There is no significant effect of socio-economic status on student’s achievements in the subjects of Mathematics and English.
c) There is no significant difference in quality of students’ achievement in relation to their gender.
METHOD AND PROCEDURE This descriptive study was conducte d by using a survey method. The population was the secondary school male and female students from a metropolitan city of Pakistan. At the first stage twelve male and female public sector secondary schools (six each) were selected conveniently.
Secondly, only fifty volunteer students (25 male and 25 female) out of all volunteers from one section of the 10 th grade were selected 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 econom ic status. The quality of academic performance was measured by their achievement scores of the 9 th grade annual examination verified from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore 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. Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level 6| DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS The collected data were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical measure. A t-test was used to compare the achievements of male and female students. The significant effect of different factors on students’ achievement was explored through multiple comparisons by applying ANOVA using SPSS 16.
Table 1: Effect of SES, Fathers’ and Mo thers’ education & occupation on students’ achievement Source of Variation Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. SES & Marks in 9 th Grade 110977.403 2 55488.701 15.270 .000* SES & Marks in Math 7254.485 2 3627.243 9.086 .000* SES & Marks in English 9154.629 2 4577.314 14.896 .000* Father education & Marks in 9th Grade 191918.849 7 27416.978 7.576 .000* Mother education & Marks in 9th Grade 191049.052 7 27292.722 7.831 .000* Father occupation & Marks in 9th Grade 23541.570 3 7847.190 2.072 .103 Mother occupation & Marks in 9 th Grade 9088.016 3 3029.339 .795 .497 *Significant at the .05 level.
Table1 shows that socio-economic stat us (SES), fathers’ education, and mothers’ education, had a significant effect on students’ overall academic achievement as well as on Mathem atics and English scores in 9 th grade at the .05 level of significance. Further it is obvious that parental occupation had no significant effect on academic achievement. Hence the hypotheses that there are no significant effects of SES level and parental education level on students’ academic achievement have been rejected. Also the hypothesis that there is no significant effect in achievement on the basis of parental occupation was accepted. It is therefore concluded that SES level and parental education affect the ac hievement of their children, but the parents’ occupation had no effect. Journal of Quality and Technology Management |7 Table 2: Multiple comparison of effect of SES on Mathematics, English, and cumulative achievements Independent Variable Dependent Variable (I) (J) Mean Difference (I-J) Std.
Error Sig. Low SES Average SES -20.666(*) 6.869 .008* High SES -47.615(*) 8.679 .000* Marks obtained in 9 th Grade Average SES High SES -26.949(*) 6.783 .000* Low SES Average SES -4.589 2.277 .133 High SES -12.009(*) 2.877 .000* Marks in Mathematics Average SES High SES -7.420(*) 2.248 .003* Low SES Average SES -5.277(*) 1.997 .025* High SES -13.524(*) 2.524 .000* Marks in English Average SES High SES -8.248(*) 1.972 .000* *Significant at the .05 level.
As shown in Table 2, comparison of effect of SES levels (Low, Average & High) on students’ achievement scores in the subjects of Mathematics, English & Cumulative achievement indicated that students belonging to high SES level overall perform better in the subjects of Mathematics and English as well as show better performance in cumulative achievement scores. Average and high SES levels have more effect than low SES level in all types of achievement quality. Th e null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in academic performance of students due to their socio-economic status is therefore re jected. The students with high and average SES exhibit better quality of performance than the students with low level of SES. Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level 8| Table 3: Analysis of Fathers’ education and cumulative achievement Dependent Variable (I) Father's Education. (J) Father's Education Mean Difference (I-J) Std.
Error Sig. Illiterate Primary -1.311 13.558 1.000 Elementary -.993 13.161 1.000 Secondary -12.399 10.049 1.000 Intermediary -37.222(*) 10.905 .019* Bachelor -48.311(*) 11.494 .001* Master -37.897(*) 1.068 .019* Primary Elementary .318 14.006 1.000 Secondary -11.087 11.133 1.000 Intermediary -35.911 11.912 .075 Bachelor -47.000(*) 12.453 .005* Master -36.586 12.061 .07 Elementary Secondary -11.405 10.646 1.000 Intermediary -36.229(*) 11.458 .046* Bachelor -47.318(*) 12.020 .003* Master -36.904(*) 11.613 .044* Secondary Intermediary -24.823(*) 7.685 .037* Bachelor -35.913(*) 8.500 .001* Master -25.499(*) 7.914 .038* Intermediary Bachelor -11.089 9.497 1.000 Master -.675 8.976 1.000 Marks obtained in 9 th Grade Bachelor Master 10.414 9.684 1.000 *Significant at the .05 level. (Bachelor= Bachelor degree/Graduation, Master= Master degree/ Post graduation) The multiple comparisons in Table 3 show that fathers with Bachelor degree and Master degree education have more affects on students’ achievement than any other level of education (e.g., illiterate, secondary, intermediary). Journal of Quality and Technology Management |9 Table 4: Analysis of Mothers’ education and quality of academic performance (overall marks obtained) Dependent Variable (I) Mothers’ Education (J) Mothers’ Education Mean Difference (I-J) Std.
Error Sig. Illiterate Primary -16.271 9.394 13.22 Elementary 9.542 9.221 38.48 Secondary -24.558(*) 7.807 -.05* Intermediary -30.025(*) 8.583 -3.08* Bachelor -57.799(*) 10.880 -23.65* Master -44.375 15.258 3.52 Primary Elementary 25.813 9.744 56.40 Secondary -8.287 8.419 18.14 Intermediary -13.753 9.143 14.95 Bachelor -41.528(*) 11.327 -5.97* Master -28.103 15.580 20.80 Elementary Secondary -34.100(*) 8.225 -8.28* Intermediary -39.567(*) 8.965 -1.43* Bachelor -67.341(*) 11.184 -2.24* Master -53.917(*) 15.476 -5.34* Secondary Intermediary -5.467 7.503 18.08 Bachelor -33.241(*) 10.050 -1.70* Master -19.817 14.677 26.25 Intermediary Bachelor -27.774 10.664 5.70 Master -14.350 15.104 33.06 Marks obtained in 9th Grade Bachelor Master 13.424 16.518 65.27 *Significant at the .05 level. (Bachelor= Bach elor degree/Graduation, Master= Master degree/ Post graduation) It is evident from Table 4 that moth ers with Secondary, Intermediary, and Bachelor degree-education levels have significant effects on the achievement of their children as comp ared to other education levels. Table 5: Comparison of achievement for Male and Female students Variable Gender N Mean Std.
Deviation t-value Male 300 268.42 66.252 Marks obtained in 9 th Grade Female 300 295.03 53.686 -5.405* Male 300 34.20 19.009 Marks in Mathematics Female 300 38.71 21.209 -2.745* Male 300 35.50 17.045 Marks in English Female 300 38.47 18.687 -2.034* *P<.05 level of significance, df=598. Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level 10| As shown in Table 5, t-values ( t = -5.405, -2.745, -2.034) indicate that there is a significant difference in the marks of male and female students. The null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the quality of academic performance of students in relation to their gender is therefore rejected. It is concluded from the results that female students perform better than the male (mean values = 295.03; 38.71; 38.47) in the subjects of Mathematics and English as well as in the overall achievements scores. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS There are various factors inside and ou tside 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 fo r 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 progre ss of an individual’s education. To determine all the influencing factors in a single attempt is a complex and difficult task. It requires a lot of resources and time for an educator to identify all these factors first and th en plan the classroom activities and strategies of teaching and learning. It also requires proper training, organizational planning and skills to conduct such studies for determining the contributing factor s inside and outside school. This Journal of Quality and Technology Management |11 process of identification of variable s must be given full attention and priority so that the teachers may be able to develop instructional strategies for making sure that all the children be provided with the opportunities to arrive at their fullest potential in learning and performance. Further research is need ed to explore the problem on a large sample from more scattered geographical regions including other student factors, family factors, school factors and peer factors. REFERENCES Adams, A. (1996). Even basic needs of young are not met. Retrieved from http://tc.education . pitt.edu/library/SelfEsteem Ballatine, J. H. (1993). The sociology of education: A systematic analysis .
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