Parental Involvement and Achievement of Secondary School Students

Education of the children and their achievement is a strong building block in building a stronger and healthier community. The prosperity of the nation depends upon the today’s children and their academic achievement. The role of parental involvement in children’s education and their achievement has become a central issue in educational policy and research. This study was aimed at finding out the relationship between parental involvement and achievement of secondary school students   in social science. Methods and Materials: A cross sectional, descriptive- correlational research design was adopted for conducting this study at selected schools of Tenkasi district, Tamil Nadu. The sample size of the study was 200 students consisting of 110 boys and 90 girls studying IX standard. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select the settings and students. The tools used for the study were proforma to collect background characteristics of the students, 59 items-five-point rating scale on Parental involvement   and 25 items MCQ Questions with four options on Achievement test in Social science. The data was collected using the predetermined and pretested tools through self-administration method. Results: Study findings revealed that parental involvement of the students was average in the majority of the students (62%). Achievement of students in social studies was also found to be average in more than half of the students (57%). There was a significant positive correlation between parental involvement and achievement of secondary school students (r=0.910, p <0.001).  Conclusion: Parental involvement in children’s educational activities has direct impact on their academic achievement. Therefore, parents must be encouraged by the psychologists, mental health professionals and teachers to actively participate in their children’s wide range of academic activities to bring the best outcome.