Research Article Analysis: Assessment of parental involvement in children’s literacy development

Research Article: Enemuo, J. O., & Obidike, N. D. (2013). Assessment of parental involvement in children’s literacy development. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 4(5), 807-814.

Title

Assessment of parental involvement in children’s literacy development

Purpose of the Research

This paper investigates the level of parental involvement in the literacy development of their children in Anambra State. More specifically, the purpose and focus of the study is two faceted. Firstly, the study finds the extent of involvement of male and female parents in their children’s literacy development and then conducts comparative analysis of the level of involvement in the two gender types of parents to investigate if there is any significant difference between the two. Secondly, the extent of involvement among single and two parents is also compared to infer any significant outcomes.

This is a quantitative research because it involves collection of data on a questionnaire with 22 close ended questions and the results are calculated based on the numbers and frequencies of particular responses to the closes ended questions.

“A 22-item instrument entitled “Parental Involvement in Children’s Literacy Development (PICLD) questionnaire was developed by the researchers.” (Page # 809)

Another clue to term this study as quantitative is that statistical tests like mean, standard deviation, and t-test are applied on data to infer about the significance of relationships between variables.

“The data collected were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation to answer the two research questions while t-test statistics was used to test the two hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. While the mean ratings of 2.50 and above were accepted as indicative of agreement for research questions, mean ratings below 2.50 indicated disagreement.” (Page # 810)

Table 1 (Page # 810) and Table 2 (Page # 811) show the quantitative analysis done on the data collected.

 

Dependent and independent variables were not explicitly declared. However, it is easy to derive the variables from the research questions and hypothesis given on Page # 809

Null Hypothesis 1: “There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female parents on the extent of their involvement in the literacy development of their children.”

Null Hypothesis 2: “There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of single parents and two parents on the extent of their involvement in the literacy development of their children.”

Independent Variables

1. Gender
2. Parental Type (single-parent, two-parents)

Dependent Variables

1. Extent of Parental Involvement
2. Literacy Development

Cofounding Variables

Again the research does not explicitly declare the cofounding variables but the parental involvement in itself is defined by several factors (cofounding variables) e.g. Frequency of interaction with teachers, quality of interaction with teachers etc.

 

Research Method/Design

This paper uses descriptive survey questionnaire to collect responses from respondents on 22 items related to parental involvement in children literacy development. These 22 questions were designed to know the demographics of respondents and their extent of involvement in their children’s literacy development.

Data from Eight Hundred and Sixty Two (862) parents and teachers was collected. Respondents were selected using multi-stage sampling. The sample included 242 males and 620 female respondents. The sample included 573 two-parents while, 289 single parents.

The research instrument described above was developed by the researchers themselves and tested and modified for reliability through experts. The research instrument was also piloted before actual data collection.

The collected data were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation to answer the research questions. T-test statistics were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance.

Yes, both hypotheses and research questions were stated on (Page # 809) as follows:

Research Questions

1. To what extent are male and female parents involved in the literacy development of their children?
2. To what extent are single-parents and two-parents involved in the literacy development of their children?

Null Hypotheses

1. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female parents on the extent of their involvement in the literacy development of their children.
2. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of single parents and two-parents on the extent of their involvement in the literacy development of their children.

 

Results of the Study

• Male parents showed very low level of involvement (M = 1.36, SD = .74) in the literacy development of their children
• Female parents also showed low level of involvement (M = 1.18, SD = .96) in the literacy development of their children.
• There was very low level of involvement of single-parents (M = 1.20, SD = .43)
• Also there was low level of involvement of two-parents (M = 1.15, SD = .31) in the literacy development of their children.
• There was a significant, difference in the mean ratings of male and female parents on the extent of their involvement in the literacy development of their children. The result suggested that the difference between the mean ratings were statistically significant in favour of male parents
• There was no significant difference in the mean ratings of single-parents and two-parents.

Recommendations

1. Government, through the relevant agencies should ensure that parenting education programme such as family-centred curriculum and instruction is enshrined in the school programme
2. Schools and teachers should provide materials on parenting, conduct parenting classes and furnish parents with the ideas about teaching their children reading and mathematics skills through daily activities at home.

• State to subsidize schools for parental training workshops to enhance the quality of their involvement

1. Parents to participate in any parenting education programme organized by their children’s schools to help them learn ways to create supportive learning at homes. Parents to model reading and writing in order to encourage the children read and write at home.
2. Parents to provide a variety of reading and writing materials at home to enhance their children’s literacy development.

Limitations of the Study

The major limitations of the study were that, data collection took a lot of time as the researchers waited until the sampled schools scheduled their PTA meetings. Again they had to plead and convince the parents before they could respond to the instrument during PTA meetings.