Do Single-Family Kids in High School Have Bad Performances and Lower Grades Than Nuclear-Family Kids?

Introduction

Education remains to be the essential tool that leads to developing in any state economically, socially, and politically. At a personal level, education assists a student typically in high schools to attain their potentials, obtain critical knowledge, skills and attitudes for their lives. However, this cannot be realized when kids in high schools do not learn effectively hence having worse academic performances. One major factor that can cause kids in high schools to perform poorly is the influence of their family structure. The change in the formation of the family may be facilitated by divorce, separation, never-married parents or death. It is believed that kids from single families are affected negatively in their academic performances. A family needs to carry out its responsibilities and duties as being the primary supervisor and educator of both character and morals. In this regard, the structure of the family is related with various factors which contribute to the manner in which children perform well in high school as a result of the influence of factors such as money and limited time. Therefore, family setting is the fundamental institution for the future of kid's academic performance. This paper will discuss a proposal aimed at determining the influence on the family structure on academic performances of children in high schools.

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Literature Review

Several studies have been conducted regarding education stakeholders and schools as being the primary cause of kid's poor performances in high schools without considering the critical external environment for schools. In the last few years, there has been evidence that academic achievements are decreasing among students from given family structures. The research that was conducted by Amoakohene (24) to determine the relationship existing between the academic performance of children in high school and single families asserted that there are usually some issues which are exceptional, that are only faced by the single-families. These outstanding problems faced by single families create several challenges of raising children. Some of the exceptional difficulties included; poverty, insecurity regarding raising children without assistance, loneliness, poverty, and bitterness towards lack of presence of the spouse. The research came into conclusion by postulating that the single families and academic performances of children in high schools usually are negatively related, thus as a result of increased cases of single families the more unfortunate children in high school perform academically.

According to Booth and Judith (34), the increased rates of school dropouts for the kids who are from single families and poor academic performances does not depend on the school, but it is determined by family factors. Conger, Conger, and Martin (701) assert that there is a relationship that exists between children cognitive and social skills and income which influences academic performances of the children. Lleras (1274), postulate that the proportion of the single families have significantly increased over the past several decades. Those kids who are brought up in single -families usually means that the families have: less financial resources to be used in kid's education, less energy and time to supervise and nurture children, decreased access to the community resources that can help in supplementing of the effort of a single parent. In this regard, kids from single families may often suffer from specific emotional issues which can hinder their performance in academics.

Structure of Inquiry

These hypotheses will help in attaining the significant objectives of the study. The hypotheses will assist in finding out the influence of the family structure on academic performances of students at high school level. Furthermore, the hypotheses will help in suggesting the most appropriate means and ways that will lead to the better attainment of academic achievements of children at the high school level. The different demographic variables of the family structure that will be considered in the research study will include; the type of the family- either single-family or nuclear-family and the socio-economic state of the parents of children at high school.

Hypotheses

H0: There is no significant difference between performances of single-family kids in high school and nuclear-family kids

H1: There is a substantial difference between performances of single-family kids in high school and nuclear-family kids.

Research Setting & Sample

The research will be conducted among the Hispanic and Latino population in the United States. This research setting is appropriate to answer all the research questions since the Hispanic, and Latino population usually have many students in high school who are from single-families and others from nuclear-families. Only 100 students will be selected by utilizing simple random sampling method. To collect data, there will be visiting of 10 government high schools in the Hispanic and Latino communities where there will be the distribution of questionnaires among the sample. The simple random sampling approach is best suited for answering the research questions as it helps to enhance the sample representativeness through reducing of sampling error.

Concepts and Measures

The dependent variable will be the academic performance of the kids in high school. The academic performance will be evaluated regarding the mean score of the examination results, class rank as well as homework completion. On the other hand, the independent variable will be the family structure of the selected children in high school. The intervening variable that will be used will be represented by contextual factors such as school infrastructure, school management, school culture, and staffing. The first hypothesis was determining if there was any significant difference between children from single-families and nuclear families regarding their academic performances. The research question of the research will be "Does the structure of nuclear family influence the academic performance of the children in high schools?" The other research question is "How does home environment support the academic performance of the children in high school?" This research question will help to identify ways in which the academic performances of children from single-families in high school. My operationalization is well suited as it allows for the variables to be measured both quantitively and empirically. One of the potential problems of validity is determining the presence of internal validity. It will be challenging to maintain validity through making use of the selected subjects to represent a diverse group.

Methodology

Research Method

The research method that I will use is analyzing the content obtained from the questionnaires filled by the sample selected. This method will be necessary for the research questions since the feedback from the selected sample of the children at different high schools will help in evaluating the influence of family structure on their academic performance which will represent the entire children population in the high schools. Therefore, research methodology used will be quantitative. Quantitative research will be based on measuring of amount or quantity. The quantitative analysis will be helpful in determining the level to which differences in the structure of the family will affect the academic performance of the children in high school. Through the use of simple random sampling approach, children in high school will be selected to be representatives of the various structure of the family. There will be the provision of motivation talk which will be then followed by distribution of questionnaires. One problem that is likely to be experienced is lack of willingness of some children to provide genuine feedback in the questionnaire. This problem will be dealt with through provision of a motivational talk before the questionnaires are given out.

Analytical Technique

The data collected will be analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. The mean scores of the children will require being computed group-wise such that there is a comparison of mean academic achievements of children from single-families and nuclear families. After that, the interpretations and information obtained will then be synthesized by summarizing the descriptions that focus on such meanings of the questions that guide the study.

Discussion

One of the strengths of simple random sampling technique is that it only requires minimum knowledge to study the population group in advance. The other strength is that it is free from mistakes in classification. Furthermore, simple random sampling is free from prejudice and bias. One weakness of simple random sampling technique is that sample selection becomes difficult when the units are widely spread. One ethical issue that is likely to be experienced is displaying of personal information of the individuals selected. This will be avoided by maintaining all the data from the feedback questionnaire remaining undisclosed. Deception will be involved in the research since there will be some participants who will become upset with some questions in the questionnaires. The level of deception will be reduced through monitoring the progress of the participants throughout the study. Anonymity will be maintained through the removal of the name of the contributor in the provision of questionnaire feedback. The confidentiality of the private information will be respected by not disclosing the data obtained.

Conclusions/Implications of the Study

To conclude, the research study will be aimed at analyzing how single-families and nuclear-families affect the academic performances of the children in high schools. The independent variable used is the family structure of the selected children in high school while the dependent variable includes academic performance of the kids in high school. The expected result of the study is that the children from nuclear-families will perform better than children from single-families. The difference will be contributed by factors such as parental motivation, economic support, family support and the environment of home study.

Bibliography

Amoakohene, Abankwah. The relationship between Single Parenting and Academic Performance Of adolescents In Senior High Schools: A Case Study of Afigya Sekyere District in Ashanti Region. Diss. 2013.

Booth, Alan, and Judith F. Dunn, eds. Family-school links: How do they affect educational outcomes?. Routledge, 2013.

Conger, Rand D., Katherine J. Conger, and Monica J. Martin. "Socioeconomic status, family processes, and individual development." Journal of Marriage and Family 72.3 (2010): 685-704.

Lleras, Christy. "Employment, work conditions, and the home environment in single-mother families." Journal of Family Issues 29.10 (2008): 1268-1297.