Grade Retention, Academic Self-Concept, and Parental Involvement as Correlates of School Disengagement among Grade Five Pupils in Bong County, Liberia
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Date
2024-04
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Despite its far-reaching societal implications, school disengagement remains a contentious and hotly debated educational topic in Liberia. There has been little research on the psychological aspects that may influence pupils' academic achievement, and these psychological variables have mostly been blamed on school disengagement.Therefore, this study was intended to ascertain the correlation between grade retention, pupils' academic self-concept and involvement of parents and pupils' disengagement from primary school in Bong County, Liberia.The theoretical framework for the study was grounded in Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development, Carl Rogers' Self-concept Theory, and the Parental Involvement Theory of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler. This study employed a correlational research design, and targeted 636 grade fivepupils and 636 parents. Five public primary schools were selected through proportionate sampling, and the sample was drawn using a simple random sampling method to select 246 grade five pupils and 242 parents who participated in the study. Liu and Wang's academic self-concept and parental involvement instruments were utilized for the collecting of data. The researcher collected data with the use of questionnaires with 35 items for the pupils and 17 items for parents using standard scales. A pilot study was conducted to validate and ensure the reliability of research instruments.In order to analyse and characterize the data, descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were utilized in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.Results were displayed with the use of frequency tables. The results indicated a relationship between grade retention and child's school disengagement (r = .63, p = .01); results also revealed a correlation (r = .74, p = .01) between pupil’s academic self-concept and school disengagement, and results showed parental involvement and pupil’s school disengagement was a positive but non-significant correlation (r (488) = .27, p > .05). The study key recommendation was that teachers should use alternative teaching methods, such as tailored remedial programmes. Retention should only be used as a final resort when previous efforts have failed. Additionally, it was suggested that administrators at schools should encourage parents to closely monitor and participate in the education of their children. The study was significant to educators and school administrators because they couldutilize the findings to encourage parents to be involved in their children's education. Policymakers could also use the results to develop strategies that support initiatives which boost academic achievement and help learners develop a good academic self-concept.
Description
A Research Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology) in the School of Education And Lifelong Learning, Kenyatta University, April 2024