Introduction
Psychologists have for a long time been interested in finding out the factors that affect that affect academic achievement as a child undergoes the various stages of development.
Most researchers have pointed out to social support, classroom instruction, personal characteristics, and academic achievement, among others, as the main factors that heavily impact a child’s educational achievement (Zsolnai, 2002, Georgiou, 2002, Sumari, Hussin, & Siraj, 2010).
In general, factors affecting educational achievement have been divided into three: personal causal factors, academic causal factors, and personal causal factors (Sumari et al, 2010).
Peer influence and parental involvement have featured prominently as the leading causes of either success or failure in a student’s academic performance (Epple & Romano, 1998, Zimmer & Toma, 2000). Peer groups have been found to play a notable role in academic performance, particularly through daily interactions between two or more students over many years (Zimmer & Toma, 2000).
Parental involvement in their child’s academic work has been found to play a significant in the outcome of their children’s academic scores or performance (Zsolnai, 2002). Factors such as parental expectation and attribution, home environment, discipline, parent-child relationship, and the time spent between a parent and the child have been shown to considerably affect performance in school (Zsolnai, 2002, Georgiou, 2002).
Aim
The purpose of this literature review is to find out the factors that affect academic performance among children, the paper will particularly focus on the contribution made by parents and peers towards a student’s success or failure in academic work.
The paper will also present theories attributed to these factors and discuss their relevance to the study.
Significance
The significance of this research is to discuss how parental involvement and peer group influence affect children academic achievement (Georgiou, 2002).
This literature review will go a long way into determining the strength of parental involvement and peer influence as compared to other factors that have been known to affect academic achievement as outlined above. This study will help both parents and students alike in devising strategies that can help in improving the latter’s academic performance.
The question of factors that affect academic performance among children is very pertinent since a person’s performance in school goes a long way into determining their future. Aspects such as occupation, pay, living standard, productivity, and so on, are strongly linked to academic achievement. Hence, this study is very important.
There is a strong belief that a relationship exists between parental intervention and academic achievement, and between peer influence and academic achievement. However, a stronger influence is likely to exist under parental intervention as compared to peer influence owing to the level of influence parents have over their children.
Literature review
Factors affecting academic achievement are centered on achievement goal theory and approaches.
There are many factors that influence academic achievement in students, they include; parents, family background, peer group pressure, spread of information technology, the students attitude, and student commitment and many more. However, the scope of this paper only allows for the focus on two aspects only: parents and peer pressure.
Parental involvement
Parents are the main source of knowledge to children because they spend most of the time with them compared to any other person. They are the main determining factor to whether their child will excel or fail in life, when a child is growing up, he or she will take after the morals the parent instills in them (Caucutt, 2002). It is of great importance that teachers should involve parents in their children’s learning progress (Zsolnai, 2002).
Most studies have shown that parental involvement is associated with higher levels of achievements in students and that children whose parents are more involved in their education have higher levels of academic performance than children whose parents are less involved (Mayer, 1997).
Parental aspects that have been found to have a strong influence on academic achievements of their children include the parents’ expectations and attribution, home environment, instilling of discipline, parental involvement in their children’s schoolwork, and the time spent the parent and the child (Diaz, 2009).
Indeed, in a study of parenting behaviors that facilitate child development, it was found out that parents who practiced authoritative parenting and promoted creativity also displayed low levels of aggression, showed readiness to share control, knew the benefits of play, and felt capable of teaching their children effectively (Georgiou, 2002).
This finding shows just how significant positive parenting is to the development of the children in all aspects, including their academic achievement. Parental expectation has a big impact on student educational outcomes than some of the more expressive aspects of parental involvement, like having strict house rules.
Parental level of involvement in their children’s’ academic activities has been found to be influenced by the family’s social class, single parent status, family structure (single or both parents present), and parents’ level of education.
Indeed, children whose parents took time reading and discussing with them, or generally asking about their schoolwork after school have been known to excel more than those whose parents shoed no concern at all.
In another finding, it was observed that parents who raised their children in a religious setup showed more interest in their child’s schoolwork and this compelled them to work harder, hence improve their academic performance. Generally, positive parenting is considered to be the most effective approach for supporting their children’s academic achievement (Sumari et al., 2010).
Peer group influence
A peer group is a social group of people who are equal in age education or social class, in short, people who share some common characteristics (Zimmer & Toma, 2000). Most experts recognize the impact that a peer can have on a student’s academic achievement.
However, the extent of this influence has not been adequately covered by research (Mayer, 1997). In addition, few studies have centered on quantifying the academic results with peer factor (Sumari et al, 2010, Henderson, Mieszkowski, and Sauvageau, 1976).
Zimmer & Toma (2000) argue that a child is socialized by the persons with whom he/she associates. Through daily interactions over a number of years, these persons are able to foster either acceptable or unacceptable behavior among these children (Epple & Romano, 1998, Sumari et al, 2010).
Other children, or even adults, can have a significant influence on a wide range of issues in the child’s development, including academic performance. Social influence from peers can occur when children spend more time with a specific peer group.
The role of peer groups in a child’s development process has long been recognized; peer groups play a normal part in the process of socialization as they provide experiences that shape major decision made in life. In their research, Sumari et al (2010) show that children take solace in interacting with their peers and they prefer to spend longer hours with them rather than with their parents.
Peer influence therefore plays a big role on the child’s pattern of behavior particularly their interests, attitudes, value system, emotional expressions, and interactional patterns, and so on (Henderson et al, 1976, Coleman, Campbell, Hobson, McPartland, Mood, Weinfeld, and York,1966).
The cumulative effect of these factors is quite critical towards the child’s performance in classroom. For instance, it is known that peer groups influence a child’s interests and this may result into the child developing a liking for matters related to his/her academic work or liking aspects that do not relate to academic work (Mayer, 1997).
The latter may hinder academic activities and hence lead to a poor academic outcome while the former may encourage the student in his/her academic and lead to a better academic outcome (Sumari et al, 2010).
A child may also look up to peers for approval and/or support, particularly in situations where the atmosphere at home is not sociable (Coleman et al, 1966). The kind of peers that the child turns to may have a tremendous effect on the decisions they make regarding their academic activities.
Conclusion
An examination of the role of parental involvement and peers on a child’s academic achievement shows that both variables have a strong influence on the academic outcome. However, parental involvement appears to have a stronger influence regarding their expectations and attribution, educational achievement, and generally offering a supportive environment that helps the children to develop in all aspects.
Peer influence is seen to take a greater position when conditions at home are unfavorable or not supportive of the child’s perception of an accommodative environment. In spite of these findings, both factors are vital not only towards the academic achievement, but for the holistic development and growth of a child.
References
Caucutt, E. M. (2002). Educational policy when there are peer group effects—size matters. International Economic Review, vol. 43, no. 1. 195–222.
Coleman, J.S., Campbell, E.Q., Hobson, C.J., McPartland, J., Mood, A.M., Weinfeld, F.D., and York, R.L. (1966). Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Diaz, A. L. (2009). Personal, family, and academic factors affecting low achievement in secondary school. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology and Psychopedagogy, vol. 1, no. 1. 43-66
Epple, D, Romano R.E. (1998). Competition between private and public schools, vouchers, and peer-group effects. American Economic Review, vol. 88, no. 1. 33–62.
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Henderson, V., Mieszkowski, P., and Sauvageau, Y. (1976). Peer Group Effects and Educational Production Functions. Ottawa: Economic Council of Canada.
Mayer, S.E. (1997). What Money Can’t Buy: Family Income and Children’s Life Chances. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sumari, M., Hussin, Z., and Siraj, S. (2010). Factors contributing to academic achievement and moral development: a qualitative study. The International Journal of Research and Review, vol. 5, no. 2. 18-23
Zimmer, R.W., and Toma, E. F. (2000). Peer effects in private and public schools across countries. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 19, no. 1. 75–92.
Zsolnai, A. (2002). Relationship between children’s social competence, learning motivation and school achievement. Educational Policy, vol. 22, no. 3. 317-330.