PARENTAL LEVEL OF EDUCATION AS PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING FOR VALUE PREFERENCES AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN EBONYI STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the extent parental level of education could serve as predictor of academic achievement and psychological well-being for value preferences among in-school adolescents in Ebonyi State. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a correlational research design. The sample for the study consisted of a total of 627 respondents drawn through multistage sampling techniques from the entire population of 12,535 senior secondary class two students in 2022/2023 academic session in 224 public secondary schools in Ebonyi State. Three instruments titled “Parental Education Level Questionnaire (PELQ), Students’ Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire (SPWBQ) and Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT)” were developed by the researcher and were used for data collection. These instruments were subjected to face validation by three experts. The Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was face validated by three specialists; one from Measurement and Evaluation and two specialists from Mathematics Education. The MAT was validated using the Content Validity which was derived using the Table of Specification or Test Blue Print. The internal consistency of the PELQ and SPWBQ was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha method after single administration; which yielded reliability estimates of 0.78 and 0.74 for PELQ and SPWBQ respectively. The reliability of the MAT was determined using Kuder-Richardson (KR-21) formular and reliability coefficient calculated was 0.88. The data generated for this study were analyzed using Pearson’s r, R2 (coefficient of determination) to answer the research questions while linear regressions analysis was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance. Result revealed that parental level of education predicts academic achievement for value preferences among in-school adolescents to a very highly positive and significant level. Further, parental level of education predicts psychological well-being for value preferences among in-school adolescents to a very highly positive and significant extent. It was thus recommended that parents and guardians are encouraged to employ their high educational level by directly involving, participating actively and assisting in their children’s homework, education and activities both at school and at home for value preferences.