HOME ENVIRONMENT AS PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN IKWUANO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA: COUNSELLING IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

This study tried to find out the extent home environment predict the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a correlational research design. A total of 194 respondents drawn through multi-stage sampling technique from a population of 3880 senior secondary school students in eight public secondary schools in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State (SSEMB, 2023) were used for the study. Two instruments namely, “Home Environment Questionnaires (HEQ) and students’ Academic Achievement Test (SSAT)” were developed by the researcher from information got from literature and were face validated by three experts: one expert from departments of Psychology, one from Counselling and another expert in Measurement and Evaluation; all from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, respectively. The Students’ Academic Achievement Test (SAAT) was face validated by three experts one from Measurement and Evaluation and two specialists from Mathematics Education. The instrument was validated using the Content Validity which was derived using the table of Specification or Test Blue Print. The instruments were structured based on 4 –point ratings scale and weighed on the following scale: Very High Extent (VHE) 4 points, High Extent (HE) 3 points, Low Extent (LE) 2 points and Very Low Extent (VLE) 1 point. The decision rule of 0.00-0.20 = Very Low Relationship, 0.21 – 0.40 = Low Relationship, 0.41–0.60 = Moderate Relationship, 0.61 – 0.80= High Relationship and 0.81 – 1.00 = Very High Relationship were used for the interpretation. The stability of the HEQ was determined using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and reliability index of 0.85 was obtained. It was thus recommended that stakeholders such as counselors/psychologists, parents/guardians, teachers/school administrators should evolve new approaches and techniques for making educational system effective by orienting them on the simple and cost modern techniques that would ensure appropriate management of emotions of students to achieve academic excellence without discriminating against those students from poor socio-economic environment.