Parental Involvement, Child Academic Success and SocioEmotional Development in a Ghanaian context
Princess-Melissa Washington-Nortey
Dr. Efi Stolarski
Introduction
v Parenting is perceived by child and developmental
psychologists as bearing the most significant influence on
the child’s development (Super & Harkness, 2002). Parental
Involvement has been defined by Bloom (1989) as parents’
aspirations for their children’s academic achievements and
the communication of those aspirations to their children.
v Studies show that Parental school and home Involvement
through activities such as volunteering in children’s school
and helping children with homework respectively, are related
to positive child academic outcomes (Chowa, Masa &
Tucker, 2013).
v This study aims at investigating the relationships between
Parental Involvement, Child Academic outcomes and Child
Socio-Emotional Development, another important but often
overlooked aspect of child development, among a Ghanaian
population. It will also explore the relative influence of the
diverse Ghanaian ethnicity on parenting practices
Conclusion
v Strengths
The study will be the first of its kind in Ghana investigating
parental involvements' influence on both child academic
outcome and socio-emotional development.
It will also uncover specific parenting practices which either
facilitate or inhibit these aspects of child development among
10 different major ethnic groups in Ghana.
v Limitations
The study is a correlational study which unfortunately lacks the
ability to make strong causal inference. In future studies
researchers may consider other stronger methods of research
inquiry such as experimental methods as they may contribute to
better predictions of causal effects.
Participants
v  200 pupils, 20 from each of the 10 ethnically diverse
regions of Ghana.
v The average age of each participant will be 8 years.
Measures
References
Bloom, B. S. (1980). The new direction in educational research: Alterable
variables. Journal of Negro Education, 337-349.
v Parental Involvement Scale (Chowa, Masa & Tucker, 2013)
Parental home and school Involvement will be evaluated by
the participants using an adapted 3 point Likert-scale
( never, sometimes and often).
Chowa, G. A., Masa, R. D., & Tucker, J. (2013). The effects of parental
involvement on academic performance of Ghanaian youth: Testing measurement
and relationships using structural equation modeling. Children and Youth
Services Review, 35(12), 2020-2030.
v Academic performance
Child academic performance will be assessed using
cumulative record scores from the previous academic year.
Cumulative record scores are a quantified average score of
all subjects taken at each stage in elementary school in
Ghana.
v Social Competence Scale ( Fast track project, adapted
from Kendall and Wilcox (1979) and Gersten (1976) )
Child Social competence will be evaluated by teacher and
parent responses along the areas of child pro-social
behaviors and communication skills.
Kendall, P. C., & Wilcox, L. E. (1979). Self-control in children: Development of
a rating scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical psychology, 47(6), 1020.
Super, C. M., & Harkness, S. (2002). Culture structures the environment for
development. Human development, 45(4), 270-274.