Relationships of academic self-concepts, socioeconomic status, parental involvement to academic achievement of standard 7 in the Mmabatho/Mafikeng Area of Bophuthatswana

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships of socioeconomic status, parental involvement, achievement motivation and academic self-concept to academic achievement in English, mathematics and second language of standard 7 pupils in the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area of Bophuthatswana. From the literature review, it was understood that socioeconomic status, parental involvement, achievement motivation and academic self-concept are generally positively associated with academic attainment of middle and secondary school pupils. Hence it was hypothesized that these variables would significantly positively associate with academic attainment of the subjects of this study. A sample of 306 subjects was chosen from three schools where standard 7 pupils were being educated in Mmabatho/Mafikeng. Since these three schools were located in different parts of Mmabatho/Mafikeng areas, socioeconomic backgrounds of the : subjects varied greatly. All subjects completed four scales to take measures of socioeconomic status, parent-child relationship, achievement motivation and academic self-concept. Their academic achievement scores were collected from the school records. The data analysis revealed that the nature of relationships of socioeconomic status, achievement motivation and academic self-concept to academic attainment of standard 7 children depend on the character of the population of each school; no consistent relationships for all the three schools were seen. It was, however, found that mother involvement in education of less affluent children seems associated with academic achievement in all three academic subjects.