Impact of Socialization on Academic Performance

Impact of Socialization on Academic Per framinganceCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONThis chapter identifies and states the problem which this withdraw seeks to probe. It also presents the signifi washbasince and objectives of the study. It is at that placefore important to none that although considerable efforts start been made to improve Lower sixth make believe assimilators faculty member death penalty and retention, students succeeder in the Unit 1 CAPE examination continues to vary. The inability to connect the acculturation effective do important in student academic per figureance has resulted in poorly prep bed students in society.Secondary education in Trinidad and Tobago has been significantly expanded in the Post-Independence era. This was articulated in the 1968-1983 Education Plan. As a consequence, there was large-scale construction of junior, senior petty(a) and senior comprehensive initiates. In addition, there are five- geezerhood, seven- old age and private secondary grooms. In the these five and seven years secondary schools, measures of academic performance at the school and individual level have always been calculated using grades in examinations such as CXC at Form Five Level and CAPE at sestetth Form Level across the country.The CAPE examinations, which replaced the Cambridge Advanced level examination, is today used as the main basis for judging a students ability and also as a means of selection for educational advancement and employment. Annu onlyy, hundreds of secondary school students write the Caribbean Proficiency Examination (CAPE). All students admitted to sixth forms have on an average a good CXC certificate of five or much than subjects which is an indication of their ability and performance. To be admitted into sixth form at all secondary schools, the Ministry of Education in Trinidad and Tobago has stipulated the followingA student must not be become 20 years old during the calendar year of entryA student must have obtaine d a minimum of distinguish C in English Language O level or Grade I in C.X.C. General Proficiency exam andA student must have obtained 4 other O level straighten outes or Grade II in the C.X.C. General Proficiency will be current if there is at least one A in the grade profile.Lower sixth form students write an examination at the end of their start-off year. The results of this examination have revealed that some students are more successful than others at this level. Although students may have comparable abilities, been schooled in the same(p) environment and follow the same syllabus, there still exists variation in their educational performance. A student who performs poorly will not be able to gain admission into University, since matric policy stipulates higher grades.For the purpose of this study, the word teen will be used interchangeably with adolescent. A sixth form student is a teenager who is experiencing changes in their social and psychological life. This period is referred to as the adolescence period. Adolescence is a time of transformation in many areas of an individuals life. In the midst of these speedy physical, emotional, and social changes, the three-year-old adult begins to question adult standards and their need for parental guidance. It is also a time for individuals to make important decisions about their commitment to education, family, and possibly religion. Students begin to ask questions such as, Is school important to me? and How do I want to spend my time? According to Ryan (2000), the superiors that adolescents make regarding their motivation, engagement, and achievement in school and the satisfaction they obtain from their choice depend, in voice, on the context in which they make such choices.It is fair to say that school-aged children are assured of existity of devil to secondary school. In society the agents of socialization have had differential impacts on the lives of young children and teenagers. If this is the case, there is a need therefore to examine very nigh the educational performance and life chances of individual students. The interest of this explore therefore, focuses on how socialization variables can be associated with the variations in the educational performance of Lower Six Form students who are 17- 20 years old. These students are assumed to be self-motivated when it comes to succeeding at the CAPE Unit 1 examination. The situation is debateable and can have serious social ramifications for the society as a whole.1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDYThe variation in academic performance has its genesis in students early educational socialization. Research has shown that early years of exposure to Mathematics and English Language creates the foundation for later academic performance. If students enter kindergarten at a disadvantage, early gaps in understandings of literacy or mathematics tend to be sustained or widened over time (Aunola et al 2004). Research further shows this pheno menon is particularly true for children from lower income households (McLoyd and Purtell 2008). What parents can do with their children at home has far greater import than any other factor open to educational influence (Tucker 2010). Similarly, Wood and Attfield (2005) argued that early years were particularly important for developing childrens ability and enthusiasm in mathematics.In Trinidad and Tobago, Mathematics and English Language are considered to be the two main prerequisite subjects that are common to all schools and to all students from various ethnic backgrounds. Table 1 shows a CSEC Mathematics grade distribution of the four schools in the study while Table 2 shows a CSEC English grade distribution. CSEC Mathematics and English Language are subjects, which all secondary students must pass in order to secure a place in the A-level class. These subjects covered the whole curriculum at the secondary schools.TABLE 1 VARIATIONS IN CSEC mathematics GRADES FROM EACH naturali ze 2011. take aimGRADE 1GRADE 2GRADE 3GRADE 4GRADE 5TOTALSCHOOL D5290%610%NILNILNIL58SCHOOL C2563%1025%512%NILNIL40SCHOOL B1550%930%413%27%NIL30SCHOOL ANIL0%314%941%627%418%22TOTAL92281884150 SOURCE CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS 2011TABLE 2 VARIATIONS IN CSCE ENGLISH GRADES FROM EACH SCHOOL. 2011SCHOOLGRADE 1GRADE 2GRADE 3GRADE 4GRADE 5TOTALSCHOOL D5798%12%NIL0%NIL0%NIL0%58SCHOOL C3690%410%NIL0%NIL0%NIL0%40SCHOOL B2170%827%13%NIL0%NIL0%30SCHOOL A523%941%732%14%NIL0%22TOTAL1192281NIL150SOURCE CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS 2011The results of the CAPE Unit 1 examinations (see discover 1) can therefore be assumed to be indicators of early childhood socialization to the above subject matter. It can therefore be further hypothesized that students who did substantially at CSEC examinations would do well at the CAPE Unit 1 examinations based on their early socialization which will take the involvement of the autonomous variables of the study.FIGURE 1 SOURCE C ARIBBEAN EXAMINATION COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS 2012The data in Figure (1) revealed that the type of secondary school that students attend has a significant part to play in their academic performance. In other words, the home is the primary socialize agent where the desire for an education is internalized while the school, as the the secondary interact agent (Parsons 1951) is where the students fulfilled that internalized desire with the help of the family and teachers. This dissertation will argue that the variation in Lower sixth form students academic performance is bloodsucking on their individual socialization.1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMEducational data in Trinidad and Tobago has revealed that some students are performing better than others at the Lower sixth form CAPE Unit 1 examination (See Figure 2, which represents a distribution of grades one, two and three from 2005 to 2011). The percentage pass rates for Unit 1 ranged from in the midst of 57% and 63.5%. The pass rates fo r these same students at Caribbean Examination Council level (CXC) Examination was higher. This paradox reveals a disparity in academic performance of these students surrounded by the CAPE Unit I level and the CXC level. This results in a variation in the grades distribution deep down and among these secondary schools. The existence of a variation in educational performance for this examination has become a serious social phenomenon which can later create adverse educational imbalances among and between the different assorts within the society. If, left unchecked, one can imagine the ramification this problem can have for the social stability of the society. This examines how specific enculturation variables can be interested in the socialization of lower sixth form students. Psychology has shown that everyone is born with some potential, or abilities which could be utilized to the optimum for the development of their personal life. Therefore, all lower sixth form students may b e exposed to the same teachers and the same conditions in the school, yet, there are remarkable differences in their academic performance at the Unit 1 examination of CAPE.Lower sixth form students, because of their age (17-20 years old) are older adolescents who are assumed to be more responsible and more independent than the younger students. What, therefore, are some of the reasons that are responsible for the variations in educational performance? As noted by the research worker before, the interconnectedness of many variables maybe the cause. Some of these variables have been identified as study contributors for the variations in academic performance. The researcher has identified the most likely socializing variables that will guide the thesis statement. They are as followed the socio-economic status (SES), race/ethnicity, kindle/gender, helpmate group and parental involvement. The aim, therefore of the study is to investigate socialization with its inherent social, cultur al, and psychological moderateing processes as the main contributing factor for the existing variation in academic performance of lower sixth form students at the Unit 1 of the Caribbean Proficiency Examination (CAPE) examination. FIGURE 2. Units I and II Grades I-III ranged between 52.1% and 65.5% SOURCE CARIBBEAN EXAMINATION COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS 20111.3. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYThis research is significant for both practical and scientific reasons. From the practical significant point of view, the study will help explain the behaviour associated with the variation in academic performance at the Lower sixth form Unit 1 level Caribbean Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in terms of the socializing variables in the form of parents socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, peer groups influence and parental involvement in students academic performance. Each is believed to play a major role in the socialization of Lower sixth form students and ultimately, the education process. E ach of us proceeds through life in a musical mode we often believe is under our immediate control and influence. It seems logical that the actions we take and the impact of those actions is based upon a series of logical, rational, and emotionally loaded decisions influenced by choice and chance. Although this seems a reasonable manner in which to assess ones lot in life, it is far from reality, particularly in the area of education. Children have equal opportunities to do the same subjects and extra-curricular activities. They have similarly qualified teachers and they study these subjects for the same length of time (i.e. five years for CXC). The idea that each child enters school with the same opportunities that foster success is not a valid assumption. This is particularly true of the formative years from preschool through secondary school where the impact of these socializing forces can vary dramatically from person to person, depending on their life circumstances and social c lass status.1.4. Objective of the StudyAs indicated in the introduction, there are many factors which can influence the academic performance of Lower sixth form students at the CAPE Unit I examination. However the researcher has control this study within certain limits, concentrating on the examination of variables which have also been highlighted as important by other studies. These variables are socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, peer group, and parental involvement. The objectives are as followedTo investigate the socializing relationships, between academic performance of Lower sixth form students and socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, peer group, and parental involvement?To what extent are these research variables academic performance, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, peer group, and parental involvement are mutally influential in the socializing of Lower sixth form students.1.5. Definition of Important TermsAcademic performance r efers to the overall excellence in all academic disciplines be in this study as an average of 50% pass mark in each subject.Academics refer to student dispositions on school and grades and can be influenced by adult expectationsAdolescence refers to the period that begins with the onset of puberty and ends somewhere around age 18 or 20. In this research, adolescent is used interchangeabley with teenager and young adult. The studys main focus will be on adolescents between 17 and 20 years of age.Achievement motivation refers to the striving to annex or to keep as high as possible, ones own capabilities in all activities in which a standard of excellence is survey to apply and where the execution of such activities can, therefore either succeed or fail (Heckhausen 1967). Parental involvement is very crucial for achievement motivation.Race/Ethnicity in this study will be used interchangeably. However ethnicity which is assumed to share common cultural practices and history will also include religion.Extreme cases In this study refer to those lower sixth form students who have acquired grade four and under in the Unit 1 CAPE examination.Gender the significance a society attaches to biological categories of female and male. In this study it will be used interchangeably with sex.Mass media impersonal communication directed toward a vast audience. In this case, the internet and the games associated with it.Parental involvement in this research refers to the things that parents do to form behaviours that are directed toward childrens academic performance.Peer group a social group whose members have interests, social positions and ages in common. In this study, peer group will include all individuals with similar demographic characteristics. holiness a social institution involving beliefs and practices based upon the conception of the sacred. It will also be included in the definition for ethnicity.Sex refers to the biological distinction between females and males. In this study it will be used interchangeably with gender.Socialization refers to the lifelong social experience by which individuals develop human potential and learn patterns of their culture.Socio-economic status refers to a composite ranking based on education, and occupationSocial class In Trinidad and Tobago, the upper class refers to the highest socioeconomic bracket in the social hierarchy and is defined by its members great wealth and power. Members of the upper class accumulate wealth through investments and capital gains, rather than through yearly salaries. Households with net worths of $1 million or more may be identified as members of the upper-most socioeconomic demographic. The oculus class is divided into the upper nitty-gritty class and the middle middle class. The upper middle class consists of highly educated salaried professionals whose occupations are held in high esteem, such as attorneys, engineers, and professors. The middle middle class is generally thoug ht to include people in the mid-level managerial positions or relatively low status professional positions, such as school teachers, nurses, policemen, and small business owners. The working class generally refers to those without university degrees, who perform low income service work, such as sales clerk, domestic worker and include most people whose income falls below the poverty line.Variation the extent to which the Unit 1 examination results vary as it relates to each students academic performance.