Publication: An evaluation of the contributions of parents’ socio-economic status on preschool children’s academic performance in selected slums in Kiambu county
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2015-11
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
Academic performance of preschool children from poor socio-economic backgrounds has
registered low academic grades. Thus, the study intended to evaluate the contributions of parents’
socio-economic status to academic performance of preschool children in selected slums in Kiambu
County. The objectives of the study included; parents’ level of education, parental income, home
environment and parental attitude in relation to academic performance of preschool children. The
study was guided by the Cultural Capital Theory. The study adopted mixed methods approach
since it involved collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The study applied
concurrent triangulation design which enabled the researcher to use the quantitative and qualitative
methods during the same timeframe and with equal weight. The target population for this study
comprised of 40 preschool managers, 40 preschool teachers, 30 parents’ representatives and 1290
preschool children all totaling to 1400. The researcher applied The Central Limit Theorem to select
a sample of 12 slums, that is, 30% of the targeted 40 slums in Kiambu County, which translate
into 12 preschools in these selected slums. Based on the same theorem, the researcher sampled
300 respondents, that is, 21.43% of 1400. The study then applied stratified sampling to create 4
different strata based on the number of slums. The researcher applied purposive sampling to select
preschool managers and teachers. The preschool children and parents were selected using simple
random sampling. Questionnaires, interviews and observation checklist were used to collect data
from preschool managers, teachers, parents and preschool children respectively. Piloting of
research instruments was conducted to establish validity, reliability, credibility and dependability.
Reliability coefficient was obtained using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Method and a
reliability coefficient of r = 0.65 was obtained indicating high internal consistency. Data analysis
began by identifying common themes. Relevant information was broken into phrases or sentences,
which reflected a single, specific thought. The responses were assigned codes and labels.
Frequency counts of the responses were then obtained to generate information about the
respondents and to illustrate the general trend of findings on the various variables that were under
investigation. Qualitative data was analyzed based on the research objectives whereas quantitative
data was analyzed using ANOVA in Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS Version 21).
The findings of the study were presented using tables. The study has established that parents’
socio-economic status contributes immensely towards academic performance of preschool
children. The study thus recommends that parents should be advised to pursue academic seminars
and adult education programmes to make them aware of their roles in improving the academic
performance of their children in preschools. Parents should invest their incomes towards sending
their children to school by providing the pre-requisite resources for learning. The government and
other education stakeholders should organize workshops where parents from different home
environment can be advised to mind the academic welfare of their children by sending them to
schools despite family challenges. Parents should develop positive attitude towards their children’s
education which should then act as a motivator to their children to attend schools.
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Early childhood