Introduction
As someone who has always done well in school and who has always been supported by my parents, I have sometimes wondered if the continual absence of an authoritative figure at home affects the way students perform in school. Without authority, discipline, or encouragement, would high school students slack or fall behind in their studies? My ultimate goal is to test and analyze a survey of my high school to see if there is in fact a relationship between the absence of a respected adult and the grade point averages of my peers.
Statement of Task
The main purpose of this investigation is to see if an authoritative figure at home affects the grade point averages of students in high school. This information or data for this investigation is to be gathered from the general populace of Park High School in Cottage Grove, Minnesota by way of an online survey. Since all of the students have access to their school provided iPads, it is convenient to take advantage of an online survey and post the link on the white boards in all of my classrooms. As some classes are populated by all four years in high school, I can apply this inquiry to a variety of the student populace. In the survey, students are asked how many hours in a five day school week they are left at home without a respected authority and what their grade point average is. The main reason for this analysis is merely personal curiosity towards the home environment and its effect on grades in high school; whether the survey shows that these two factors are independent or that they are dependent of each other, the result will only increase my curiosity towards this subject.
Plan of Investigation
I am “investigating” the relationship between hours spent at home alon...
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... were less than five and this certainly hurt the validity of the test.
Conclusion
Limitations and all, it is concluded with the χ^2 value of 13.58 that the null hypothesis must be accepted. As stated, the number of hours students spend at home without a figure of authority is independent from the students’ GPAs. This is exactly as I predicted after using Pearson’s correlation equation and receiving a number that was significantly less than the desired value of one or close to one. So as predicted during the investigation, the number of hours spent without an authoritative figure at home does not affect the GPAs of high school students; there is no correlation, thus my original hypothesis was incorrect.
Works Cited
"GPA Conversion Chart." Princetonreview.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.
"Table Chi-Square." Docstoc.com. N.p., 10 July 2010. Web. 22 May 2014.
Homeschooling offers flexibility and can be a stress reliever for many. Home school gives children the opportunity to learn when they learn best, whether that be in the morning or in the afternoon. Some children prefer to work alone others with their peers. The parents will determine what their child’s learning style is. If the child need more or less time on a subject then they will have the chance to go over the subject as many time it is necessary for the student to learn it, or in the other hand if they completely comprehend the subject they can make a decision to skip it. A flexible schedule gives these options and many more to students compared to public or private schooling.
In traditional school setting, it is said that children as young as grade school are being exposed to drugs, alcohol, bullying, and overly-sexualized nature (Chapman). In one day of a public school environment, there are many mischievous actions that go unseen due to the gaping student-teacher ratio. Children who are home educated have the chance to remain children for longer than most public schooled children because they avoid many of these negative influences. While homeschooling may not be solution that will completely eliminate all exposure to poor decisions, it will definitely reduce the possibility of them having to decide between saying yes or no to something illegal. Authority figures have more time to inform students of the dangers and consequences of being exposed to such activities when a student is homeschooled. The absurd amount of peer pressure that can be put on a student in traditional schooling is often why they make such decisions. Studies have shown that homeschooling makes it easier for children to avoid mimicking behaviors and character choices demonstrated by others around them like public school children do. The conclusion to the study explained that homeschooled students were more likely to develop greater social skills, be able to function well in an adult environment, and be able to take on negative peer pressures while still making responsible decisions. With that being said, if a college freshman who was previously public schooled was asked to go to a party with a group of friends but had a test he needed to study for the next day, then there is a greater possibility of him saying yes than there is for a student who was homeschooled for most his life. The traditionally schooled freshman would be easier to convince to come to the party than the homeschooled freshman because he grew up conforming to what he
Myths regarding the improper socialization of homeschoolers are as ever-present in modern society as they are false. Studies show that home-educated students are not only equal to publicly educated students when it comes to social skills, but are actually superior to their public schooled peers. While this may seem counter-intuitive, as public schooled students spend most days surrounded by dozens, or even hundreds, of other students, some suggest this is the very reason home-educated students hold the advantage in social fields. While public school students are segregated entirely based on grade, home school students interact with individuals of all ages, through partaking in various athletic activities with teams in their area, taking classes at co-op home-school centers, auditing classes at local colleges, and interacting with other social groups in their area. A study by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute in July of 2000, in which counselors were shown videotapes of homeschooled and public schooled children playing, supports the theory that homeschoolers possess superior social skills to public schoolers. Without knowing which children were from each category, the counselors noted that the homeschool students
In this study, another relationship between parenting styles and child development is presented. Participants were 7,836 adolescents enrolled in six high schools in San Francisco. They were provided with a questionnaire that included student background information, self-reported grades, parental attitudes and behaviors, and family commutation information. The study included three parenting styles, which were authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. Each one of the styles were described in the students’ questionnaire. The authoritarian style included the idea that as a response to a bad grade, parents tend to get upset, and when good grades are achieved, parents tell the student to do even better than what they have done. On the other hand, permissive parenting style was described as parents no caring about the students’ grade, and that hard work in school is not important for them. Then, they included authoritative parenting style as supportive parents that praise the student when good grades are achieved and more freedom to make decisions is given, but when poor grades are obtained, freedom is taken away and students are encouraged to try harder and some source of help is
Some scientists have noted a slight shift in how the home school system highlights the misgivings of the public school system (Murphy 251). This is known as the lighthouse effect because public schools will supposedly see the good elements of home school education and adapt them. Another way that home schooling affects the public school system is that supporters of home schooling will not financially support the public school system (Murphy 251). Some critics view that this withdrawal from the primary school systems will reduce public schools’ resources. Despite the fear that retreating to the home for schooling will wreck public schools, some public schools have started making accommodations for homeschoolers to make use of the schools’ resources (Murphy 251). This allows homeschoolers flexible schooling in various environments and gives the public schools more potential student traffic. Public schools are not the only schools whose identities are affected by the rise of home school. A good majority of home school students are actually former private school students (Murphy 251). The private schools population feels the sting of students leaving in large numbers. Home school education has effects on other parts of the education world, which also affects the students in those institutions. Therefore, home school has an impact in educational situations outside the
Fan, X., & Chen, M. (1999). Parental Involvement and Students' Academic Achievement: A. Arlington: National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA.; National Center.
Steinberg, Laurence, Elmen, Julie D., and Mounts, Nina S. “Authoritative Parenting, Psychosocial Maturity, and Academic Success among Adolescents.” Child Development, Vol. 60, No. 6 (Dec., 1989), pp. 1424-1436. Web. 1 May 2014.
A student’s learning environment has a significant impact on their academic achievement. (Garas-York, 2010, p. 432) This section will discuss how the environment a student is placed in, whether at home or school, plays a large role in determining their academic success. It will include studies conducted with both homeschooled and non-homeschooled students, and will show how a traditional school setting is often not conducive to a student’s learning
Today, many parents are homeschooling their children. A U.S. Department of Education’s report shows that approximately 1.5 million children were being homeschooled in 2007 (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). This is almost 3 percent of all school age children (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). A private researcher, the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates 2.5 million children were being homeschooled in the 2007 – 2008 academic years (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). By either count, homeschooling is growing exponentially.
In today’s American society, quality education is important for one to succeed. Without proper education, a person will find it extremely difficult to apply for college, a job, or to pursue his or her dream. Typically when Americans think of education, public education is the first to come to mind. Public education has been around for centuries and is provided to most children throughout the United States. Due to this fact, public education has been the go to education source for years. Though, this trend is slowly changing with many parents deciding to home school their children instead. Many factors are the cause for this issue, but the common arguments arise from a certain few. For students, public school provides many opportunities ranging from social connections, school sports, and the exposure to teachers who are experts in their fields. But homeschooling is often superior because it offers additional time for students to participate in various extracurricular activities and community service, allows for more individual attention, personal character development, and it offers less exposure to discrimination that is received in the public school environment.
Pawlas, G.E. (2001). Clearing the air about home schooling. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 37(2), pp. 63-66. Retrieved December 7, 2004 from EBSCO database.
As the population in public schools increase, the problems in these schools are also on the rise. These changes are leasing to the way parents are schooling their children. Many parents are leaning towards homeschooling as a solution to this problem. This increase in homeschooling can be directly related to an increase in school violence, the offering of a lack luster curriculum, and lack of student teacher interaction.
All children in America have the right to a quality education. Most students receive that education through conventional means, going to a public or private school. There is another option for today's children, home schooling. Home schooling is a controversial issue. While it does have its benefits, some people believe it has too many downfalls to be an effective method of education. In this paper, topics such as academic impact, social impact, and parental opinions of home schooling will be discussed.
Some parents think that once their children are at school, they can relax and let the education system take control. But this is not the case at all. As research shows, parents have an even greater influence on their children’s academic results than the school does. Most of a child’s ability to communicate, to relate to teachers and peers and their attitude to learning, is formed from home. Parents can help give their children a head start, by beginning their education at home.
The topic that will be researched is peer pressure and its influence on academic achievement. Every person has cliques, groups, and friends that they are influenced by and this is known to be peer pressure. This topic brings together the pressure and influence received from peers and studies the positive and/or negative effects it may have on a student’s academic achievement. The hypotheses investigated in this research topic are: if the student is susceptible to peer pressure, then their academic achievement will be affected; if the student is susceptible to positive peer pressure, then their academic achievement will be affected positively; if the student is susceptible to negative peer pressure, then their academic achievement will be affected negatively. Here are a few looks at the previous findings/results.