Background and Problem Statement

This research paper has been published in the International Journal of Primary, Elementary, and Early years education in 2016 specifies the issue of parental involvement in children’s educational endeavours. This paper will be analysing the nuances of this research paper in terms of the data analysis , the quality of work, critical understanding of the research design, their findings and the methods of conceptualisation.  Under the conceptualisation part, this paper will be throwing light on findings of the problem statement of the research. It is expected to ponder on the diverse body of literature referred for the purpose for conducting the research, in case of the issue of formulation of research question, this paper will be analysing the research questions undertaken by the research in order to better address their problem statement of the research. It is also expected that the study will be understanding the significant of the study in terms of the presentation of original idea and authenticity. Under the discussion of the research design part, this paper will be broadly outlining the data collection method and the effective procedures undertaken for the same.  The third part of the analysis will be focusing on the issue of critical analysis of the issue by refereeing to the analytic procedure undertaken by author. Finally, it will be highlighting the  understanding   of analysis of the findings. The aim of this paper is to critically understand the concept presented by the author. It is important to understand the background of the study since this paper will be making a critical analysis of the same.

The paper is based on the analysis of factors important for the purpose of understanding the link between the parents and their expectations with that of the children and their career growth. This paper also analyses the role of the parents in having higher expectations towards their children which leads to the excessive involvement of them in their children’s growth (Carmichael et al., 2016). The author has mentioned that excessive involvement of the parents might impede the growth process of the children since it creates extra pressure in them to achieve higher. However the paper has been dedicated to the finding level of involvement of the parents in the academic achievement of the children in the specific subject of mathematics.  What is novel about this piece of study is the fact parental involvement do not always lead to the process of control of the children, it also reaps positive benefits to the overall performance of the child. 

Importance of Study

Conceptualisation:

It is significant to note that the author has rightly pointed put the problem areas in the previous study in the subject of students’ achievement and  their parental involvement. It has pointed out the gap in the existing body of literature which clearly specifies the fact that there is lack of understanding  on the issue of parental involvement in the context of Australia and their children’s achievement especially in mathematics. In terms of the grasp  of the author in the related field of literature it is to be argued that the author  has studies the background  of the factors that influence the  development of good grade  for the children and the issue  of homework in context of France which seems to provides a positive result in  this context.  It has also been argued by the author that the importance of understanding the background of the study is crucial in understanding the impact of  parental involvement  in their children’s achievement.  The author has successfully contributed on the issue of the background of the study with the present reference to Australian parents and their commitment towards their children.  However it is to be mentioned at this junctures that the research questions derived do not relate to the gaps identified in the  body of the research(Hirano, 2016). Moreover the research questions  are divided into number of subparts which do  not take into  consideration  the subject specific achievement of the Australian children.  The research questions require a clear understanding of the gap in order to form specific questions. In terms of the ambiguity of the research questions since there is lack of coherence since it does not specify the parental involvement in children of primary, elementary education(Hirano, 2016).  In terms of mentioning the significance of the study, it is to be noted that this study will be particularly benefitting the parents in understanding of involvement in their homework for the primary, elementary school children. This study has highlighted the issue of children in their subject specific achievement of mathematics; hence it can be comprehended that this study will be crucial for these parents.

It can be evaluated from the above discussion that there is a need to develop in-depth understanding of the issue: issue of homework and student’s achievement since it has also been mentioned in the body of the research that excessive support to the children do not necessarily support the development of grade for the child, instead it creates higher pressures and expectations from the child. It is also important to note that it is necessary to establish the link between parental involvement and building pressure on the children that can further develop the understanding of students’ achievement level.

Data Collection and Analysis

In dealing with the research question, this paper has undertaken the descriptive analysis with the bivariate and multivariate analysis of the issues. In case of the multivariate analysis of the issue, it is to be noted that the author has conducted the exploration of the causal relationships between the variables of the parental involvement and the children’s performance in academics (Carmichael et al., 2016). In order to complete the study, the  author has undertaken the regression model analysis for the purpose of managing the sample size chosen for the survey method of data collection. However it is to  be mentioned that  the case of sample size, it is completely based on the survey method which has higher chances of random sampling and biased understanding of the issues. In case of the participation of  the sample size, the survey has been conducted in on 4050 children of the Kindergarten(cohort of LSAC). The sample size remaining huge, it was necessary for the study to develop this descriptive analysis method for deriving conclusions (Carmichael et al., 2016).  In order to understand the importance of the sample size chosen, it is important to note that that sample size  is appropriate chosen for the purpose  of the study other than some minor limitations of  it. However it is to be mentioned that understanding the correlation between the two variables of parental involvement and the level of achievement of the children is not clearly defined(Hirano, 2016). This research required the detailed analysis on their individual cases of students in order to drive the solid ground for data.  Moreover in case of the primary data collection, the sources of fact and information are more authentic and genuine in nature and significant to derive the exact percentage(Walliman, 2017). In case of the description of data collection, the author mentions that the survey method has been adopted for the study. The procedures of the  study has been completed by undertaking the children  who could be surveyed for the purpose.  There is a clear mention of the data collection and the involvement of the participant.  The author also mentions the sample size of 1426 that have been included for the study. One of the weaknesses of this research is that it fails to identify the ethical considerations of the research. Moreover the study does not specify the ethical consideration of conducting the survey for the study which constitutes one of the key aspects of every body of research. However it is not to deny that the research had the inherent scope of being designed in different way by including the quantitative research methods in order to make it more detailed and comprehensive. 

Limitations and Future Research

For the purpose of data analysis, this paper has undertaken the descriptive analysis method which is to derive the measurement of the parental involvement within the context of Australia.  Moreover this study has undertaken the multivariate analysis of the derived data that will help to understand the causal relationship of the parental involvement and their relation to the children’s achievement. It is interesting to note there is a clear description of the data analysis method which is reflective of the fact that the author has detailed understanding of the research approaches and models for conducting the study. For example, the author mentions that the regression model is one of the prevalent and most significant models of deriving data from the survey method (Carmichael et al., 2016). The author has demonstrated the nature of the study in higher clarity in order to understand which of the models would be best suited to conduct the study.  Moreover the case of the results derived it is explained and mentioned in separate points which is easier to derive the understanding of the issue.  The issues of effective communication, monitoring and parental belief has been discussed in one section while for the purpose of bivariate analysis, results  have been discussed and elaborated  in form of a chart and this statistical tool has been used for explain the data.  In case of the multivariate analysis, results have been displayed in a summarised representation of the bivariate relationships. Moreover the discussion of the data has been carried in the next part of the study which constitutes the discussion part. However it has been mentioned that there were certain limitations unlike unavailability of the data which is reflective of the fact that there is  lack of trustworthiness or reliability on the data derived, this part of the  analysis has been mentioned under the limitations of the  research paper. However it does not specify the issue of authenticity of the data. It is crucial to remember that the study is based on the secondary data analysis which is already limited in nature(Wodak et al2015). However it is not to deny the fact that the result derived has been supported by enough statistical data which is reflective of the belief that the  results are genuine and it is convincing  in nature to the results provided. Even though it has been observed that the results are based on the survey conducted, it is to be mentioned that the results are less dependable since it is not supported by any primary data collection method which leaves options for the interpreted to have enhanced belief in the expected results(Ginevra e al., 2015). This analysis helps us to derive that parental involvement of the Australian families have considerable impact on their children’s development and academic performance. This research provides a quality analysis of the factors which are responsible for making a positive impact in their children’s lives.   

 In terms of the results derived, it has been observed that there is clear demarcation of the data.  It has been analysed that the results derived from the analysis is presented in percentage which is targeted at understanding the research questions raised at the beginning of the study. It is further important to note that this  study has taken up the systematic approach for the purpose of reaching  to the conclusion  in three ties system based on the communication, monitoring and help  of the parents in achieving the desired outcome. In case of the bivariate and multivariate analysis results, it is to be noted that the results of the analysis has been represented in terms so the parental involvement and mathematics scores of  the students.  This has been able to establish the correlation of the two variables in the study. This understanding helps us derive the fact that the research questions have been duly catered and the answers derived constitutive to be sufficient for the understanding. Lastly, it has to be mentioned that the findings of the research has been able to derive at the conclusion  that parental involvement in the study of the children has been increasing the score in mathematics at least for the primary years and parents who helped their children in their “ homework” tend to have  higher progress in  subjects like mathematics (Carmichael et al., 2016). 

It has been observed further that the research findings have been able to establish the correlation between the two variables of research in order to derive the desired results. What is important for this part of the study is that it has raised number of questions related to the effectiveness of participation of the parents in their children’s development(Wodak et al 2015).

Conclusion

It is crucial to note that the issue of parental involvement and children achievement has been seen to have established a positive correlation. This study has focused on the issue of parental involvement in the context of Australia. This has been further observed that the study is specifically concentrated in finding the mathematical outcomes and achievement of the children who have higher support of their parents in Australia. The study has been conducted on a wide spectrum of events in order to develop the understanding. However it has also mentioned that excessive support and intervention of the parents in the homework of children might impact the child in negative way  in terms of higher expectation form them. However what has been lacking in this study is that it is qualitative in nature which has the threat of producing biased results. Nonetheless, this paper made an analysis in the same in order to establish the fact that there is an important impact on the overall academic achievements of the child in case of support from the family. 

References

Carmichael, C., & MacDonald, A. (2016). Parental influences on primary school children’s mathematics achievement: insights from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Education 3-13, 44(2), 197-211.

Ginevra, M. C., Nota, L., & Ferrari, L. (2015). Parental support in adolescents’ career development: Parents’ and children’s perceptions. The Career Development Quarterly, 63(1), 2-15.

Hirano, K. A., & Rowe, D. A. (2016). A conceptual model for parent involvement in secondary special education. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 27(1), 43-53.

Walliman, N. (2017). Research methods: The basics. Routledge.

Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2015). Methods of critical discourse studies. Sage.