Parental Involvement, Classroom Interaction and Educational Attainment among Secondary School Students from Single- and Dual-Parent Households in Lafia Metropolis
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Abstract
This study examined parental involvement, classroom interaction and educational attainment among secondary school students from single- and dual-parent households in Lafia Metropolis. The study adopted a descriptive survey design using a mixed-methods approach. The study population comprised 19,539 students drawn from 27 public secondary schools in Lafia Metropolis. Using Taro Yamane's formula at a 5% margin of error, a sample size of 392 respondents was determined. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed, involving the stratification of schools into junior and senior secondary schools, simple random sampling to select ten public secondary schools, and snowball sampling to identify students from single- and dual-parent households within the selected schools. A structured questionnaire and In-depth Interview Guide were used to collect data. The questionnaire was considered reliable after yielding 0.82 Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. Of the 392 questionnaires administered, 364 were retrieved, validated, and analysed using simple percentages and cross-tabulations with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that students from dual-parent households reported higher levels of parental involvement in academic activities and demonstrated better classroom participation and greater confidence than their counterparts from single-parent households. Conversely, students from single-parent households reported relatively lower parental involvement and experienced more challenges in classroom interaction. The study concludes that active parental involvement is associated with improved classroom interaction and educational attainment among secondary school students. The study recommends that school administrators strengthen schoolparent partnerships, communities support single-parent families, parents enhance home learning, and government increase investment in equitable educational opportunities.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Solomon John Akoji, Friday Christopher Rintep (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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