Abstract:
Parents are the primary educators of their children. Parental involvement plays a very
significant role in the development of children‟s values, beliefs, interests, character and
academics. The purpose of this study was to carry out a comparative analysis of the
influence of single and coupled parents‟ involvement in students‟ academic performance
in secondary schools in Marakwet West Sub County, Kenya. This study was guided by
the following objectives: to compare parental involvement in the academics of students
from coupled and single parent families, to compare academic performance of students of
single and couple parents, to find out the relationship between single parent involvement
and students‟ academic performance, to compare the academic performance of students
of involved and uninvolved coupled parents, to compare the academic performance of
students of involved and uninvolved single parents, to compare the effects of home
related factors on academic performance of students from coupled and single parent
families in secondary schools in Marakwet West, Sub-County. The study was anchored
on Epstein‟s theory of Parental Involvement. The study adopted an ex post facto research
design. The research population comprised of form three students in public secondary
schools in Marakwet West, Sub County. Stratified random sampling technique was used
to select the participants from boys only, girls only and co-educational schools. Purposive
sampling was used to select students from single parents. Data was collected using a self-
made questionnaire. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Means,
Standard Deviation, Independent sample t-test and Pearson‟s Correlation Product
Moment were used. This study revealed that there was a significant difference in parental
involvement in their children‟s academics between coupled and single parents (t = -2.662,
p < .05). There was a significant difference in academic performance in the children
between coupled and single parents (t = -2.069, p < .05). There was also significant
relationship between parental involvement and academic performance of students from
single parents (r = .43, p < .05). This study further revealed that there was a significant
difference in academic performance between students from involved and uninvolved
single parents (t = -14.379, p < .05), and coupled parents (t = -5.008, p < .05)
respectively. Finally, this study found no association between home related factors and
the academic performance of students from both coupled and single parents. This study
concluded that: coupled parents were more involved in their children‟s academics than
single parents; parental involvement boosted academic performance of students from
both single and coupled parents and home related factors had no effect on academic
performance for both students from coupled and single parents. This study highlights the
importance of single as well as coupled parental involvement on students‟ academic
performance. The study recommended that education officials, school administrators and
teachers to sensitize parents the importance of getting involved in their children‟s
education matters. Special attention should be given to students of single parents.