Characteristics of learners and parents as predictors of high school pass rates

[摘要] English: Academic achievement is an important and often troublesome aspect for many learners.The importance hereof can be seen in the fact that this achievement will affect the futureof learners, as their opportunities for higher education and employment will depend onthe results that they obtain in their final grade 12 examination. Achieving wellacademically is however not always a simple, straightforward task, as there are manyfactors present that can help or hinder learners in performing at their full potential.Cognitive factors can influence the level of academic achievement attained. Biographicalfactors have also been found to contribute to scholastic performance. These factorsinclude aspects such as the gender, age and birth position of the learner, as well asparental age and marital status. Furthermore, social and emotional considerations(internal factors) also influence the learner's level of achievement. Aspects such as theinteraction between learners and their parents, as well as between peers, and therelationships formed with teachers are included in this respect.The final research sample used comprised 156 black learners and 147 parents from fivesecondary schools in the greater Bloemfontein area. The schools were selected on thebasis of the grade 12 pass rates obtained over the past two years. The grade 12 learners inthe respective schools formed the two groups based on pass rate, namely those with ahigh pass rate and those with a low pass rate. These groups were then compared withrespect to the biographical and internal factors related to the learners and their parents.The data collected was then subjected to a logistic regression analysis, in order todetermine which of the above-mentioned factors could significantly predict the groupmembership of a learner.A number of factors were found to significantly contribute to the prediction of pass rate.Younger learners were found to be more likely to belong to the group of learners with ahigh pass rate, while learners who intended to study further, as well as those whoseparents were married, were more likely to belong to the group of learners with low passrates. In addition to these biographical factors, certain internal factors were also found tobe significant. A poor degree of communication between learners and their parents, aswell as negative interaction between teachers and learners, was found to positivelyinfluence the academic achievement of learners. Learners, whose parents had a negativeperception of the school climate, were more likely to belong to the group of learners witha low pass rate.

[发布机构] University of the Free State