Helping with homework may prevent dropouts

A study on parental involvement in homework in Form 1 at Junior Lyceums suggests that if more parents helped out there would be fewer students who underachieve or drop out of school.

The study was part of a dissertation presented last year by two university students, Carla Farrugia and Lucienne Vella, who are now qualified teachers. Their tutor was Prof. Ronald Sultana.

They interviewed 80 parents from four junior lyceums - two boys' schools and two girls' - to find out what kind of help these parents were giving their children when tackling their homework.

It was found that high achievers may do well even if they receive no parental help. "They actually do not need much help at all" and often don't take it even when it is offered, wrote Ms Farrugia and Ms Vella.

On the other hand, a link was found between homework help - or the lack of it - and students with lower levels of academic performance.

In the 'good or satisfactory' performance category, the number of students who had help were double those who didn't, leading Ms Farrugia and Ms Vella to infer that "home support may prove to be of very crucial importance, in the sense that without it a student may easily become not only an underachiever but even drop out..."

A similar picture presented itself with students who were slightly below average. "Quite possibly, these students may have a higher achievement if their parents involve themselves in their homework. Students in this category need more individual attention both at school and at home."

At the bottom end of the scale, the number of 'failures' who received no parental help was five times higher than those who did. "One perhaps may state that there are five to one chances of being a failure or dropout when a child comes from a family where parents do not help or cannot help because they are illiterate or semi-illiterate," say the authors.

Among other interesting findings of the study:

¤ About one-sixth of the parents interviewed admitted that neither they nor any other members of the family help their children to work out their homework. This may be because the children don't ask for it, are advanced enough not to need it, the mother's time is limited by work, the children are 'grown up' enough now, or parents are not educated enough to be able to help.

¤ Only a mere handful of parents knew of the help readily available through the internet. And of these few, some could not afford to purchase a computer although most schools are training their students to use one.

¤ Most interviewees (64 per cent) gave no help at all with reading, although perhaps helping with other types of homework. In some cases children did not like to read, so the parents didn't bother; in other cases the parents were illiterate or semi-literate. "At least, however, we found some cases of parents who, though they are illiterate, assist their children by sitting next to them and listening... serving as moral support and a reinforcement of a desirable educational skill."

¤ In general, parents believe that their children should spend about two hours only on their homework after school hours.

Ms Farrugia and Ms Vella note that in monitoring, supervising and aiding their children to tackle their homework successfully, parents are really complementing the teachers.

"But the parent's involvement means more than this. It also means commitment of time and effort. As the links between home and school, and conversely, between school and home become stronger, the collaboration and communication between both parties will definitely improve for the welfare of all concerned: the students, their parents, their teachers and... the whole of society itself."