Parental Economic Status Effects on Students’ Academic Achievement at the Secondary Level: An Experimental Study

Parental economic status has comprehensive effects on the overall development of their children and is a lifeline for their academic achievement. The researcher examined the parental economic status on students' academic achievement at the secondary level. The research design applied was experimental and quantitative. From the province of Punjab, 500 secondary-level students from the 10th class were selected as the population, while 68 students were drawn as a sample. The experimental, comparison, and control groups were formed through the flipping of the coin to finalize which group would be the experimental, comparison, and control group. A simple random sampling technique was applied, and pre-and post-standardized achievement tests were based on mixed items for each lesson developed by the researcher for data collection. Thirteen lesson plans were developed by the researcher from the English textbook of the 10th class to teach the students, and they were divided into four portions to meet the course timetable. Only the experimental group was taught, and the researcher performed all the activities for 13 weeks to conduct the experiment and prepare learning activities in depth, while the comparison and control groups were taught earlier by the class teacher. The student's academic performance progress was checked, and feedback was provided. Pre and post-standardized achievement tests were conducted, collected, and evaluated under the supervision of the researcher. The inferential statistics, i.e., One-Way ANOVA, was applied to analyze the significant differences among the students' academic achievements regarding the thirteen lessons taught. Statistically significant differences were found in 12 lessons out of 13 in students' academic achievements. Therefore, it is recommended that parents be involved in school activities, that regular information be forwarded to them, and that equal resources be allocated for all students with innovative economic backgrounds.