A study of the relationship between student achievement and home socialization

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student achievement and home socialization. Specifically, it explored the influence of cognitive and academic home socialization variables on the achievement of seventh- and twelfth-grade students. It further explored the influence of cognitive and academic subvariables on student achievement. The cognitive home socialization subvariables were stimulating literacy environment and joint learning activities. The academic home socialization subvariables were expectations and attitudes and values and behaviors.;The population consisted of parents of seventh- and twelfth-grade students from a small, rural, predominantly African-American school division in Central Virginia. One hundred twenty-five parents were surveyed using a modified version of the Henderson Environmental Learning Process Scale (HELPS) developed by Ronald Henderson in 1972. The data were correlated with the Virginia SOL English: Reading/Literature-Research (RLR) test data and the Stanford Achievement Tests, Ninth Edition (SAT 9) Partial/Basic Battery tests data.;The study addressed the following research questions: (1) Does the cognitive home socialization of children relate to student achievement? (2) Does the academic home socialization of children relate to student achievement? (3) to what degree do cognitive home socialization and academic home socialization combine to predict student achievement?;No clear and unequivocal relationship was found between home socialization and student achievement. Twelfth-grade students\u27 home socialization showed a significant level of influence with the SAT 9 achievement measure. Significant relationships were demonstrated between SAT 9 achievement and the subvariables of stimulating literacy environment and values and behaviors.;Implications for practice would be to ensure that teachers tailor instruction to meet students\u27 needs, especially, as it relates to the teaching of Virginia Standards of Learning objectives. Additionally, the schools should develop a parent-school connection that provides parents with strategies that enable them to assist their children at home with schoolwork, especially schoolwork centered around standards incorporated into the curriculum. This parent-school connection should also emphasize to parents the importance of their involvement in the education process in determining the future academic and career success of their children