HOME ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INFLUENCE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OWERRI ZONE II, IMO STATE, NIGERIA

The basic goal of this research was to determine some home environmental factors influencing the academic performance of secondary school students in Owerri Zone II, Imo State, Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted and two research questions guided the study. The population for the study comprises 1030 respondents made up of all the 64 principals and 966 teachers in the 32 public secondary schools in Owerri Zone II, Imo state. A sample of 206 respondents was selected randomly and this represents 20% of the respondents’ population. The sample consists of 32 principals and 174 teachers in the study area. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire designed by the researchers. Face and content validity of the instrument was obtained after the appraisal and input made by two experts; One in Measurement and Evaluation, and another in Educational Management and Policy, Faculty of Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. Corrections were made based on their observations before the instrument was approved for use. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.89 using Charles spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (Spearman's ρ). The analysis of the data revealed that some families lack modern mechanical or electronic devices, educational materials and supervision at home to enhance a student's academic performance. More so, some parents are unwilling to be involved in the academic performance of their children due to their socio- economic status. Recommendations such as giving proper orientation to the parents no matter their educational development and background, should devout time with their children and check their children’s academic work, direct them where necessary, discuss the academic problems of their children with their teachers or school guidance, counselors so as to detect the students problem early enough and tackle it before it affects the students.