CORRELATION OF HOME AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF CHILDREN WITH MILD INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY (MID) IN OGUN STATES, NIGERIA.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The home and school environments play pivotal roles in shaping the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of children, particularly those with Mild Intellectual Disabilities (MID). This study, examined the correlation of home and school environments on academic performance of children with MID in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 179 (54 teachers and 125 parents of children with MID), The stages involved purposively selecting six special schools, randomly choosing teachers of MID children, and proportionately including teachers and parents of children with MID in each special school selected (Primary School) . Two different structured questionnaires were used to gather data on socio-demographic characteristics, conducive home environment, school environmental factors, perceived academic performance, perceived effects of home and school environments and constraints affecting the academic performance of children with MID academic performance. Data analysis included frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation (PPMC), Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), and Chi-square statistics. Result revealed teachers (53.7%) and parents (59.1%) were aged 36-50 years, majority (74.1%) and (70.5%) of teachers and parents were respectively female, while (55.4% of teachers, 54.4% of parents) were Christians. Majority (85.2%) of the teachers had tertiary education, while 39.6% of parents had secondary education. Moreover, 63.0% of teachers were class teachers, and 74.1% had 6-15 years of experience teaching MID children and (53.7%) indicted that schools were mostly in urban areas. Overall, (83.3%) of respondents perceived the school environment as highly conducive, citing adequate resources, safety, and security. Similarly, (74.5%) reported the home environment as highly conducive, noting access to education and emotional support. The academic performance using Mathematics and English, majority of teachers (68.5%) and (50.3%) of the parents perceived MID children aged 7-14 years as high performers in mathematics, counting and drawing simple shapes accurately. Health issues emerged as the primary perceived constraint affecting academic performance, identified by both teachers (x ̅=2.52) and parents (x ̅=2.97). Chi-square found significant associations (p<0.01) were found between various demographic factors such as teachers’ educational level (χ2 = 18.09, df=8), teaching experience (χ2 = 11.46, df=2), parents’ ethnicity (χ2 = 14.63, df=2), parents’ educational level (χ2 = 18.27, df=4), religion (χ2 = 11.79, df=2), and geographical location (χ2 = 12.97, df=2), and perceived academic performance. PPMC revealed significant (p<0.05) between teachers’ age (r=0.48), years of teaching experience (r=0.38), number of MID students in the classroom (r=0.32), parents’ number of children in the family (r=0.27). PPMC also revealed significant (p<0.05) relationships between the school (r=0.38), home environment (r=0.24) and perceived academic performance of children with MID. OLX result revealed that parents perceived health conditions (β = -0.16), transportation issues (β = -0.30), noise (β = -0.19), lack of extra-curricular activities (β = -0.20), and family stress (β = -0.22) are significant constraints affecting academic performance of children with MID. In conclusion, both school and home environment significantly influence the academic performance of children with MID. Thus, it is crucial for schools and parents to prioritize creating highly conducive environment for these children.