Abstract: This study assessed the effects of the home environmental factors on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools in Dodoma city, in the Dodoma region – Tanzania. The study was qualitative in nature whereby data were collected through interviews and observations. The findings indicated that, excessive household chores such as cooking, collecting firewood, fetching water and taking care of siblings, to mention just a few, had significant negative impact on students’ achievement at school. These home activities hindered students to study at home as they lacked ample time to concentrate on their studies, which led to poor attendance and performance at school. The study also revealed that sometimes students failed to concentrate during class due to tiredness. Additionally, the study revealed that poor family income, low level of parents’ education, parents’ conflicts and divorce, poor supervision at home, and long distance from home to school negatively affected students’ academic achievement. The study recommends that parents need to be educated on how they can create a supportive home environment for the academic success of their children. The study also recommends the need of strengthening parent-school cooperation, supervising and motivating children at home when they perform better in their studies.

Abstract: This descriptive-correlational study examined the level of parental involvement in type 1-6 of Epstein typologies and the level of parents’ education knowledge base in curriculum content extracted from the mandated national curriculum guide in Kenya and whether the parental involvement practices predicted the parents’ education knowledge base in curriculum content using data collected from selected Seventh – day Adventist primary schools in Central Kenya Conference. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 291 parents. Results showed that the level of parental involvement among the parents was average and parents were somehow knowledgeable in curriculum content. Additionally, there was a positive linear effect between the predictor variables and the level of parents’ education knowledge base in curriculum content in different grade groups. Learning at home typology was identified as the best predictor variable in most subjects followed by communications typology. On contrary, volunteering typology was not a significant predictor of any subject. It was recommended that schools, parents and community to work collaboratively to enhance effective partnership and empowered parent-teacher community for the success of the students.

Abstract: This descriptive-correlational study examined the level of parental involvement in type 1-6 of Epstein typologies and the level of parents’ education knowledge base in curriculum content extracted from the mandated national curriculum guide in Kenya and whether the parental involvement practices predicted the parents’ education knowledge base in curriculum content using data collected from selected Seventh – day Adventist primary schools in Central Kenya Conference. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 291 parents. The findings suggested that parents were somehow knowledgeable in curriculum content. It was recommended that schools, parents and community should work collaboratively to enhance effective partnership and empowered parent-teacher community for the success of the students.

Abstract: The study analyzed the views of children on the partnership roles played by their parents that best promote their retention in primary schools in Busoga Region, Uganda. A total of 71 respondents who were in and out of school were involved in the study. Data was collected using focus group discussion and in-depth individual interview. Validity and reliability were confirmed through Factor Analysis and Cronbach Alpha test. Descriptive analysis involved the use of means and frequencies, while thematic content analysis was used for the qualitative data. The results revealed that attending meetings, talking to teachers, paying fees, and contributing to development of the school are the best partnership roles that were played by parents to promote retention in primary schools. In conclusion, partnership roles were an important element that influenced the retention of the children in primary schools. It was recommended that head teachers and administrators of districts should put emphasis on sensitizing the parents on their partnership roles which included attending meetings, talking to teachers, paying fees and contributing to development of the school to promote retention of children.

Baraka Manjale Ngussa – Lecturer of Curriculum and Teaching, School of Education University of Arusha, Tanzania. ngussathe5th@gmail.com

ABSTRACT While a Cell phone seems to be a confrontational tools between parents and the youths, it possesses potential opportunities in the social and academic aspects. Using case study approach, this work investigated Cell Phone Use by 187 sampled youths in Eastern Kenya. Validity of the questionnaire was ensured through expert judgment and reliability test yielding cronbach’s alpha of .764 for parental support, .845 for academic use, .733 for socialization and .788 for political happenings. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. The order of priority in the use of cell phones was academics, socialization and political happenings. The study yielded no significant difference in the use of cell phones for academics by the youths categorized according to their gender. The higher the age, the higher the mean score for the use of cell phones for academic purposes. Parental support correlates with the use of cell phones for academics, socialization, and political happenings. It is recommended that the youths, regardless of their gender and age differences be encouraged by teachers and enabled by parents to possess cell phones since the tools are useful for academics, socialization and political updates. Parents need to increase their support in order to enhance the use of cell phones for aforementioned purposes.