The Importance of ELA Instruction: How are the ELA Scores of Children Aged 7-9 Affected by the Number of Adult Caregivers Present in the Home?
Abstract
One of the factors that can affect academic success at a young age is family structure; research shows that children in two-parent homes, particularly ones where both parents are the child’s biological parents and are married, have greater academic success. However, there is a gap in research about the effects of the specific number of student caregivers on their academic performance, as well as little research regarding any one subject. Due to these gaps, the study investigates the relationship between a student’s English Language Arts (ELA) scores and the number of adult caregivers in the home. The study focuses on English Language Arts (ELA) instruction because of its cruciality to students’ success throughout their lives. This study will use a correlational/regression analysis to analyze the relationship between the two variables: ELA scores and number of caregivers. The children studied will be aged 7-9, reside in Tennessee, and grouped by the number of caregivers in their home for analysis. Two surveys will be sent to multiple schools in the state of Tennessee: one for parents and one for teachers. As they are a vulnerable population, students will not be asked directly for information. All collected data will be quantitative; parents will provide information about their child’s caregiver(s) and teachers will provide the child’s ELA scores. The expected results of this study are a positive correlation between the number of adult caregivers in the home and ELA scores of each child. Based on the prior research showing the positive effects of a two-parent household, the researcher hypothesizes that increased caregivers will have similar effects on a child. If the results of the study differ from this hypothesis, that may indicate that family structure and dynamic have a stronger effect on students’ academic performances than simply the number of caregivers in their home.
Start Time
16-4-2025 9:00 AM
End Time
16-4-2025 10:00 AM
Room Number
272
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Presentation Subtype
Research-in-Progress
Presentation Category
Education
Faculty Mentor
Laura Roberston
The Importance of ELA Instruction: How are the ELA Scores of Children Aged 7-9 Affected by the Number of Adult Caregivers Present in the Home?
272
One of the factors that can affect academic success at a young age is family structure; research shows that children in two-parent homes, particularly ones where both parents are the child’s biological parents and are married, have greater academic success. However, there is a gap in research about the effects of the specific number of student caregivers on their academic performance, as well as little research regarding any one subject. Due to these gaps, the study investigates the relationship between a student’s English Language Arts (ELA) scores and the number of adult caregivers in the home. The study focuses on English Language Arts (ELA) instruction because of its cruciality to students’ success throughout their lives. This study will use a correlational/regression analysis to analyze the relationship between the two variables: ELA scores and number of caregivers. The children studied will be aged 7-9, reside in Tennessee, and grouped by the number of caregivers in their home for analysis. Two surveys will be sent to multiple schools in the state of Tennessee: one for parents and one for teachers. As they are a vulnerable population, students will not be asked directly for information. All collected data will be quantitative; parents will provide information about their child’s caregiver(s) and teachers will provide the child’s ELA scores. The expected results of this study are a positive correlation between the number of adult caregivers in the home and ELA scores of each child. Based on the prior research showing the positive effects of a two-parent household, the researcher hypothesizes that increased caregivers will have similar effects on a child. If the results of the study differ from this hypothesis, that may indicate that family structure and dynamic have a stronger effect on students’ academic performances than simply the number of caregivers in their home.