RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENT LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN BIOLOGY IN GWALE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KANO STATE.

ABSTRACT Knowledge of Biology is important, not only for understanding our lives, but also for pursuing further studies in related disciplines like medicine and agriculture. Performance in the subject in Nigerian public secondary schools has been low over the years and this has prompted studies into some of the predicting factors for this biology performance. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between parents’ level of education and students’ performance in biology in Gwale local government area of Kano state. The Family Investment Model (FIM) by Conger and Donnellan (2007) and the Parent-Child Educational Attainment Transmission Model by Eccles and Roeser (2011) were used to inform the study. Descriptive and correlational designs were used where a sample of 378 participants were selected from a population of 22,340 students. Data was collected from students using the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) tool. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used. Descriptive statistics of frequencies, mean and standard deviation were used and inferential statistics of Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Parents’ education level was found to be significantly correlated with students’ performance in biology. The study recommends among the followings; Parental involvement and awareness programs should be organized to educate parents, especially those with lower educational backgrounds, on the importance of supporting their children's education. Further studies on other socio-economic factors that may influence students' performance in Biology and other subjects in Gwale are encouraged. Keywords: Parents Level of Education, Biology Subject, Academic Performance.