Measures of variability

The study covered children-at-risk in primary one, their teachers and parents in public primary schools in Plateau and Nasarawa States in North-Central Nigeria.

The public primary schools were involved in the study because they were thought to have more of the children-at-risk who may not have attended pre-primary/nursery school than the private schools. Primary one pupils, between ages 5- 6+ who just entered the formal school system were involved in the study because of the possibility of their having more adjustment problems in school than those who already had pre-primary school experience. Topics such as whole numbers, addition and subtraction of numbers not greater than 10 from the Primary 1Mathematics Curriculum as well as tracing and copying some letters of the alphabet from the English Language Studies Curriculum for Primary one were covered in the achievement test.

1.5 Significance of the Study

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This study is considered significant as it would offer information on some family, community and school variables that positively stimulate and enhance proper school adjustment and achievement of children-at-risk. Parents would become aware of how their relationships and involvement at home could either help or mare early school adjustment and academic achievement of their children-at-risk. The study would also offer clues to primary school teachers and administrators on how to detect and effectively support children at the risk of maladjustment to school and low academic achievement. Furthermore, the teachers would be enabled to treat such children with some care and also try to teach the children resilience. This could help primary school teachers to de-emphasis punishments in order to change the behaviours of children. Parents and teachers could thus become aware of the need to harmonize their resources for their children‟s learning and social development. This could help to reduce the stress children-at-risk experience when they come to school and thus enhance their adjustment and academic achievement.

It is hoped that the findings of this study would assist the various communities to realize the importance and impact of proper planning and making adequate provision for certain facilities for the young ones. In addition, the findings could positively influence the attitudes of Nigerians towards the provision of social amenities for the benefit of the children and the general public. Moreover the findings of this study could encourage the government to provide a child-friendly school environment that would not only enhance the early school adjustment but also the all round development of children in general and children-at-risk in particular.

1.6 Operational Definition of Terms

Family Factors: These are some variables which characterize the child‟s home. They include: family structure, parents‟ educational qualification and home learning environment, which could affect children‟s early school adjustment and achievement.

Family Structure: This is the composition of a family involving father, mother and the children and relations or involving only one parent and the children.

Community Factors: These include location (rural or urban), social facilities and services such as playgrounds, healthcare centers and town halls which are critical to early adjustment to school and achievement of primary one pupils.

School Factors: These include, school location, class size, teacher‟s qualification and school physical environment and availability of play facilities.

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Children-at-risk: These are vulnerable children who are at the risk of not being able to fulfill or realize their full potentials and become useful members of the society due to the loss of their parents, parents‟ poverty or poor housing. They also include the children internally displaced by socio-political and ethno-religious crises. They therefore start school without the social skills needed to learn. They are consequently vulnerable to difficulties in school, class repetition or drop out.

School Adjustment: This involves the acquisition and retention of certain social, emotional and academic skills by primary one pupils which are critical to their establishing meaningful social ties with peers, teachers, and thereby settling happily in the school system and progress successfully in their academics.

Community resources: These include the local market square, town hall, churches and mosques, social amenities such as source of portable water, recreation centres and health care centres that influence early social, emotional and cognitive development of children.

Rural community: This is an area which possibly has no basic amenities like portable water, health care centre and school.

Urban community: This is an area which has some basic amenities like source of portable water, health care centres, schools, commercial banks, parks, playgrounds, markets and places of worship.

Academic Achievement: This refers to performance of children at risk measured by Mathematics and English Language achievement tests in the study.

Poor Housing: This refers to the new shelters of families that are internally displaced. They include make-shift tents of animal skins, corn stalks, grasses, and sack which often compromise the health and general well-being of the children. These may not meet the physiological needs of the children.

School Location: This refers to where a public primary school is sited in an urban or rural community.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

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This chapter reviewed previous works that are relevant to the study in the following areas:

2.1 Theoretical Framework 2.1.1 Ecological Systems Theory.

2.1.2 Psychosocial Theory of Development

2.2 The Importance of Early Childhood / Primary Education 2.3 The Children-at-Risk.