INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON MASTERY AND PERFORMANCE GOAL ORIENTATION AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MINNA METROPOLIS, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Parental involvement is a crucial factor in shaping students’ academic experiences and outcomes. However, there is a growing concern that many senior secondary school students in Nigeria lack adequate parental involvement in their academic pursuits, potentially hindering their academic goal orientation. This study therefore, sought to examine the influence of parental involvement on academic goal orientation among senior secondary school students in Minna Metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria. Two research questions were generated and two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The research employed a descriptive survey design with a sample of 375 students selected through multi-stage sampling from 41,815 students across 42 public secondary schools representation. Data were collected using the adapted items on Parental Involvement and Academic Goal Orientation Questionnaire (PIAGOQ), a validated instrument with reliability coefficient of 0.74 was used. The study examined two dimensions of goal orientation: mastery, and performance. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (Simple Linear Regression) at 0.05 significance level. The findings revealed that parental involvementsignificantly influenced all dimensions of academic goal orientation (performance and mastery). All the two null hypotheses were rejected, confirming statistically significant influences. The study concluded that parental involvement represented a powerful influence on students' academic goal orientation. The study recommended that parents should maintain active involvement in their adolescent children's Education, Schools should develop comprehensive parental involvement programs, educational policymakers should incorporate parental engagement into educational policies, and counselors should assess and address students' goal orientation patterns.