A study of home background factors related to school achievement of fifth grade boys from single parent and two parent homes

Census data reflected a dramatic Increase in the number of single parent households created by divorce or separation. The phenomenal increase in numbers of children from single parent homes, predicted to reach 50% of all children born during the late 1970's, spawned a decade of research on the effects of the single parent family structure on a child's school achievement. Findings suggested that family environments differed between single parent and intact homes; however, more information was needed regarding family process and school achievement, particularly family process in the single parent home. This study examined the milieu of the single parent home to determine whether it differed markedly from a two-parent home, and examined the ways in which the home environments differed on three variables related to academic achievement: parental aspirations, independence training, and adult-child interactions. Differences in attendance, stress, position In family, size of family, and family mobility also were examined. [...]