The Impact of Female-Headed Single Parent Families on Academic Achievement

The authors used path analysis and a series of least square regression to determine the direct effect of family configurations on student academic achievement. Contrary to previous reports (Brown, 1980; Boyd & Parish, 1985; Kaye, 1989) father absence did not attenuate academic progress of students involved in the study. Results indicated a negligible effect of family configurations on academic achievement (Beta = -.0039). Rather, factors such as ability (Beta = .4720), educational aspirations (Beta =.2768) and race of the student (Beta = .1605) have been illustrated within this model as having the greatest direct effects on academic achievement of adolescents living within female-headed single parent families.