Family Structure, School Context, and Eighth-Grade Math and Reading Achievement

Schools include growing proportions of students from single-parent families and stepfamilies, and this trend prompts the investigation of whether these families affect all students' achievement. Analysis of eighth-grade math and reading achievement scores shows that schools that are predominated by students from single-parent families and stepfamilies negatively affect their students' achievement, even after individual demographic characteristics and family background are controlled. This negative effect of single-parent families and stepfamilies is partly explained by the relatively low socioeconomic status of children in these schools. However, the negative effect of single-parent families and stepfamilies on school achievement can be countervailed when social relations among parents are strong.