Does It Start in the Home? an Analysis of the Effects of Family Structure on Academic Achievement

This study examines the influence family structure (two parent or single parent) has on academic achievement as measured through student test scores. In addition, an alternative model comprised of student role performance, school, and other family factors is used to examine various influences on academic achievement. This study employs a secondary data analysis of the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Two hypotheses from each model segment are presented to test the relationship of each segment to academic achievement. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses are used to determine the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable by family structure. Analysis reveals that although family factors, including family structure, contribute more toward test scores than school factors, it is student role performance factors that influence test score outcomes the most, when controlling for other factors. Student Role Performance factors account for 18.3% of the variance in test scores while Family factors, including family structure account for 6.8%.