- In the absence of all other school variables, schools with greater concentrations of children from single-parent families demonstrated lower levels of overall school achievement.
- A large part of the school-level effect of single parenthood is due to the economic and minority status of student body.
- Students who attend schools with a greater concentration of children from single-parent families tend to be of minority and lower SES backgrounds.
- Parents’ acquaintances could compensate for the detriment of being in a school with a high concentration of children from single-parent families.
- Once other family background factors are controlled, however, there is no evidence that living in single-mother families negatively affects children’s achievement.
- Together both the schools’ economic status and social capital completely explained the differences in mathematics or reading achievement between schools with low concentration of students from single-parent families and schools with medium concentrations.
- Study showed that a school-level measure of parental school participation has a positive effect on students’ achievement. However, did not find effects of individual parents’ school participation on 10th-grade achievement.
- It is critical for single parents to maintain contact with other parents who participate in school.