Longitudinal Analysis of Academic Achievement Amonga Nationwide Sample of Hispanic Students in One-Versus Dual-Parent Households

Abstract

Previous researchers have found that, on average, students in single-parent households do not perform as well in school as their counterparts in dual-parent households. Another frequent finding is that the higher a student’s socioeconomic status, the higher her or his educational achievement. However, there has been little attention paid to how family configuration and socioeconomic status interact to affect educational achievement of Hispanic students. Using a nationally representative sample, this research found that for 12 th grade outcomes, in the presence of socioeconomic status, family configuration is not statistically significant. Furthermore, results for two years after high school showed, among other things, that socioeconomic status is much more important in predicting outcomes than is family configuration. The article ends with a discussion of policy implications.