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Using five waves of panel data from 8,008 children in the ECLS-K, the current study compared children's academic performance growth curves from kindergarten through fifth grade among three types of nondisrupted and three types of disrupted families. The analyses found that children in nondisrupted two-biological-parent and nondisrupted stepparent households consistently made greater progress in their math and reading performances over time than their peers in nondisrupted single-parent, disrupted two-biological-parent, and disrupted alternative families with multiple transitions. These trajectory differences were either partially or completely accounted for by family resources in the kindergarten year (Time 1). Overall, our findings provided strong support for the resource-deprivation perspective and partial support for the instability-stress perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using four waves of panel data from 6,954 American young adults in the National Education Longitudinal Study, we compare the long-term socioeconomic consequences of growing up in two types of divorced families. Our findings show that the negative socioeconomic consequences of growing up in unstable postdivorce families are at least twice as large as those of staying in a stabilized postdivorce family environment through late adolescence. The study also finds that variations in parental resources during late adolescence partially explain the divorce effects on most attainment indicators. Further, parental divorce appears to affect the socioeconomic attainment of male and female offspring alike. Overall, the study underlines the importance of including postdivorce family dynamics in studying the effect of parental divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using panel data from 9,252 adolescents in the National Education Longitudinal Study, this study finds that among children who experience parents’ marital disruption during late adolescence, European, Asian, and African American adolescents exhibit wider and greater maladjustment both before and after the disruption than their Hispanic American counterparts. This finding lends general support to the hypothesis of prevalence of disadvantages, although it is less consistent with the hypothesis of prevalence of divorce. Moreover, whereas Asian American adolescents in predisrupted families are more vulnerable to a shortage of family social resources, their African American peers are affected more by a shortage of financial/human resources. Finally, postdisruption effects on non-Hispanic American adolescents are either completely or partially attributable to predisruption factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of a large, nationally representative sample of 19,071 American middle-school students, the current study compares adolescents living with neither biological parent with their peers in five other family structures on a wide range of outcome measures. The results reveal some overall disadvantages of living with neither parent, although the disadvantages relative to nontraditional families are limited. Differences in family resources either partially or completely account for outcome differences between non-biologicalparent and other family structures. Further, boys and girls in non-biological-parent families appear to fare similarly. Finally, measurement problems and their implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships between the statewide implementation of comprehensive guidance programs and the school experiences of high school students were explored. Data from 22,964 students attending 236 Missouri high schools were analyzed by using hierarchical linear modeling. Schools with more fully implemented model guidance programs had students who were more likely to report that (a) they had earned higher grades, (b) their education was better preparing them for their future, (c) their school made more career and college information available to them, and (d) their school had a more positive climate. Positive program effects were round after removing differences due to school enrollment size, socioeconomic status, and percentage of minority students in attendance. Results highlight the important roles school counselors play in promoting the central educational goals of their schools and support a comprehensive guidance program focus for university counseling faculty who train school counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]