The Most Significant Minority: One-Parent Children in the Schools.

A study of children living with only one parent revealed that these children achieve less and present more discipline problems in both elementary and secondary schools than do their two-parent peers. The study, conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Institute for Development of Educational Activities, involved 26 schools in 14 states. Each school was surveyed twice, once during each semester of the 1979-1980 school year. The data indicated that students from single-parent families tended to qualify more often for subsidized lunch programs and changed residence more often than students from two-parent families. At all levels, single parent students were more often tardy, absent and truant than were other students. They were also more often involved in disciplinary actions and dropped out more often. Single-parent students at the secondary level tended to visit in-school health clinics more frequently than their two-parent peers, but fewer of them were absent from school during any given period. This report concludes with a brief discussion of ways schools can help single-parent students deal with their problems. Forms used to gather data for this study are included in an appendix. (Author/PGD)