Fathering and School Achievement

Research on school attendance, achievement, and adjustment indicates that various aspects of family and household environments appear to influence educational outcomes of youths. Some characteristics identified include socioeconomic status (SES), parents' employment status and educational backgrounds, family structure, and the role of the father (DuBois, Eitel, & Felner, 1994; Dudley & Stone, 2001; Marsiglo et al., 2000; U.S. Department of Education, 2000). For example, several studies, even when controlling for SES, demonstrate a relationship between father absence and poor academic performance and dropping out of school (Cunningham & Dorsey, 2004; Dudley & Stone, 2001; Dunn, 2004; Dunn et al., 2004; Henley & Pasley, 2005; Lamb, 2004; Mangum, 1999; McLanahan, 1997; Steinberg, 2002; U.S. Department of Education, 2005). Father absence is associated with poor academic attainment and school dropout, perhaps more so than the effect of poverty alone, but poverty or socioeconomic status may have a significant influence on other problems such as delinquency (Battle & Coates, 2004; McLanahan, 1997; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). One important aspect of father absence is the payment or nonpayment of child support. The amount of child support is positively associated with children's school grades and less behavioral problems at school. Reading and math scores and years of school attainment are also positively associated with the amount of child support paid. These associations do not appear to differ by the gender or race of the child. Overviews of research in the 1990s confirmed "that nonresident fathers' child support payments are positively associated with children's educational success" (Marsiglio et al., 2000, p. 1182).

Among teens, nonresidential fathers are less likely than are married fathers to be the primary source for discussions about school and careers (Dudley & Stone, 2001). Teens also describe their dads as being more distant than their mothers. Daughters particularly often describe their fathers as uninvolved. Possibly, fathers more often show intimacy toward their teenage children through sharing an activity or helping out in some way, such as fixing something. That is, "doing" rather than verbally expressing their love and concern.

Given the relationship between school adjustment and aspects of the family environment, including fathers' support, it would appear that a better understanding of fathering and fathers' involvement with schools might provide better foundations for enhancing children's school adjustment and success. Bronfenbrenner (1986), for one, emphasized transactions between families and schools. Factors such as the quantity and quality of contact between parents and the child's school could be consequential for academic outcomes. Although we realize that promoting this idea can create more pressure and higher expectations for father involvement, we believe that fathers' involvement in the schools and schooling of their children is important and should be encouraged.