Adolescent Parenting: Relationship to School Attendance and Achievement

Abstract

School nurses often provide supportive services to pregnant and parenting teens. This study aims to describe the relationship between female secondary students’ attendance and achievement before and after childbirth. Among female students in the Minneapolis Public Schools who had a birth in 1994, there was a strong correlation between school achievement before and after the giving birth. Of those students not academically successful before the birth, over half were not successful afterward. Among those academically successful before the birth, 72% were successful after the birth. However, in the almost 40% with different academic success before, compared with after the birth, two thirds demonstrated greater academic success following the birth. Results show that attendance declines for adolescent female parents 1 year after a birth compared with 1 year before. Programs need to be examined to maximize each student’s potential and opportunities.