The Influence of Family Composition on Children’s Conformity to the Student Role

Abstract

This article examines how parent configuration (two-parent, mother-extended, or solo-mother) and number of siblings affect first graders’ conformity to the student role as measured by their absences, latenesses, and conduct marks. The article builds on earlier studies by examining the different living arrangements of single parents and by directly comparing compliance indicators for African-American and White children when socioeconomic status, parents’ expectations, mother’s age, and kindergarten attendance are taken into account for both. African-American children with more sibs are more often absent or late. Both White and African-American children with sibs get better marks in conduct at the beginning of first grade. Also, both White and African-American children from two-parent families improve their conduct over first grade more than do their counterparts from solo-mother homes. However, only African Americans from mother-extended homes, not White children from mother-extended homes, improve in conduct over the year. Since two-parent homes generally contain more sibs, sib effects in prior research may have inflated positive effects on schooling attributed to two-parent family arrangements.