NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

ISSUE

BRIEF

Nonresident Fathers Can Make a

Difference in Children’s School Performance

June 1998

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 98C117

ecause of the high rates of non-marital childbearing,

separation, and divorce in the United States, as many as

half of U.S. children will spend part of their childhood

living apart from at least one of their parents, usually their

fathers (Zill, 1996; Furstenberg and Cherlin, 1991). Research

on the salience of nonresident fathers to children’s lives

consistently finds that their payment of child support is

important to children’s well-being. Such research, however, is

more mixed about the benefits of their continued contact and

involvement for children (Kelly, 1993; Furstenberg and

Cherlin, 1991).

This issue brief looks at the involvement of nonresident fathers

in one important area of children’s livesCtheir schools. Using

data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey

(NHES:96), sponsored by the National Center for Education

Statistics (NCES), it examines the extent to which nonresident

fathers are involved in their kindergartners’ through 12th

graders’ schools and whether their involvement is linked to

children’s school performance.

The NHES:96 asked about four types of school activities that

parents could participate in during the school year: attending a

general school meeting, attending a regularly scheduled

parent-teacher conference, attending a school or class event,

and serving as a volunteer at the school. Resident parents

reported on whether nonresident parents who had had contact

with their children in the past year had participated in these

activities. Nonresident fathers are said to have no involvement

in their children’s schools if they have participated in none of

the activities during the current school year. They are said to

have low involvement if they have participated in only one of

the four activities. They are categorized as having moderate

involvement if they have done two of the activities. Those

who have participated in three or four of the activities are said

to be highly involved in their children’s schools.1

 

1

 Not all schools offer parents the opportunity to be involved in each of these

activities. Low involvement can result because parents do not take

advantage of available opportunities for involvement or because schools do

not offer them opportunities for involvement.

Most nonresident fathers are not very involved in their

children’s schools.

ixty-nine percent of children in kindergarten through 12th

grade who have seen their nonresident fathers in the past

year have fathers who participated in none of the four

school activities (figure 1). An additional 13 percent of

children have nonresident fathers who participated in only one

activity. However, eighteen percent of children have

nonresident fathers who participated in at least two of the

school activities and 9 percent have nonresident fathers who

participated in three or four of the activities.

Figure 1.–Level of involvement1 in school of nonresident fathers who have

seen their children within the last year2: Students in grades K–

12, 1996

1

 Low involvement is participation in one activity; moderate involvement is

participation in two activities; and high involvement is participation in three

or four activities.

2

 Questions on nonresident parents' involvement were only asked if children

had seen their nonresident fathers in the last year. According to the reports

of custodial parents, 75 percent of nonresident fathers had had contact with

their children in the last year.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics, 1996 National Household Education Survey.

Children are less likely to have ever repeated a grade or

been suspended or expelled if their nonresident fathers are

involved in their schools.

hildren in kindergarten through 12th grade are about onethird as likely to have ever repeated a grade if their

nonresident fathers are highly involved in their schools (7

percent) than if their nonresident fathers are not involved in

their schools (19 percent) (figure 2). Similarly, 6th through

12th graders are half as likely to have ever been suspended or

expelled if their nonresident fathers are highly involved in

their schools (14 percent) than if their nonresident fathers are

not involved (30 percent). Even after controlling for such

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NCES 98-117

factors as the child's race-ethnicity and sex, the resident

mother/guardian's education, household income, family type

(stepparent, mother only, or neither parent in household), and

whether the nonresident father paid any child support, children

are less likely to have ever repeated a grade or been suspended

or expelled if their nonresident fathers are involved in their

schools (U.S. Department of Education,1997).

Figure 2.– Student outcomes, by nonresident fathers’ involvement in

school: students in grades K-12, 1996

28

34

72 73

19

30

35

45

87

92

7

14

0

20

40

60

80

100

Child participates in

 extracurricular activities

Percent

None High

Gets mostly 

A's1

Enjoys 

school1

K-5th 

grade

6th-12th 

grade2

Ever 

repeated 

a grade

Ever 

suspended/

expelled3

Nonresident Father's 

Involvement in School

1Children in 1st through 12th grade.

2Youth report.

3Children in 6th through 12th grade.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics, 1996 National Household Education Survey.

Children are more likely to get A’s in school, to enjoy

school, and to participate in extracurricular activities if

their nonresident fathers are involved in their schools.

oughly a third of students get mostly A’s if their fathers

are highly involved in their schools (35 percent)

compared to just over one-quarter if their nonresident fathers

are not involved (28 percent) (figure 2). Children also enjoy

school more and are more likely to participate in

extracurricular activities if their nonresident fathers are highly

involved in their schools compared to if they are not involved.

Forty-five percent of children whose nonresident fathers are

highly involved in their schools are said to enjoy school

compared to 34 percent whose nonresident fathers are

involved. Similarly, 87 percent of kindergarten through 5th

graders and 92 percent of 6th through 12th graders whose

nonresident fathers are involved in their schools participate in

extracurricular activities compared to 72 percent of

kindergarten through 5th graders and 73 percent of 6th through

12th graders whose nonresident fathers are not involved in their

schools. Even after controlling for the child's race-ethnicity

and sex, the resident mother/guardian's education, household

income, family type, and whether the nonresident father paid

any child support, children are more likely to get mostly A’s,

to enjoy school, and to participate in extracurricular activities

if their nonresident fathers are involved in their schools than if

they are not (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

Discussion

onresident fathers’ participation in school activities

makes a difference in their children’s school

performance. Inconsistencies about the benefits of

nonresident fathers’ continued involvement with their children

in extant studies may be due in large part to the fact that

contact is often used to measure involvement. These results

show that it is not contact, per se, that is associated with

improved student outcomes, but rather active participation in

children’s lives through involvement in their schools that

makes a difference. The majority of nonresident fathers,

however, are not involved in their children’s schools.

References and Related Publications

Furstenberg, F.F. and Cherlin, A. (1991). Divided Families: What Happens to

Children When Parents Part. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press.

Furstenberg, F.F., Nord, C.W., Peterson, J.L., and Zill, N. (1983). The Life

Course of Children of Divorce. American Sociological Review, 48(5):

656-668.

Kelly, J.B. (1993). Current Research on Children's Postdivorce Adjustment:

No Simple Answers. Family and Conciliation Courts Review 31(1): 29-

49.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

(1997). Fathers' Involvement in their Children's Schools. NCES 98-

091, by Christine Winquist Nord, DeeAnn Brimhall, and Jerry West.

Washington, DC.

Zill, N. (1996). Family Change and Student Achievement: What We Have

Learned, What It Means for Schools. In A. Booth and J.F. Dunn, eds.

Family-School Links: How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes?

Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 139-174.

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Issue Briefs present information on education topics of current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling

variability. All differences discussed are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys,

efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other

systematic error. For additional details on NHES:96 data collection methods and definitions, see U.S. Department of Education, National Center

for Education Statistics. (1997.) National Household Education Survey of 1996: Data File User's Manual, Vol. 1, NCES 97-425, by Mary A.

Collins et al. Washington, DC.

This Issue Brief was prepared by Christine Winquist Nord of Westat. To obtain standard errors or definitions of terms for this Issue Brief, or to

obtain additional information about the National Household Education Survey, contact Jerry West (202) 219-1574. To order additional copies

of this Issue Brief or other NCES publications, call 1-800-424-1616. NCES publications are available on the Internet at http://nces.ed.gov.