Family Structure May Influence Student Success
Are policymakers and school systems missing an important link between family structure and student outcomes? The Institute for Family Studies argues “yes.” Since 1969, the Department of Education has issued data on student outcomes under the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), now commonly referred to as The Nation’s Report Card,
What is the Nation’s Report Card?The Nation’s Report Card informs policymakers and school officials as they work to improve student outcomes. According to the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), NAEP reports data across several demographic categories:
Gender
Race and ethnicity
Socioeconomic status
Disability status
English learner status
Recent NAEP findings point to declining student outcomes. The percentage of 13-year-olds who read frequently for fun has declined by 13 percentage points over the past several years. In 2024, the proportion of 12th graders reading below basic proficiency exceeded the proportion performing at or above grade level by 10%. The only group to show improvement in both reading and mathematics in recent years was the lowest-performing nine-year-olds, whose average scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Considering Family Structure in Educational Outcomes
Few dispute that American education faces significant challenges. Yet approaches to identifying and addressing the causes of declining student outcomes have changed little. Researchers have extensively examined the effects of race and poverty on academic performance, informing policy changes that, according to IFS, have not produced the desired results. For example, under the Obama administration, the federal government issued guidance for curbing discipline at schools if such discipline would result in perceived racial disparities.
Ian Rowe, Brad Wilcox, and Grant Bailey of IFS argue that adding another demographic category to The Nation’s Report Card—family structure—could help policymakers identify more effective solutions.
NAEP has gathered data on family structure since 2013, but it does not include these findings in The Nation’s Report Card or other reports used to inform policy. Student questionnaires ask respondents which adults live in their homes, including their mother, stepmother, foster mother or other female legal guardian, father, stepfather, foster father or other male legal guardian. Yet NAEP has not publicly reported these findings year over year.
IFS argues that examining educational outcomes through the lens of family structure could reveal patterns obscured by racial categories alone. For example, the organization reports that 80% of Asian children and 69% of white children live with their married birth parents, compared with 52% of Latino children and 30% of black children. Although states have begun examining these relationships more closely, national research to inform policy remains limited.
In Virginia, one study found no racial disparity in student performance among students living with both biological or adoptive parents.
Worldview Roundup
IFS presents two reasons to include family structure in The Nation’s Report Card.
First, reporting on the relationship between family structure and student outcomes could help communities develop targeted solutions. If family structure is associated with student success, policymakers and schools could consider policies that support family stability and remove regulations that undermine family relationships or encourage dependence on other institutions.
For Christians, this issue also reflects a broader understanding of the family’s role in society. Scripture teaches that parents are central to their children’s upbringing and emphasizes the importance of healthy family relationships (Ephesians 5:22-6:4, Proverbs 31). Student outcomes offer one measure of how family circumstances influence children’s flourishing. As IFS argues, understanding that relationship could help inform policies that support families.
Second, IFS argues that making students aware of the relationship between family structure and academic outcomes could influence how they approach family life as adults. Rather than repeating ineffective approaches to educational challenges, policymakers could use this information to pursue more targeted solutions while helping students recognize the potential long-term benefits of stable family relationships.
