The traditional family has been replaced predominantly by stepfamilies, binuclear families, and extended families often headed by grandparents. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine if there was a relationship between single-parent households versus two-parent households on student success as measured by Grade Point Average (GPA), attendance, achievement, and suspensions. The essential research questions were the following: (1) Do students from two-parent households receive better grades in school compared to students from single-parent households? (2) Do students from two-parent households attend school with more frequency than children from single-parent households? (3) Are students from single-parent households suspended more frequently from school than students from two-parent households?

The research hypothesis stated that academic success for students who live in two-parent households will be greater than students who primarily live in single-parent households, while the number of absences and suspensions will be lower. A quantitative research methodology was used to analyze student data. The independent variable of this research study was the type of families involved: single-parent and two-parent families. The dependent variable was the academic success of the students from both single-parent and two-parent households as measured by student academic success, attendance, and suspensions.

The results found that there was not a statistically significant difference between the GPA scores of students who lived in single-parent households compared to scores of students who lived in two-parent households, while the test on absences found that there was a relationship between the number of times a student was absent and the type of household in which the student lived. The highest number of absences was found in the single-parent households. In addition, the results of the study found that the highest number of tardies was found in the single-parent households. Last, the study found that there was not a relationship between the number of times a student was suspended and the type of household in which the student lived.