The Absence of a Father in the Home as a Predictor for Students Receiving Long-Term Suspensions and Students Failing to Complete High School

Fuimaono, Wendell Iakopo

The Absence of a Father in the Home as a Predictor for Students Receiving Long-Term Suspensions and Students Failing to Complete High School

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Children growing up in a home with no father have become increasingly more common in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Consequences of absentee fathers include; increased chances of poverty and negative impacts on social, emotional, behavioral and educational outcomes. This study investigated whether a relationship exists between absent fathers and students who dropped out of high school and students who engaged in behavior resulting in longterm out-of-school suspension. The researcher collected graduation and discipline data from five different school districts over a five year period, including demographic information to consider gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status as factors. The researcher used correlations to determine if a relationship exists between father status and students who drop out of school. The researcher used correlations as well as regression analysis to analyze whether a relationship exists between father status and students who received long-term suspensions and whether father status can be identified as a predictor for students who received long-term out-of-school suspensions. The study found there to be a relationship between father status and students suspended long-term and identified father status as a predictor of students suspended out-of-school. However, the data did not find a statistically significant correlation between absent fathers and dropouts. The results of the study align with Sobolewski’s research (2007) which has indicated children have the highest level of health, security, education, and contentment when raised in a low-conflict household in which the parents are married.

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