Why is Johnny failing? it depends on who you ask

This study focuses on the problem of explaining the academic performance of children and on the differences that may arise when reports of academic performance come from the child versus the parent. Data for this study came from Waves I and 11 of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). Based on theory and prior research, it was predicted that the following factors would have a significant affect on the child's school performance: interparenal violence, parental drug or alcohol abuse, socioeconomic status of the family, personality traits of the child, level of parental support provided to the child, and gender of the child. Furthermore, it was predicted that the child's feelings toward school, as well as the level of family cohesiveness and stability as reported by the child would have significant effects on the child's school performance. Finally, the frequency with which the child skips or cuts school was expected to be significantly and negatively associated with academic performance. Because reports on academic performance at Wave II came from both the child and parent, differences in the significance of the aforementioned factors based on the respondent were investigated.

The children at the center of this study were in the first through fourth grades during Wave I and approximately five to six years further along in their education at the time of Wave II. Logistic regression was used to determine the effects of family and individual factors on the child's school performance at Wave II. Results indicate that many of the factors predicted to exert a significant affect on a child's school performance, such as interparental violence, socioeconomic status, and parental support, had no such effect. Other factors, such as the family environment appear to have moderately significant effects on both parental and child reports of academic performance. Factors which consistently had a significant effect on performance in school were the child's gender, the child's school performance at Wave I, and the frequency with which the child skipped or cut school. While the previously mentioned factors were significant regardless whether parent or child reported, antisocial personality traits of the child were significant only when the parent reported and the child's feelings about school were significant only when the child reported. This suggests that while parental reports of child outcomes can provide a great deal of information about the factors that may be affecting the child, it is equally as important to obtain information directly from the child when attempting to determine what and how certain factors affect their behavior and performance.