The Effect of Stress on the Academic Achievement of Fifth Grade Students from Single-Parent Homes

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine this important social change - the single-parent family and focus on its effect on the achievement of the child in the family in his role as a student. Dealing specifically with fifth-grade students, a description of their physical, social and emotional characteristics will be included, as well as the symptoms, related causes and a definition of stress. Some children have developed mechanisms for dealing with stress, those mechanisms will be described. Intervention techniques will also be included and a statistical study comparing the California Achievement Test raw scores in reading, math and total battery of thirty, two-parent and twenty-nine single-parent fifth grade students will be included.