Divorce and a Child’s education Leticia Garcia Northern New Mexico College Department of Integrated Humanities and Social Sciences Psychology Concentration Abstract Hypothesis Theory Introduction Data Collection and Methods Data Analysis and Findings Ethics and Discussion Conclusions References Acknowledgements  The purposive sample consisted of 15 Mesa Vista Consolidated School licensed teachers.  Purposive was done here due to the fact that licensed teachers were needed to conduct the researcher.  A random sample was conducted to determine which NNMC classes would take the survey.  The sample size for this research was N=30 see Table 1 for sample size  The N size is small in this research however there was both 15 students surveyed and 15 teachers surveyed.  Limitations of the Data  Psychology 321 Survey Pretest (to establish validity)  Small sample size (N=30)  Exploratory research was conducted in finding whether the divorce of parents effects a child’s academic performance.  15 licensed teachers where surveyed as well as 15 current college students.  A purposive sample was compared to a random sample.  Qualitative data showed that 9 teachers believe that students do in fact have a harder time academically if they come from a broken family whereas 5 teachers did not; 1 chose not to answer.  Qualitative data showed that 71.43% or 10 teachers have had a student who despite coming from a divorced home has graduated top ten in their class. Whereas 28.57% or 4 teachers have not; 1 chose not to answer.  The dependent variable for this research was that children who are from divorced families do not complete high school see Table 2 for the dependent variable.  The data in Table 2 shows that 10 out of the 15 student respondents said they know of a student who has excelled in their academics regardless of coming from a broken family.  Qualitative data shows that some teachers believe a student has a harder time academically when they come from a broken family. See Table 3 for Qualitative data.  Table 3 shows that not all teachers chose a response or supplied a comment.  Quantitative data shows that 10 out of 15 teachers have had a student who comes from a divorced family graduate top ten of their class. See table 4.  The survey given to the students was retrospective because students were asked to think about their past.  In accordance with the National Institute of Heath (NIH) all respondents were notified that their responses would remain both anonymous and confidential.  After having completed my research this data argues I must accept the null hypothesis that a child’s education has no affect if their parents are divorced or not.  Results were suggestive rather than confirmative because the sample size was small N=30.  Further research needs to be done on this study with a larger sample size.  This exploratory study is about whether the home environment affects the academic performance of a child coming from a home where the parents are divorced  One study previously done shows that only two thirds of children from divorced families attend college compared to 85 percent of students from intact two-parent families.  According to Hawkins and Feckrell the relationship of the parents effects the child’s education  In development psychology Jean Piaget describes the three stages of cognitive development where children have a difficult time seeing thing from different points of view.  My theory is that parents who divorce while their child/children are still in school effect their child’s education and that child does not succeed to the full potential he/she is capable of.  Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research. 13th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Print.  Fagan, Patrick F., Rector, Robert, “The Effects Of Divorce On America.” The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder (2000)  Portnoy, S.M., “The Psychology of Divorce: A Lawyer’s Primer, Part 2: The Effects of Divorce on Children.” American Journal of Family Law (2008)  Hawkins, J Alan. Ph.D & Fackrell, A. Tamara, J.D., “Should I Keep Trying to Work it Out?” Salt Lake City Utah (2009)  Ha ̊ kansson, J. (2010). Developmental Psychology. New York: Nova Science Publishers. I would like to thank the staff from Mesa Vista Consolidated School. The students who participated in this research, and the staff from the Student Success Center. As well as Dr. Stephanie Amedeo-Marquez for her assistance throughout this study Children whose parents are divorced decline academically Children from divorced parents advance academically Children from in tact families decline academically Children from in tact families advance academically Null Hypothesis: Divorce of parents has no effect on a child’s education. Q: 7 Do you believe students have a harder time academically if they come from a broken home? Agreement (Yes)Disagreement (No)No Response “They have to separate what happens at home and at school” If they are motivated, they will not have any setbacks” I feel that more often than not such student is going to be seen as an individual; their academic success will be based on each personality “Much distraction” Eventually individual applications of responsibility and a desire to learn and achieve become the most important elements of education “Because they mostly bring their problems to school” Coming from a 1-parent family is irrelevant to be successful “Stability at home is most important whether students come from a broken home” “Sometimes, but this should not be an excuse for not doing their work, they are as successfully as they make themselves” Total (9) Total (5)Total (1)