Louisiana has made stellar progress in education. But what may temper these gains more than anything else something almost entirely out of the control of educators.
Soon to be published is an analysis of the impact that marriage has on children’s academic achievement. Researchers note an enormous gulf in achievement between children in married households with both parents present as opposed to, at the most extreme, single parent-led households. They caution this can be confused with other associated indicators such as race, leading to incorrect policy prescriptions that too enthusiastically declare that racial considerations are at fault for poor outcomes when in reality something else is at work.
It long has been observed that children from higher socioeconomic statuses achieve educationally at significantly higher levels than do low SES children, and marriage plays a part in that as it denotes a future orientation of a life planned together that includes measures to earn better incomes that typically come later, allowing devotion to children of greater resources and for greater homelife stability. Unmarried couples tend to have children at younger ages and in a more cursorily, if at all, planned fashion more oriented to present gratification than in striving for more economic and emotional security for offspring. Staying married usually, although not exclusively, reinforces the same future-oriented attitudes into children that spawn academic success.
Thus, marriage status – as a reflection of attitudes – comes causally prior to SES which in turn affects children’s academic achievement. A commitment to marriage stems from the same worldview as these other attitudes. That means the policy question becomes how to inculcate those values that translate into this.
Unfortunately, with policy more often emanating from culture that the reverse, it becomes a tough row to hoe. And Louisiana faces the problem of children in non-married households more than almost any other state, with a bare majority of its children in married households, the fourth-lowest proportion of any state – even as there are some marriage-friendly laws on its books, such as mandating family impact statements for relevant proposed regulations and a Children’s Code that tries to frame its laws and statutes around the best interests of children and their families.
It has left some salutary measures on the table. This year Republican state Sen. Rick Edmonds sponsored a bill that would have included in educational instruction on what is termed the Success Sequence, or a rendering to make students aware of the benefits of finishing high school, securing employment, and getting married before having children, with research showing significant positive effects in avoidance of poverty. The bill made it out of committee but never received a Senate floor vote; possibly the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education could issue regulations to enact it.
Schools also could go further by curricula focused on emotions and healthy dating and on communication, conflict resolution, and avoiding toxic behaviors, as is done in Oklahoma. That state also has versions for those applying for public assistance, families involved with child welfare, military families, as well as inmates in prison, and also makes it generally available to the interested public.
Another possibility is premarital counseling beyond the little-used voluntary covenant marriage choice. Some states hold out incentives such as reduced marriage license costs for couples to undertake this, with research noting that this increases marital satisfaction that presumably keeps marriages together.
Postmarital tactics also may be employed, since a portion of couples that initiate divorce proceedings remain open to reconciliation. Increasingly offered in therapeutic settings, discernment counseling attempts to guide couples to patching up things prior to divorce. Such services are offered by numerous licensed counselors in Louisiana, but judges may not know to use this as an option in divorce proceedings. Potentially, that can be rectified through continuing education courses.
Stronger families lead to increased school success for their children. Louisiana could offer a number of inexpensive policy options at least can nudge towards that, with fiscal and societal dividends likely to follow.
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