“…Although a number of valuable studies have examined the effects of parental separation on the academic achievement of children (Maneker & Rankin, 1987;Morgan, 1988;Smith, 1990Smith, , 1992Smith, , 1995, some of these studies failed to fully differentiate between children from separated families and those from divorce (Smith, 1990(Smith, , 1992. It is particularly important to distinguish between these family structures, because a large number of children's parents often separate, but never divorce.…”