The study explored the relationship between mothers' and fathers' pre-kindergarten reports of family cohesion and children's academic and social competence in kindergarten and first grade, to assess the role of family level processes in children's adjustment to school. The family cohesion factor was divided into "disengaged,""cohesive," and "enmeshed" for the 84 families participating. Results showed no significant relationship between mothers' and fathers' reports of family cohesion and children's academic competence. However, in kindergarten, families rated by mothers as cohesive had children who were described by teachers as socially competent, and families rated by mothers as disengaged had children who were described by teachers as more aggressive. In first grade, families rated by mothers as enmeshed had children who were described by teachers as less socially isolated. Post hoc ANOVAs showed that in all cases, parents' perception of family cohesion were predictive of children's social adjustment to school. (AS)