The present study uses observational assessment of 66 two-parent families working and playing together when their eldest child is in kindergarten and again in ninth grade to identify distinct patterns of family functioning derived from structural family systems theory. Whereas concurrent assessment of the relationship between family type and adolescents' school behavior was not significant, significant prospective longitudinal relationships between family type assessed in early childhood and ninth-grade school behavior was indicated. Kindergarteners whose families were primarily characterized by a strong mother-child alliance were less academically competent, more aggressive/inattentive, and more anxious/depressed/withdrawn at school 9 years later when they were in ninth grade than their peers in more cohesive or father-child allied families.