Browsing by Subject "School belonging"

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Being invisible and in-between : racial identity development and school belonging in multiracial adolescents
(2019-05-09) Chavez, Risa Jane; Suizzo, Marie-Anne
The number of adolescents identifying as multiracial in the United States is growing rapidly. However, the experiences of this population have not been investigated to the extent merited by such an increase. Multiracial adolescents face complex processes of racial identity development due to the contextual fluidity and subjectivity of racial identification both by others and themselves. This unique development is influenced most by the people most proximal to the adolescents such as family members, friends, and teachers. As adolescents develop their identity, they come to understand how they fit into social spaces and institutions. Of specific importance in the period of adolescence is feelings of connection to the academic environment, a concept known as school belonging. School belonging is related to important life outcomes such as academic achievement, motivation, physical and psychological health, and prosocial behavior. Similar to racial identity development, multiracial adolescents may have unique experiences of school belonging due to the complexities of identifying as multiracial. This literature review will explore the available research on multiracial identity development and feelings of school belonging, expose gaps in the literature, and propose future directions for the current field of study.
Exploring protective factors in school and home contexts for economically disadvantaged students in the middle school
(2012-05) Okilwa, Nathern S. A.; Holme, Jennifer Jellison; Reyes, Pedro; Yates, James; Saenz, Victor; Crosnoe, Robert
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of middle school students particularly focusing on the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students. Existing data show that there is an increasing cohort of school children experiencing poverty, either short or long term. For poor middle school students, the risk for school failure is amplified by the general risks associated with middle school transition and early adolescence development. The cumulative nature of these risks is often associated with undesirable school outcomes including grade retention, behavior problems, absenteeism, delinquency, teenage pregnancy, school dropout, fewer years of schooling, and lower academic achievement. However, there is evidence that some students succeed in spite of adversity, which is often attributed to protective factors present in the students’ own immediate environment – school, home, and community. This current study, therefore, examined the relationship between two potential protective factors–parent involvement and school belonging–and student achievement. Previous research has established that parent involvement and school belonging are both associated with positive school outcomes including academic motivation, self-efficacy, internal locus of control, pro-social and on-task behavior, school engagement, educational aspirations and expectations, and better academic achievement. Consequently, this study examined three main questions: (a) How is parental involvement associated with academic achievement for economically disadvantaged eighth grade students? (b) How school belonging associated with academic achievement for economically disadvantaged eighth grade students? (c) Do the relations between parent involvement, school belonging, and eighth grade achievement vary as a function of prior achievement and middle school? To answer these research questions, this study used the nationally representative longitudinal data from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten (ECLS-K) Class of 1998/99. The findings for this study showed that when parent involvement and school belonging were considered together, the association between parent involvement and student achievement diminished while school belonging consistently emerged as a significant predictor of achievement. However, while school belonging emerged as a significant predictor of achievement, this study established that students’ prior achievement was the single strong and significant factor explaining achievement for poor eighth grade students.