Collaborative Research: A Longitudinal Study of Race Socialization and Achievement Striving in African American Adolescents

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The transition to middle school is a time of great change for most youth. Although many of these changes are positive, the middle school transition is also associated with declines in motivation, self-concept, and achievement for many young adolescents. Little research on this critical transition has focused on African American students, who face additional challenges associated with their growing awareness of racial differences and racial discrimination. The goal of this project is to identify factors that lead to success across the transition to middle school for Black youth, and to investigate how the process differs for students transitioning into a racially consonant middle school environment versus those moving into a racially dissonant context. A primary focus of the study is the role of parents' attitudes and beliefs about achievement and their race socialization strategies on the achievement striving of African American adolescents. At Time 1, 300 African American fifth graders in predominantly Black elementary schools (i.e., at least 75% African American students) will complete measures of parent race socialization, race centrality, attributional beliefs, educational utility, perceived competence, and classroom engagement. Their parents will complete measures of race socialization, race centrality, attributional beliefs, educational utility, and perceptions of the child's competence. Teachers will rate students' abilities and classroom engagement. Two years later, when these youth are in middle schools that vary in racial composition, the adolescents, parents, and teachers will again complete the study measures. Achievement data will be collected from schools for both assessment points. Analyses will distinguish among the experiences of Black youth in predominantly Black versus racially integrated schools and will elucidate parental socialization that leads to successful academic achievement for African American youth. This research will inform both general developmental theory and research specific to African American families and children. In terms of general development, it will further explicate the critical role that parenting plays during the transition to middle school. The study will also address how the development of race-specific attitudes (racial identity and race-related achievement attributions) affect the educational experiences of Black youth. Finally, the study will be a timely assessment of the role of school racial composition during this age of rapid resegregation of America's schools. Thus, these results will inform post-desegregation educational policy, policies aimed at eliminating the Black-White test score gap, and policies directed toward school reform at the middle school level more broadly.