Transition to High School in a Multi-Ethnic Sample: Opportunities and Risks

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The purpose of this research is to examine the transition to high school in an urban adolescent sample. The sample is large, comprised of about 1500 early adolescents in two cohorts who had been recruited in 6th grade for a longitudinal study of peer harassment in middle school. The sample is also ethnically diverse, with participants who are African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Caucasian. Latino and Asian students also differ in immigrant history. Data on students' social adjustment, emotional well-being, achievement attitudes, and academic outcomes will be gathered in Fall and Spring during 9th for Cohort 2 and during 10th grade for Cohort 1. The specific aims of the project are to examine: (1) how social risk in middle school (i.e., having a reputation as an aggressor or victim of harassment) affects the high school transition; (2) whether there are particular pathways to (mal)adjustment that are predicted by social risk; and (3) how the transition process is influenced by contextual factors such as ethnic identity, the ethnic composition of high schools, and immigrant history. The data collected during this one-year project will help assure that there are multiple time points to examine the high school transition as a process that unfolds over time. Cutting-edge statistical techniques will be used to model trajectories of change in academic achievement, including growth, decline, and the possibility of recovery. Findings will provide new insights into the social and cultural underpinnings of a smooth versus disruptive high school transition.The proposed research can have broader impact in two ways. First, the study of social vulnerability in 9th and 10th grade is relevant to educational practice because those are the grades when high school youth who have become alienated from school are most at risk for dropping out. Teachers and other educational professionals need to become better informed about the importance of the social lives of adolescents to sustained achievement strivings. Second, the multiethnic focus of the research and the timeliness of the topic provide an excellent context for attracting and mentoring talented students of color, at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels. The Principal Investigator has an excellent track record of fostering the intellectual and professional development of students of color.