Psychosocial Benefits of Ethnic Diversity in Urban Middle Schools

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。本研究的目的是检验一套关于城市中学种族/民族多样性的心理社会效益的相互关联的假设。研究假设，更大的多样性可以通过三种中介机制有利于学生的心理健康、群体间态度和学校适应：(1)减少感知的脆弱性；(2)形成和维持跨种族友谊；(3)发展复杂的社会认同。这些调解机制在目标1-3中进行了研究。在目标4中，探讨了学校结构特征，如学业跟踪，可能限制学生交往机会的调节影响。四个目标中概述的假设将在一项为期3年的纵向研究中进行检验，研究对象是大约3500名进入南加州14所城市中学之一的6年级学生。大样本将是种族多样化的，包括拉丁裔、非裔美国人、亚洲/太平洋岛民、白人和多种族学生。这些学生就读的14所中学将经过精心挑选，以适应不同的种族/民族构成和多样性水平。关于学生感知的脆弱性、跨种族友谊和社会认同以及心理健康、群体间态度和学校适应结果的数据将在6年级的秋季和春季以及7年级和8年级的春季收集，总共收集了四波数据。将使用结构方程建模和多水平建模来跟踪这些相互关联的变量随时间的增长和变化。通过研究成功适应的途径，这项研究的首要目标是检查在什么条件下，更大的学校种族多样性可以缓冲青少年早期的许多规范性挑战。这项研究在三个方面具有重要意义。首先，这项研究可以提供变革性的方法来思考种族/民族多样性的含义和衡量标准。新出现的关于种族/族裔多样性是一个动态、多维结构的观点，可用于其他社会环境--包括社区或工作场所--的研究，因为在这些环境中，种族多样性增加的影响是一个主要关切。其次，该项目有可能通过侧重于不同族裔的学校环境如何缓冲其中一些挑战，为青春期早期规范发展的心理社会挑战贡献新的知识。与其他发展研究项目不同，该项目将学校多样性作为一个保护因素。第三，这项研究对影响青年的社会政策有影响。通过对不同学校如何为所有学生的学业和社会福祉做出贡献的案例，结果可以有助于讨论在我国城市公立学校实现更大种族/民族多样性的法律选择。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The purpose of this research is to test a set of interrelated hypotheses about the psychosocial benefits of racial/ethnic diversity in urban middle schools. It is hypothesized that greater diversity can benefit students' mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation via three mediating mechanisms: (1) decreases in perceived vulnerability; (2) the formation and maintenance of cross-ethnic friendships; and (3) the development of complex social identities. These mediating mechanisms are examined in Aims 1-3. In Aim 4, the moderating influence of school structural characteristics, such as academic tracking, that may limit the mixing opportunities of students are explored. The hypotheses outlined in the four aims will be examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of approximately 3500 6th grade students as they enter one of 14 urban middle schools in southern California. The large sample will be ethnically diverse, comprised of Latino, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, White, and multi-ethnic students. The 14 middle schools that these students attend will be carefully selected to vary in racial/ethnic composition and level of diversity. Data on students' perceived vulnerability, cross-ethnic friendships, and social identities as well as the outcomes of mental health, intergroup attitudes, and school adaptation will be gathered in fall and spring of 6th grade and in spring of 7th and 8th grade, for a total of four waves of data. Structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling will be used to track growth and change in these interrelated variables over time. By studying pathways to successful adaptation, the overarching goal of the research is to examine the conditions under which greater school ethnic diversity can buffer many of the normative challenges of early adolescence.The research has the potential to be significant in three ways. First, the research can offer transformative ways to think about the meaning and measurement of racial/ethnic diversity. The emerging view of racial/ethnic diversity as a dynamic, multi-dimensional construct can be useful for research in other social settings -- including the neighborhood or workplace -- where the implications of increasing ethnic diversity are a primary concern. Second, the project has the potential to contribute new knowledge about the psychosocial challenges of normative development during early adolescence by focusing on the ways in which ethnically diverse school settings can buffer some of those challenges. Unlike other programs of developmental research, this project conceptualizes school diversity as a protective factor. Third, the research has implications for social policies affecting youth. By making a case for the ways in which diverse schools contribute to the academic and social well-being of all students, the results can contribute to the discourse on legal options for achieving greater racial/ethnic diversity in our nation's urban public schools.