Self-regulation development and the transition to middle school

自律与向中学的过渡 从小学到中学的过渡往往会导致学业成绩的螺旋式下降 表现为成绩下降，学业脱节，最终高中辍学。 在同一时期，药物滥用和性冒险等危险行为有所增加。低收入者 非洲裔美国人和拉丁裔儿童特别容易受到这一过渡的负面影响。 理清低收入非裔美国人学业成败的因素 拉美裔青年需要将发展视为一个复杂的发展过程， 发展轨迹、社会路径和社会护卫队“(Benner，2011)。对于低收入的非洲人 尤其是美国和拉美裔青年，重要的是要考虑到社会阶层、文化和 过渡到中学的有色人种儿童的种族问题。生命历程理论表明，早期的生活压力 可以对发展产生累积影响。因此，多个级别的单个级别的漏洞 青少年生态(个人、家庭、学校和邻里)可以在接触期间得到加强 其他规范性应激源，如发展转折点。来自低社会保障家庭的少数族裔青年 不仅经历与贫困相关的困难，而且还经历文化压力(例如，同化， 歧视)，这削弱了他们面对规范性应激源的能力，如过渡到中间 学校。 我们建议跟踪一大批低收入的非洲裔美国人和拉美裔儿童，这些儿童最初是在 两岁半是达拉斯学龄前准备项目(DPReP)的一部分，因为他们正在过渡到中学。DPReP 参与者已经完成了四波数据收集，其中包括对新兴自我的测量 调节技能、学业成绩和行为问题。通过将这个样本应用到中学， 我们将描述自律发展的轨迹，以解决以下主要目标： 目标1.考察自我调节发展轨迹的个体差异是如何从两年半到 初中生学业和行为适应差异与初中生 低收入的非洲裔美国人和拉美裔美国人。 目标2.考察家庭、学校和邻里的相互关联的背景如何对中等教育做出贡献 低收入非裔美国人和拉美裔美国人的学校学业和行为调整。 目标3.研究家庭、学校和邻里环境与学业和行为的关系 低年级学生的自我调节能力在中学适应中起到中介作用和调节作用 收入非裔美国人和拉美裔美国人。 数据收集方法将包括家访、电话采访、教师调查和课堂以及 邻里观察。措施包括儿童自我管理、学习成绩评估和 社会能力、家庭环境、课堂环境、师生关系和邻里关系 条件。分析方法将包括结构方程模型和潜在差异模型。

Self-regulation and the transition to middle school The transition from elementary to middle school often precipitates a downward spiral in academic performance characterized by declining grades, academic disengagement, and eventual high school drop-out. During this same period, risky behaviors such as substance abuse and sexual risk-taking increase. Low-income African American and Latino children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of this transition. Disentangling the factors contributing to the academic success/failure of low-income African American and Latino youth requires viewing development as a complex developmental process with “intertwined developmental trajectories, social pathways, and social convoys” (Benner, 2011). For low-income African American and Latino youth in particular, it is important to consider the intersection of social class, culture, and ethnicity for children of color transitioning to middle school. Life course theory suggests that early life stress can have a cumulative effect on development. Accordingly, individual level vulnerabilities at multiple levels of the youth ecology (individual, family, school, and neighborhood) can be potentiated during times of exposure to additional normative stressors, such as developmental transition points. Minority youth from low-SES families not only experience difficulties associated with poverty but also cultural stress (e.g., assimilation, discrimination) which undermine their ability to face normative stressors such as transitioning into middle school. We propose to follow a large cohort of low-income African American and Latino children first enrolled at age 2½ as part of the Dallas Preschool Readiness Project (DPReP) as they transition into middle school. DPReP participants have completed four waves of data collection that have included measures of emerging self- regulation skills, academic achievement, and behavior problems. By following this sample into middle school, we will characterize trajectories of self-regulation development to address the following primary aims: Aim 1. Examine how individual differences in trajectories of self-regulation development from 2½ years into middle school are related to differences in academic and behavioral adjustment in middle school for low-income African Americans and Latinos. Aim 2. Examine how the interrelated contexts of family, school and neighborhood contribute to the middle school academic and behavioral adjustment of low-income African Americans and Latinos. Aim 3. Examine how the relation of family, school, and neighborhood contexts to academic and behavioral adjustment in middle school is both mediated and moderated by self-regulation skills among low- income African Americans and Latinos. Data collection methods will include home visits, phone interviews, teacher surveys, and classroom and neighborhood observations. Measures include child self-regulation, assessments of academic performance and social competence, family environment, classroom environment, teacher-child relationship, and neighborhood conditions. Analytic methods will include structural equations modeling, and latent differences models.