The United States is experiencing a major shift in the population as more students who are considered ethnic minorities enter the school system. These students are at an increased risk for school failure due to language barriers, challenges with experiencing potential discrimination, and debating their identities across two cultural contexts. Although students who are considered ethnic minorities risk many potential stressors, the literature has shown that ethnic identity is a factor that facilitates positive academic adjustment and engagement among this population. Previous literature has also documented mixed findings regarding the relationship between ethnic identity and school outcomes. The current study explored: (a) the associations between ethnic identity, academic efficacy, and achievement goals among early adolescents, (b) to what extent school belonging moderates the association of ethnic identity with academic efficacy and academic achievement goals, and (c) how associations between ethnic identity and outcomes vary by race (Black, Hispanic, Asian, Other, and White students) and gender. The archival dataset analyzed consisted of data collected from 436 participants in the Adolescent Development Longitudinal Study when they were in the spring of their 6th grade year. Findings revealed significant positive relationships between ethnic identity, academic efficacy, and achievement goals with the exception of performance-avoidance goals. School belonging did not moderate these relationships. Further, group differences (gender, race, and school) in the relationships between ethnic identity, academic efficacy, and achievement goals were not detected among the current sample. Implications for educators and researchers are discussed.

The present cross-sectional study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the links between early adolescents' perceptions of the school racial climate, sense of belonging, academic identity, and academic performance in the spring of 6th grade. It further explored whether the strength of model relationships differed based on adolescents' ethnicity. The sample included 3,969 (52% female) students from 19 ethnically diverse urban middle schools. Based on self-reported ethnicity, 12.9% were African-American/Black, 14.7% East/Southeast Asian, 17.9% White, and 37.8% Latino. Findings revealed that within multiethnic schools, experiencing supportive racial norms has important consequences for ethnic minority adolescents' academic outcomes. This was partially mediated by youths' sense of belonging to school and academic identity. A stronger relationship between racial climate and school belonging was found for Asian, Latino, and White youth compared to African-American peers. The relationship between racial climate and academic identity was strongest for Latino and African-American youth. Finally, the relationship between racial climate and academic outcomes was nonsignificant for White adolescents but significant for all ethnic minority youth. Implications for future research are discussed.

Adolescent Identity and Schooling: Diverse Perspectives examines a range of issues related to student adjustment and achievement through research on student identity. Drawn from leading experts in psychology and sociology, it attends to important contemporary topics in educational and developmental psychology. With special attention to how students assess and relate to their own identities, this book features chapters on pertinent but under-represented identities such as parental identity, immigrant identity, and model minority identity. It blends these new topics with chapters containing the most current perspectives on traditionally covered topics, such as race and social class. In ten chapters, this book provides readers with a comprehensive set of perspectives on the relationship between student identity and success in school, making it ideal for education courses on identity in education, educational psychology, and human development.

The unfortunate disparity in achievement among minority and low income students is well-documented. Multiple social, structural, and psychological variables have been presented to try to explain the achievement gap. Researchers have also considered an individual's racial-ethnic identity (REI) as an important variable that contributes to achievement outcomes. Oyserman and colleagues developed a model of REI that emphasizes three key factors of ones racial-ethnic identity that have a direct impact on achievement. Further, her model posits that the interaction between two key REI variables, feelings of connectedness to one's REI group (connectedness) and the perception that one's racial-ethnic group values achievement (embedded achievement), contributes to positive achievement outcomes. Although research has suggested that REI significantly impacts achievement, the specific processes by which this occurs are less known. Considering the social-cognitive literature, it is plausible that different psychological and motivational beliefs mediate the relationship between REI and achievement-related outcomes. This dissertation study examines the mediating effect of sense of school belonging and perceived sense of school engagement on the relationship between REI (embedded achievement and connectedness) and academic achievement of minority middle school students longitudinally through the use of structural equation modeling. Results indicate that embedded achievement significantly predicts academic achievement. Furthermore, sense of belonging to school mediates this relationship for all racial and gender groups. Results also revealed that embedded achievement significantly predicted student perceived engagement for Hispanic students. Strategies to promote sense of belonging and embedded achievement at the personal, structural, community, peer, and family levels are discussed. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/151133

AbstractIn the last two decades the demographic composition of the United States has witnessed extraordinary changes in the numbers of ethnic minorities, and no where is this more evident than in our nation's public school system. Due to this proliferation of changes in the demographics of our country, serious issues and concerns have been raised with regard to the mental health and academic achievement of school-age children from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The major purpose of the study was to examine the implications of the relationship of psychological well-being variables (life satisfaction, self-esteem and ethnic identity), mental health depression, and Intergroup interactional competence and academic achievement of school- age adolescents. In group assemblies of varying sizes, seven measures were explained to students to fill out either in school or at home and return to be collected. These measures have been previously utilized and have been found to have adequate reliability and validity (Crumly & Hyers, 2004). The reliability of all the measures was also assessed in this study and was found to have moderate to high range. The study utilized a total sample of 119 African American adolescents from low social economic status ranging in grades from ten through twelve. The findings indicated significant intercorrelations among some selected psychological variables and objective and self-reported measures of achievement. Gender differences were noted in the predictability of achievement of reading. The perceived caring, inter-group anxiety, and psychological sense of membership measures were found to be the best predictors of academic achievement. Implications of the study as well as recommendations for future research in this area are discussed.

This book examines dominant discourses affecting race, ethnicity and gender in education and societies globally. It presents cutting-edge research on the major global trends in globalization, race, ethnicity and gender education globally. Using diverse paradigms, ranging from critical theory to discourse analysis, the book examines major trends in race, ethnicity and gender research, with a focus on the ambivalent and problematic relationship between race, ethnicity and gender discourses, ideology and the state. It discusses and critiques key issues in race, ethnicity and gender research. Readers will gain a more holistic understanding of the nexus between race, ethnicity and gender discourses and dominant ideologies, both locally and globally. It also provides an easily accessible, practical, yet scholarly insights into local and global trends in the field of race, ethnicity and gender education. With contributions from key scholars worldwide, this book will be useful to a broad spectrum of readers, including policy-makers, academics, graduate students, education policy researchers, administrators and practitioners.