"We ain't all the same!": A quantitative approach to examine the factors associated with African Immigrant and Black American ninth grade school success

Abstract

High school is a time of transition for youth of all ethnic groups, but it is a particularly problematic time for African American youth in the United States. While many studies have evaluated the sense of school belonging and underperformance of African American youth, less is known about the sense of school belonging and success of the adolescent Black American and African Immigrant subgroups. This proposed quantitative pilot study's conceptual framework identifies and disaggregates the protective factors, individually and in combination, that contribute to a sense of school belonging and school success for African Immigrant and Black American ninth grade students. First, it is important to examine the relationship between generational status, maternal status, maternal involvement in school and gender on the sense of school belonging (proximal outcome) and school success (distal outcome). Secondly, this study will determine the relationship between sense of school belonging and school success for these two subgroups. Data collection strategies include surveys, grades, and attendance from 240 Black American and African Immigrant ninth grade students residing in Washington and California. With the overall goal of increasing the number of successful Black American and African Immigrant ninth grade students, this study aims to identify factors that have positive implications for school success.