Factors Influencing the Motivation and Behavior of African American Adolescents in an Urban Middle School: A Social-Cognitive Qualitative Analysis

• In Event: 63.084 - Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: 63.084-16 - Black Children and Education

Abstract

This study provides a rich qualitative description of how African American young adolescents perceive their middle school context and how student cognitive, behavioral and environmental factors interact and mutually determine each other. We conducted 16 focus groups with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders attending an urban public charter middle school in the mid-Atlantic region. Preliminary analyses suggest that patterns related to teacher disciplinary strategies; school policies such as uniforms; and interactions with teachers seem to create problems including student disruptive behavior and decreased motivation. Promoting the positive development of African American youth is critical, and the data presented in the present study can provide insight into how to effect positive change in adolescent motivation and behavior in urban middle schools.

Authors

• Kimberley Edelin Freeman, Howard University

• Cynthia Eileen Winston, Howard University