Analyzing Newcomer Immigrant Adolescent Belonging Utilizing Goodenow's Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Analyzing Adolescence From Multidisciplinary Lenses

Abstract

Recently arriving to U.S. schools, 400 immigrant adolescents in a large, urban high school shared personal backgrounds and perspectives in this descriptive, single-site case study. Through interviews and a survey, including a belonging scale, descriptive statistics and regression analysis in this part of a larger study revealed demographics and belonging predictors. This study examined belonging during a socio-political climate of xenophobia, racist rhetoric, DACA policy uncertainties, and COVID-19 travel bans. Utilizing sociocultural theory and Allen and Kern’s (2017) belonging framework, results indicated that females had higher, and students of smaller language groups and students paying rent had statistically significantly lower sense of belonging scores, among additional trends. Recommendations resulted for improved structures, practices, and climate to cultivate belonging for newcomers.

Author

• Kristen McInerney, The George Washington University