Speaker
Description
Middle school students’ experiences of their school environment influence their attitudes toward school and learning behaviors. Furthermore, early adolescence is a critical time of identity and social development when youth are typically in middle school. The Phenomenological Variant of the Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) guides this investigation of the relationship between racial identity and school experiences that predict students behavioral and cognitive development. This study draws on student survey data from 308 Black 6th grade students (Mage = 11.12, SD = 0.41; 49% female) in suburban middle schools in the Midwest United States. Latent profiles of students’ perceptions of equitable school climate will be determined based on four student-reported indicators including teacher caring, school fairness, school-based discrimination from peers, and school-based discrimination from teachers. Latent profiles of equitable school climate experience will then be analyzed as moderators in the relationship between students’ racial identity beliefs (i.e., centrality, private regard, and public regard) and school engagement (i.e., behavioral engagement and cognitive engagement). Because students’ personal attributes and lived experience (e.g., racial identity beliefs) influence how they interpret their surrounding environment (e.g., school climate) and consequently how they develop adaptive or maladaptive patterns of behavior (e.g., engagement), this investigation stands to contribute to the literature and practical applications regarding Black students’ experience of equitable school climate and academic engagement. Results are in progress.
