Academic Orientations of African-American Adolescents

Many African-American high school students§underachieve, drop out, and fail to pursue a higher§education. A critical factor of academic achievement§and students relationship to school, peers, family, §their community, and the broader society is§their academic orientation, which is the student s§perception that education is or is not a path to§succeed in American society. Previous studies have§concentrated on why African-Americans adopt an§adversarial academic orientation, while immigrant§students incline toward a positive academic§orientation. However, some African-American children§manage to adopt a positive academic orientation and§pursue educational success. In this study, I examine§the relationship between academic orientation and§ethnic identity formation. Most theories on ethnic§identity are static ones, and do not fit into an§accurate analysis of the African-American sample in§this book. A dynamic concept of ethnicity is§necessary to determine what social factors define§these students'' academic orientation and achievement.§This book provides a new perspective on racial§identity formation and its impact on academic§orientation for African-Americans.