Academic Orientations of African-American Adolescents

Many African-American high school studentsunderachieve, drop out, and fail to pursue a highereducation. A critical factor of academic achievementand students' relationship to school, peers, family, their community, and the broader society istheir academic orientation, which is the student'sperception that education is or is not a path tosucceed in American society. Previous studies haveconcentrated on why African-Americans adopt anadversarial academic orientation, while immigrantstudents incline toward a positive academicorientation. However, some African-American childrenmanage to adopt a positive academic orientation andpursue educational success. In this study, I examinethe relationship between academic orientation andethnic identity formation. Most theories on ethnicidentity are static ones, and do not fit into anaccurate analysis of the African-American sample inthis book. A dynamic concept of ethnicity isnecessary to determine what social factors definethese students' academic orientation and achievement.This book provides a new perspective on racialidentity formation and its impact on academicorientation for African-Americans..