Aggressiveness
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ABPsi >
Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi)
Academic Achievement in Minority Children Antonia Hernandez
The increase of immigration to the United States (U.S.) since the 1980s has resulted in a racial/ethnic heterogeneous group of children throughout the country. Since the 1980s, the Asian population has almost tripled, the Latino population has more than doubled, the Native American population has increased by 62%, and the African American population has increased 31%, while the non-ethnic population remained almost the same. (The terms African Americans and Blacks, and Native Americans and American Indians, will be used interchangeably throughout this entry). As a result of these changes, 40% of the current public school age population comprises students of color. This percentage is expected to increase rapidly in the upcoming years. For instance, it is expected that by the year 2020, more than two-thirds of the school-age population will be Hispanic, Asian American, African American, or Native American, with Hispanic youth accounting for more than 20% of the total. In 1993, the U.S. Census Bureau predicted that the minority population will account for 50% of the U.S. population by the year 2050. There are salient differences in educational achievement levels among children of color. For instance, African American and Hispanic youth are noted for high dropout rates, whereas Asian Americans are
more likely to have higher educational attainment levels. Academic achievement is influenced by several variables. On an individual level, variables such as gender, ethnicity, and family socioeconomic status have been regarded as the most prominent factors. Extraneous variables that influence school success include time spent doing homework, time spent watching television, participation in extracurricular and other structured after school programs, and employment status. An additional variable concerns language. Specifically, many children of color speak another language in the home other than English. It has been reported that the language spoken in the home is considered an important variable because of its influence on a child’s success in school. Students from non-English language backgrounds tend to have lower academic achievement and are nearly twice as likely to leave school before graduation compared with their English speaking peers. Although differences have been noted in the school performance of children of color, there is little consensus about the causes of these discrepancies. Several theories have been introduced throughout the literature to better understand differences in academic achievement. One theory states that differences in academic achievement relate to socialization practices in the family that lead youngsters from some racial/ethnic groups to develop more positive achievement-related attitudes and behaviors. Thus, several studies have noted that children from homes with high stress levels are more likely to be exposed to maladaptive behaviors that lead to violence, substance abuse, and
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