School Context: Achievement Outcomes & Family School Relationships H607: Ethnicity, Context, and Family Dynamics

Syllabus Change… For Wednesday… November 4: Peer interactions at school Underwood, M. K., Mayeux, L. & Galperin, M. (2006). Peer relations during middle childhood: Gender, emotions, and aggression. In L Balter & C. S. Tamis-LaMonda (Eds.), Child psychology: A handbook of contemporary issues (2nd. Ed.) (pp. 241-261). New York: Psychology Press. (iPac)   Asher, S. R. & Paquette, J. A. (2003). Loneliness and peer relations in childhood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12 (3), 75-78. http://hul.harvard.edu/lib/journals.html (DOI: 10.1111/1467-8721.01233) Brown, B. B. & Klute, C. (2006). Friendships, cliques, and crowds. In G. R. Adams & M. D. Berzonsky (Eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence (pp. 330-348). Malden, MA: Blackwell. (iPac) Hill, N. E. (2012). Parent-child and child-peer close relationships: Understanding parental influences on peer relations from a cultural context. In L. Campbell & T. J. Loving (Eds.). Interdisciplinary research on close relationships (pp. 109-134) . Washington, DC: APA

The Plan… Teacher Perceptions & Gaps in Achievement Family School Engagement Conceptualizations and Goals SES, Ethnicity and Parental Involvement & Achievement Family-School Partnerships: Iatrogenic Effects??

WHY?? Stereotypes Stereotype Threat “Acting White” Model Minorities Differences in school quality across SES and ethnicity Summer Setback It’s not the schools’ fault! (read…it’s the family’s fault) Teacher Perceptions Family Dynamics

Teacher Perceptions Impact student beliefs & work habits For African American children, teachers often overrate behavior problems and underrate positive or prosocial behaviors Even in the interpretation of behaviors Race of teacher doesn’t matter Ethnic differences in agreement… Teachers and Euro-American parents agree more than teachers and African American parents …differential agreement has implications for referrals to services, parent-teacher collaborations, and future success.

Ethnic Mean Differences for Teachers and Mothers ADHD Symptoms Prosocial Behavior * * * * Kindergarten 4th Grade Kindergarten 4th Grade Hill, N. E. & Bromell, L. (2006). Ethnic and SES differences in the corroboration of teachers’ and parents’ reports of child behavior across elementary school. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Boston, MA.

Correlations across Reporters Ethnic Differences Kindergarten Teacher Mothers ADHD Prosocial ADHD Prosocial T-ADHD 1 -.70*** .29* -.19 T-Prosocial -.45* 1 .35* .27† M-ADHD .52*** -.15 1 -57*** M-Prosocial -.51*** .50*** -.15 1 __________________________________________________________________ 4th Grade T-ADHD 1 -.78*** .26 -.26 T-Prosocial -.52** 1 -.36* .33† M-ADHD .54*** -.21 1 -.65*** M-Prosocial -.35* .29 -.31† 1 ___________________________________________________________________ nb: Blacks above the diagonal; Whites below the diagonal

Teacher Perceptions: Asians & Latinos Differential expectations hold the highest expectations for Asians hold lowest expectations for Latinos Differential interactions More positive interactions (e.g., encouragement; positive referrals) for Whites & Asians More negative interactions for Latinos and African-Americans Teachers’ favoritism/bias related to achievement outcomes Tennenbaum & Ruck (2007)

WHY?? Stereotypes Stereotype Threat “Acting White” Model Minorities Differences in school quality across SES and ethnicity Summer Setback It’s not the schools’ fault! (read…it’s the family’s fault) Teacher Perceptions Family Dynamics

What is parental involvement in school? “parents’ work with schools and with their children to benefit their children’s educational outcomes and future success.” (Hill et al., 2004) “the participation of parents in regular, two-way and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities.” (NCLB; 107th Congress, 2002, section, 910-1, para 3)

Parents’ Goals Across Ethnicity To be understood by school personnel and teachers; For their children to be known and valued; For teachers to see their children’s talents For teachers to give their children the benefit of the doubt when they make mistakes. Latino parents described their main goals for involvement were to improve academic outcomes. African Americans were determined that their child would be successful, and staying involved was the only way to ensure it. They wanted to ensure that their children are behaving and understand the consequences of their schoolwork . They want to make sure their youth are treated fairly and stay out of trouble. Euro-Americans describe their main goals “setting their kids up for success.” They talked about working ‘behind the scenes’ so that their children were scaffolded to make good decisions and have successful experiences

SES & Parental Involvement Across Middle and High school 7th grade parental involvement 8th grade school behavior 9th grade grades/test scores 11th grade aspirations

College educated parents Grade 8 School Behavior Problems Ethnicity -.33 -.49 -.31 -.27 Grade 11 Aspirations Grade 6 School Achievement Using the same model, we tested the fit across SES groups by dividing the sample between those with a college degree and those who did not. The model with the factor loadings constrained to be equal significantly reduced the fit of the model. .81 Grade 9 School Achievement .67 Grade 7 Parent-Academic Involvement Total N=463, Δχ2(26)=62.57, p < .0001; unconstrained model: CFI = .98, RMSEA = .06 Hill, N. E., Castellino, D. R., Lansford, J. E., Nowlin, P., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. & Petit, G. (2004). Parent-Academic Involvement as Related to School Behavior, Achievement, and Aspirations: Demographic Variations across Adolescence. Child Development, 75(4), 1491-1509.

Parents without College Degree Grade 8 School Behavior Problems -.28 Ethnicity -.33 -.47 -.43 Grade 11 Aspirations Grade 6 School Achievement .43 -.20 .38 Grade 9 School Achievement .55 Grade 7 Parent-Academic Involvement Total N=463, Δχ2(26)=62.57, p < .0001 Hill, N. E., Castellino, D. R., Lansford, J. E., Nowlin, P., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. & Petit, G. (2004). Parent-Academic Involvement as Related to School Behavior, Achievement, and Aspirations: Demographic Variations across Adolescence. Child Development, 75(4), 1491-1509.

Conclusions Parental involvement for college educated parents was more effective in enhancing school behavior, achievement, and aspirations For parents without a college degree, involvement instilled goals for upward mobility, but not the preparation Ethnicity mattered more when parents did not have a college degree

Can Parents & Schools work together Can Parents & Schools work together? What is the problem with “partnership” language in parental involvement policies? How does it undermine the vary parents we wish to reach???

Existing Literature Parental Involvement among Latinos (Hill & Torres, 2010) It’s more than just translation—its relational Some types of involvement unrecognized (and unvalidated) Parental trust often interpreted as lack of interest Parental involvement among African Americans (Hill, 2011) Long legacy of discrimination--separate but “unequal” undermines trust Biases against youth & parents about the valuing education

The problem with “partnership” language What is a partnership?? It implies tacit and implicit agreement and alignment of home and school cultures Parents have or adopt the school’s value system about good parenting and being a good student Disagreement about “good” parenting undermines the common ground on which a partnership can be based. It assumes s a high level of trust between families and school personnel. a history of discrimination within the schools & current known biases experienced at school make trust and true collaborations difficult—if not impossible Partnerships imply equal roles, expertise, and decision making power… Undermines teachers’ authority, training & expertise Decisions are made and someone is “disempowered”

Partnerships privilege those who fit “seamlessly” into school culture and marginalizes those who do not.

The parental involvement pressure! It is often seen as a policy solution for achievement Ceci & Papierno’s “‘haves’ gain more” is alive and well. What should policy and practice look like? How will we know we have succeeded?