The Transition To High School For Academically Promising, Urban, Low-Income African American Youth - Statistical Data Included

Adolescence, Spring, 2000 by Barbara M. Newman, Mary C. Myers, Philip R. Newman, Brenda J. Lohman, Victoria L. Smith

After mothers, friends were most often mentioned as being supportive. More HPs (54%) mentioned friends than did LPs (22%). Four students listed fathers (including one stepfather) as supportive (3 HPs, 1 LP). The mother of one of the HPs who mentioned father was deceased; the two other HPs listed both mother and father.

Roughly a third of the students mentioned teachers as supportive of their academics (44% of the LPs and 23% of the HPs). Three students mentioned religion or church members as being supportive of their academics (all were HPs). One student, a low performer, did not mention anyone supportive of academics. Extended family members, including aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents, were mentioned 20 times by the students.

Who Is Supportive When Students Are Faced with Challenges

Students were asked to name the people to whom they turn when they are faced with challenges that are not necessarily related to school. The average number was similar for LPs and HPs (2.8 people for HPs and 2.5 people for LPs). Mothers and friends were mentioned almost equally by LPs and HPs: mothers were named by 5 HPs (38%) and 4 LPs (44%); friends were named by 4 HPs (31%) and 3 LPs (33%). Relatives other than parents were mentioned by 9 HPs (69%) and 2 LPs (22%). LPs were more likely than HPs to list adults who were not related to them (including teachers, tutors, counselors, principals, and Young Scholars Program coordinators) as being supportive.

What It Takes to Be a Successful Student

Table 4 shows the students' perceptions of what it takes to be a successful student at their school. The most common answer overall was hard work (45%). Seven HPs (54%) said hard work was necessary for success, compared with 3 LPs (33%). Five LPs (56%) said doing assignments was necessary for success, compared with 3 HPs (23%). These reflect the different pictures of the path to success held by HPs and LPs. HPs were more likely to emphasize self-regulation, including studying, dedication, determination, doing the best one can, focusing, prioritizing, using time wisely, and studying over the summer. LPs were more likely to mention behaviors that might be considered minimal requirements for academic achievement, such as doing the assignments, having a good relationship with the teacher, paying attention, and going to class.

Peers were believed to play a small role in the students' success. When peers were mentioned, however, they were generally not viewed positively: friends must be limited, time with friends must be limited, gangs must be avoided, and boyfriends should be kept out of one's thoughts. HPs and LPs had similar perspectives about the role of friends as it relates to being a successful student.

DISCUSSION

Twenty-two African American students from nine urban areas of Ohio provided their perceptions of the transition to ninth grade. All of these students had been identified as having academic promise in the sixth grade, and had done well in eighth grade in accordance with YSP standards. By the end of ninth grade, 13 had a grade point average of 3.0 or above. The nine other students were making adequate progress toward high school graduation, but were in danger of losing YSP support and financial aid for college. The goal of this study was to learn more about students' perceptions of this important school transition, the strategies they used to succeed, the explanations they gave for not doing well, and the influence of family, peers, and community.