Ethnicity and Student Engagement

Abstract

The underachievement of African American, Latino, and American Indian students in the United States has been partially attributed to poor engagement in school (e.g., Connell, Spencer & Aber, 1994; Steele, 1997). In this chapter, we consider the role of ethnicity in student engagement. A number of factors have been posited to influence minority students’ engagement in school. Okagaki (2001) conceptualized these factors into three broad domains: the roles of the student, the family, and the school. We begin with a discussion of factors within the student, such as students’ ethnic identity beliefs, experiences with discrimination, and bicultural efficacy, and the relations of these factors to students’ engagement in school. In the second section, we examine the role that parents’ beliefs, expectations, and behaviors play in ethnic minority students’ engagement in school, paying particular attention to beliefs and values that can be attributed to parents’ cultural models of education (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001; Lareau, 1996). Third, we consider how factors associated with teachers, peers, and friends relate to ethnic minority students’ engagement in school. In particular, we focus on students’ access to same ethnic teachers and peers, the quality of relationships with teachers and friends, and pedagogical practices that may facilitate ethnic minority students’ engagement in school. Finally, we identify the need for stronger empirical research around the identification and amelioration of the discontinuities between home and school cultures.