Urban Middle School Students Research Articles

Exploring Indigenous Identities of Urban American Indian Youth of the Southwest

This study examined the indigenous identities of urban American Indian youth using measures related to three theoretical dimensions of Markstrom's identity model: identification (tribal and ethnic heritage), connection (reservation ties), and involvement in traditional cultural practices and spirituality. Data came from self-administered questionnaires completed by 142 urban American Indian middle school students in a southwestern metropolitan area with the largest urban American Indian population in the United States. Using both quantitative and qualitative measures, descriptive statistics showed most youth were connected to all three dimensions of indigenous identity. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that youth with the strongest sense of American Indian ethnic identity had native fathers and were heavily involved in traditional cultural practices and spirituality. Although urban American Indians may face challenges in maintaining their tribal identities, the youth in this study appeared strongly moored to their native indigenous heritage. Implications for future research are discussed.

Influence of Grade-Level Drinking Norms on Individual Drinking Behavior

To investigate which points of the middle-school drinking distribution are the most influential in the social contagion of drinking across the middle-school years, in order to identify potential social multipliers. We measured drinking intentions and behaviors by gender, school, and grade among urban middle-school students who participated in Project Northland Chicago in a longitudinal cohort design. Individual drinking behaviors were consistently influenced by extreme (80(th) percentile) drinking intentions and behaviors. This effect was mediated through normal or average levels of drinking, over time. Interventions can target extreme drinkers as the influential persons in middle-school grades.

Pathways From Middle School to College

This study is based on a 2-year evaluation of the Pathways Partnership, a precollege preparation program involving one school district, multiple colleges and universities, and several major businesses in a Midwestern metropolitan area. The week-long summer program cultivates youth leadership and the exploration of higher education through various student activities. The program also involves parents in an orientation at the beginning of the week and a graduation ceremony at its culmination, and it sponsors workshops on college choice and access for teachers in the district throughout the academic year. Through quantitative and qualitative methods we conclude that a program like Pathways has a positive effect on the academic self-efficacy and college aspirations of urban youth. Factors useful in predicting the likelihood with which urban middle school students hold postsecondary aspirations include peer norms, parental involvement, and academic self-efficacy. Our study contributes to the need for systematically derived research on precollege preparation programs and their effectiveness, and it also provides data and insights to promote the development of such partnerships in other interested communities.

The Longitudinal Effects of Residential Mobility on the Academic Achievement of Urban Elementary and Middle School Students

Residential stability matters to a young person’s educational development, and the present housing crisis has disrupted the residential stability of many families. This study uses latent growth-curve modeling to examine how changing residences affects math and reading achievement from third through eighth grade among a sample of urban elementary and middle-school students. Results show that residential moves in the early elementary years have a negative effect on math and reading achievement in third grade and a negative effect on the trajectory of reading scores thereafter. Further, there is a negative contemporaneous effect of mobility on math scores in third through eighth grade but no such contemporaneous effect on reading scores. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Urban Middle-School Science Teachers Beliefs about the Influence of Their Astronomer-Educator Partnerships on Students’ Astronomy Learner Characteristics

This qualitative study investigates the extent to which urban middle-school science teachers’ beliefs about their students’ astronomy learner characteristics were influenced by their partnership with an astronomer in their classroom. Twelve urban middle-school science teachers were interviewed after their participation in Project ASTRO during the 2009–2010 academic year using semistructured, in-depth interview techniques. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts. Themes that emerged from the data were formulated in relation to the study’s grand tour research question. The findings suggest that teachers believed that their partnership with an astronomer largely influenced their students’ level of motivation and increased their students’ level of questioning. Teachers also believed that their astronomer partner positively enhanced their students’ learning experiences in astronomy by making the subject area more realistic, relevant, and scientifically rigorous. Additionally, the study showed that teachers believed that their partnership with an astronomer in their classroom positively affected their students’ behaviors and attitudes in middle-achieving and high-achieving schools. The study further revealed that partnering with an astronomer had a relatively minor impact on urban middle-school science teachers’ beliefs about their students’ mathematical cognitive ability. The implications of these findings suggest that astronomer-educator partnerships may enhance urban middle-school students’ learning experiences in astronomy and promote their engagement with science. However, new educational approaches need to be developed and assessed to help bolster students’ understanding of astronomy, especially in low-achieving urban school settings.

Academic identification as a mediator of the relationship between parental socialization and academic achievement

This study examines whether academic identification, or one’s psychological and emotional investment in academics, mediates the association between child-reported parental educational socialization and standardized achievement test scores among a predominantly ethnic minority sample of 367 urban middle school students. We predicted that academic identification would mediate the relationship between five forms of perceived parental academic socialization (future-oriented, teaching-oriented, effort-oriented, shame-oriented, and guilt-oriented) and achievement when controlling for prior achievement. We found confirmation for this effect among analyses involving teaching, future, and guilt forms of socialization. For teaching, this effect was not present for Black boys. Direct effects indicated that teaching and future socialization was inversely related to student achievement, but when mediated by academic identification it was positive. Guilt was only related to achievement through academic identification. Results suggest the importance of the manner in which parental educational socialization is engaged.

Evaluating the Usability of a Professional Modeling Tool Repurposed for Middle School Learning

This paper reports the results of a three-stage usability test of a modeling tool designed to support learners’ deep understanding of the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. The design process involved repurposing an existing modeling technology used by professional scientists into a learning tool specifically designed for middle school students. To evaluate usability, we analyzed students’ task performance and task completion time as they worked on an activity with the repurposed modeling technology. In stage 1, we conducted remote testing of an early modeling prototype with urban middle school students (n = 84). In stages 2 and 3, we used screencasting software to record students’ mouse and keyboard movements during collaborative think-alouds (n = 22) and conducted a qualitative analysis of their peer discussions. Taken together, the study findings revealed two kinds of usability issues that interfered with students’ productive use of the tool: issues related to the use of data and information, and issues related to the use of the modeling technology. The study findings resulted in design improvements that led to stronger usability outcomes and higher task performance among students. In this paper, we describe our methods for usability testing, our research findings, and our design solutions for supporting students’ use of the modeling technology and use of data. The paper concludes with implications for the design and study of modeling technologies for science learning.

Peer Victimization and School Safety: The Role of Coping Effectiveness

Peer victimization is a documented antecedent of poor mental health outcomes for children and adolescents. This article explored the role of coping effectiveness in the association between victimization and perceived school safety. A sample of urban middle school students (N = 509) in the southeastern United States were surveyed regarding victimization, coping behaviors, and school climate. Data analysis were conducted in Mplus (Version 6.1) with a Bayesian analytic approach that allowed for incorporation of findings from a previous study using comparable measures (Varjas, Henrich, & Meyers, 2009). The findings supported a hypothesized buffering effect of coping effectiveness on the association between victimization and school safety. Unexpectedly, there was a suppressing indirect effect of coping effectiveness on the association between victimization and safety. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of participatory action models of research and understanding developmental trends in children's coping behavior.

Urban Conflict Resolution: An Evidence-Based Approach

As demand for youth violence prevention programs escalates, time within traditional school day schedules and budgets are increasingly unable to accommodate them. Short, effective programs respectful of financial constraints will ensure that students in need receive quality programming. The Leadership Program’s Violence Prevention Project’s (VPP) 12 session school-based preventive intervention targets urban middle (6-8 grades) and high school (9-10th grades) students. It reduces violence by increasing peer support, improving conflict resolution skills, and changing norms about using aggression and violence. Rated a promising model program by OJJDP, VPP uses engaging activities within core components to make change. Activities used and tools for maintaining quality is described.

Recognizing the “Social” in Literacy as a Social Practice: Building on the Resources of Nonmainstream Students

AbstractThis article describes an after‐school program in which immigrant and urban low‐income middle school students collaborated to create social maps of their school and to produce a multilingual video against gossip. These literacy‐based projects combined critical pedagogy and culturally relevant pedagogy to promote meaningful interactions between young people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The data presented reveal the potential power of learning environments that use the cultural and social resources of nonmainstream youth to promote agency and engagement.

The Impact of a Geospatial Technology-Supported Energy Curriculum on Middle School Students’ Science Achievement

Geospatial technologies are increasingly being integrated in science classrooms to foster learning. This study examined whether a Web-enhanced science inquiry curriculum supported by geospatial technologies promoted urban middle school students’ understanding of energy concepts. The participants included one science teacher and 108 eighth-grade students classified in three ability level tracks. Data were gathered through pre/posttest content knowledge assessments, daily classroom observations, and daily reflective meetings with the teacher. Findings indicated a significant increase in the energy content knowledge for all the students. Effect sizes were large for all three ability level tracks, with the middle and low track classes having larger effect sizes than the upper track class. Learners in all three tracks were highly engaged with the curriculum. Curriculum effectiveness and practical issues involved with using geospatial technologies to support science learning are discussed.

School effect on decreasing achievement gap between urban and rural middle school students

School effect on decreasing achievement gap between urban and rural middle school students

Perceptions of Social Support, Empowerment and Youth Risk Behaviors

This study examined the association of perceived social support and community empowerment among urban middle-school students living in Matamoros, Mexico and the risk behaviors of fighting, alcohol and tobacco use, and sexual activity. Middle school students (n = 1,181) from 32 public and private Mexican schools were surveyed. Weighted multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted. Among girls, lack of parent/teacher interactions regarding school increased odds for fighting, alcohol and tobacco use. Among boys, lack of empowerment increased odds of alcohol and tobacco use and lack of parent/teacher interactions regarding school increased odds for sexual activity. Community empowerment and perceived social support are uniquely associated with risk behaviors for girls and boys. Additionally, perceived social support from individuals most immediate to the youth are associated with protection against risk for some behaviors, while perceived social support from individuals more removed from youth have mixed association with risk behaviors.

Classroom Norms and Individual Smoking Behavior in Middle School

To investigate whether smoking prevalence in grade-level networks influences individual smoking, suggesting that peers are important social multipliers in teen smoking. We measured gender-specific, grade-level recent and life-time smoking among urban middle-school students who participated in Project Northland Chicago in a longitudinal cohort design. Within schools, grade-level recent smoking had comparable effects on girls' and boys' individual-level smoking. Grade-level lifetime smoking had a greater effect on girls' smoking. Interventions can target middle school classes and schools broadly, without making the identification of friendship networks a concern.

Influences of Constructivist-Oriented Nutrition Education on Urban Middle School Students' Nutrition Knowledge, Self-efficacy, and Behaviors

Background: Health professionals are looking to nutrition-based youth health interventions in K-12 schools to combat the growing obesity crisis; however, none have explored the influences of interventions guided by constructivist learning theory. Purpose: This study examined the influences of a constructivist-oriented nutrition education program on urban middle school students' nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy and behaviors. Methods: A quasi-experimental design examined changes in middle schools students' (N = 1,476) nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy and behaviors, relative to a control group (N = 656), in response to a 6-lesson nutrition education intervention. Results: For dietary knowledge and self-efficacy, there were significant group and time main effects and group x time interactions. In addition, there were significant group and time main effects and a group x time interaction for the dietary behaviors related to consuming fruits, vegetables, meats and “other” food groups, but not dairy or grains. Discussion: The constructivist-oriented professional development, curriculum and instruction yielded significant changes in middle schools students' nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy and behaviors. Translation to Health Education Practice: Given the efficacy of the intervention curriculum and instruction, K-12 teachers are encouraged to implement similar high quality, theoretically grounded efforts. However, recommendations are made that additional focus be given to key items that proved resistant to change.

Career-Related Success-Learning Experiences of Academically Underachieving Urban Middle School Students

Evidence has supported the effectiveness of educational and psychosocial interventions that include strengths and promote the competence enhancement of schoolchildren. Nevertheless, students in low-income, culturally diverse urban schools who are academically underachieving may be the least likely but most in need to experience feedback about their strengths and potential competence for academic and career development. In the context of providing a preventative career exploration intervention, this instrumental case study of eight low-income Hispanic and Black urban middle school students identified as academically underachieving explored how four theoretically based types of success-learning experiences were associated with their evolving career-related interests and ability beliefs. Results include analyses of qualitative and quantitative data, themes (including those not captured by theoretical constructs), and narrative summaries of the accomplishment stories of these youth, as derived from interviews. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Teaching Newton’s Laws to Urban Middle School Students in a College-Based Science Enrichment Program

Participation in secondary physics has been shown to be limited for underrepresented students in urban school districts. This study explores an alternative means for providing physics access for city youth through the use of a university-based Saturday enrichment program for eighth grade Latino students. During a three-week unit on Newton’s laws, students engaged in inquiry-based lessons that featured hands-on tasks, probeware with handheld sensing devices, computer simulations, iPod Touch applications, and multiple representations of mechanics concepts. Students were tested pre- and post- with a modified Force Concept Inventory. Results indicated significant gains in student understanding of Newton’s laws. Implications for physics teaching and learning in urban middle schools and informal science settings are discussed.

Playback Theatre: Effects on students’ views of aggression and empathy within a forensic context

The objectives of this study were twofold: to better understand urban children and adolescents’ views of aggression and empathy and how those views may change when exposed to a Playback Theatre intervention; and to measure students’ understanding of the criminal justice/court system through the impact of instructive material on their comprehension levels. In an urban middle school, fifth and eighth grade students were randomly assigned (within age and gender) to experience a Playback Theatre intervention ( N = 24) or to a video intervention control group ( N = 23). All of the students received instruction on the basics of the criminal justice system. Also, students in both groups received pre- and post-intervention testing, including a comprehension test of the criminal justice/court system, an aggression questionnaire and an empathy scale. Students in both groups showed a significant increase in comprehension levels of the criminal justice/court system between assessments. Also, students’ ratings of tolerance for aggression were significantly reduced after exposure to Playback Theatre, however, students’ empathy scores were not significantly affected. The intervention of Playback Theatre yielded qualitative responses from students indicating that better perspective taking might be the mechanism underlying the effects of the Playback Theatre experience.

Stimulant Adherence and Academic Performance in Urban Youth With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This analysis assessed whether stimulant adherence was associated with improvement in academic grade point average (GPA) among children diagnosed with and treated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Medicaid claims were merged with academic records from Philadelphia public schools of Medicaid-eligible children in first through eighth grades who were diagnosed with ADHD and who had filled one or more stimulant prescription. Students diagnosed with mental retardation, autism, or speech, hearing, visual, or language impairments were excluded. Marking periods were scored for GPA (range: 0-4.0) based on English, mathematics, social studies, and science grades and for stimulant adherence (medication possession ratio ≥ 0.70). Random and fixed-effects models estimated the effects of stimulant adherence on GPA, between all adherent and nonadherent marking periods in aggregate and within individual student's marking periods, respectively. A total of 3,543 students contributed 29,992 marking periods, of which 18.6% were adherent. Mean GPA was significantly higher during stimulant-adherent (2.18) than stimulant-nonadherent (1.99) marking periods in aggregate (p < .0001). The regression coefficient representing within-student association between stimulant adherence and GPA over time was 0.108 (p < .0001), indicating that adherence was associated with a 0.108 increase in GPA. In stratified analyses, analogous coefficients were 0.106 for boys, 0.111 for girls, 0.078 for elementary students, and 0.118 for middle school students (all p < .0001). The association was stronger among students with (0.139) than without (0.088) comorbid disruptive behavior disorders (both p < .0001). Stimulant adherence, although found to be low among urban elementary and middle school students diagnosed with ADHD, was associated with a marginal improvement in GPA.

Teacher Support and Student’s Self-efficacy Beliefs

Abstract&#x0D; The present study investigated the role of teacher support and its influence on middle school student’s self-efficacy beliefs. A statewide survey of 9,702 urban and rural middle school students found that teacher support declined across the middle school years and that this had negative effects on student self-efficacy beliefs. The data do show that girls received more support than did boys and that girls also had generally higher self-efficacy beliefs than did boys. Overall, the results show that middle school teachers can do more in fostering self-efficacy, particularly in boys, and maintaining support throughout a student’s middle school experience. The present study of student’s perceptions of teacher support over the middle school years is an important step in our ability to understand the complex ways in which teachers influence student’s self-efficacy beliefs.