"I Am Who I Am Because of Here!": School Settings as a Mechanism of Change in Establishing High-Risk Adolescents' Academic Identities. (February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brown, Elizabeth Levine; Kanny, M. Allison; Johnson, Blake
• Is Part Of: Journal of early adolescence. Volume 34:Number 2(2014:Feb.)
• Page Start: 178
• Page End: 205
• Publication Date: 2014-02
• Subjects: identity -- inner-city/urban youth -- positive youth development -- school context; Adolescence -- United States -- Periodicals; Adolescent -- Periodicals; Adolescence -- États-Unis -- Périodiques; 305.235
• DOI: 10.1177/0272431613480271
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-4316

Abstract

A growing body of research considers the role of school settings in supporting adolescents' social-emotional and behavioral development through instructional, social, and organizational practices (Eccles & Roeser, 2009). Recent lines of inquiry have begun to investigate individual aspects of the school setting and their influence in promoting positive academic outcomes and youth development (Shinn & Yoshikawa, 2008). These authors argue that, through an ecological lens, the school environment serves as a mechanism of change in supporting early adolescents' academic identities. By presenting evidence that the school plays a fundamental role in changing these high-risk, African American youths' academic perceptions, trajectories and aspirations, which led further to a 92% rate of students' matriculation to college, we introduce how school setting characteristics support these youths' conceptualizations of their academic identities. Moreover, this article addresses how our understanding of early adolescents' academic identities implicates future research and practice.