Perceived Teacher Discrimination and Academic Achievement Among Urban Caribbean Black and African American Youth: School Bonding and Family Support as Protective Factors

Abstract

This study examined the relations of perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, and family support to academic achievement among 1,122 urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents. Results revealed that teacher discrimination was negatively related to academic achievement for urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents with school bonding and emotional family support mediating the relationship. School bonding was a protective factor for both adolescent groups, but emotional family support for urban Caribbean Black adolescents only. Implications for school counselors and educators are discussed.

Keywords

perceived teacher discrimination school bonding family support academic achievement

It is imperative that teachers and counselors begin to acknowledge the presence and effect of teacher discrimination on students’ mental health and academic well-being and the protective factors that may buffer students in the face of discrimination experiences (Sehgal, Jeffries, & Rappaport, 2017). Racial discrimination can be defined as unfair, differential treatment on the basis of race that disadvantages a racial group (Banks, Kohn-Wood, & Spencer, 2006). In the current study, we focus specifically on perceived racial discrimination by teachers. The often one-sided power relationship between teachers and their students makes differential treatment across groups of students fairly easy (Carter, Skiba, Arredondo, & Pollock, 2017). Discrimination disproportionately affects Black students in K-12 schools across the United States, with 87% to 94% of Black adolescents reporting experiencing discrimination of some sort from their teachers within the past 3 months to 1 year (e.g., Chavous, Rivas-Drake, Smalls, Griffin, & Cogburn, 2008; Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006; Smalls, White, Chavous, & Sellers, 2007). For example, compared with their Whites peers, urban Black students report being graded unfairly, discouraged from joining advanced level courses, ignored when they raised their hands, receiving more teacher referrals, subjected to harsher punishments, viewed as dishonest, threatening or of inferior character, accused of cheating, frequently searched for weapons and drugs, and held to lower academic expectations (Bryan, Day-Vines, Griffin, & Moore-Thomas, 2012; Chavous et al., 2008; Dotterer, McHale, & Crouter, 2009; Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000; Rosenbloom & Way, 2004; Sehgal et al., 2017; Thomas, 2012; Wong, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2003).

Research has shown that perceived discrimination is associated with a range of adverse outcomes, especially for Black youth attending urban schools, including poor academic performance (Becker & Luthar, 2002; Rüppel, Liersch, & Walter, 2015). For example, perceived teacher discrimination is associated with declines in grades, standardized test scores, and graduation rates; and increases in discipline referrals, school detentions, and suspensions (e.g., Bryan, Day-Vines, et al., 2012; Chavous et al., 2008; Thames et al., 2013; Thomas, 2012; Totura, Karver, & Gesten, 2014). A possible explanation for this might be that perceiving teacher discrimination contributes to students’ reduced sense of belonging at school, disengagement from school, decreased educational aspirations, and perceptions of the school environment as unsafe, all of which can negatively impact academic performance (e.g., Becker & Luthar, 2002; Benner & Kim, 2009; DeGarmo & Martinez, 2006; Hood, Bradley, & Ferguson, 2017).

In contrast to studies on the effects of perceived teacher discrimination on academic performance, much less information exists on how perceptions of teacher discrimination and their effects on academic outcomes vary among urban Black youth from different ethnic groups (Bryan, Holcomb-McCoy, Moore-Thomas, & Day-Vines, 2009). The common practice among researchers is to lump Blacks into one homogeneous group, ignoring the unique cultural and ethnic differences found among group members (Rong & Brown, 2002; Thomas et al., 2009). Trimble and Dickson (2005) call this practice ethnic glossing—the overgeneralization or simplistic categorical label used to refer to an ethnic or cultural group that obscures differences within the group. For example, African American and Caribbean Black adolescents may share the same race of being Black, but are of different ethnicities due to their different histories, culture, traditions, and values (Rong & Brown, 2002; Thomas et al., 2009). A failure to appreciate the heterogeneity within ethnic groups can ultimately lead to insensitive and ineffective interventions, as such differences may have important implications for the design of culturally tailored interventions that promote academic achievement (Thomas et al., 2009).

Relatedly, few studies have utilized a risk and resilience framework for identifying and understanding the protective factors (individual characteristics and environmental assets) that moderate or mediate the effects of risks (e.g., perceived teacher discrimination) that increase the probability of an undesirable outcome, such as school failure (e.g., McGee & Pearman, 2014; Williams & Bryan, 2013). No study to date has examined how protective factors against discrimination might operate differently across racial and ethnic groups. Identifying and understanding the protective factors that buffer the negative effects of perceived discrimination on academic performance and how they operate across ethnicities can better support the design of preventive interventions (Williams & Bryan, 2013). The reader is encouraged to explore Risk and Resilience in Childhood: An Ecological Perspective (Fraser, 2004) for a more comprehensive review of the risk and resilience literature.

School Bonding as a Protective Factor

One factor that may hold promise as a buffer against the negative impact of perceived teacher discrimination on academic outcomes is school bonding. School bonding has been conceptualized and labeled in a variety of ways. It is also commonly referred to as school connectedness, school engagement, school belonging, and student engagement (Biag, 2016; Libbey, 2004). School bonding is a multidimensional concept that involves the connections students experience at their school; the extent to which they like and feel cared for and respected by their teachers (i.e., attachment to teachers), the degree to which they like and feel belonging to their school (i.e., attachment to school), their level of participation and involvement in extracurricular and out of school activities (i.e., school involvement), and their commitment to learning and belief in the value of school (i.e., school commitment; Bryan, Day-Vines, et al., 2012). Regardless of how school bonding is conceptualized, high levels of school bonding have been consistently associated with positive academic outcomes such as increased academic motivation, self-efficacy, higher grade point averages, and lower levels of problem behaviors (e.g., Bondy, Peguero, & Johnson, 2016; Jose, Ryan, & Pryor, 2012; Oelsner, Lippold, & Greenberg, 2011; Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000). Research on the relationship between school bonding and perceived teacher discrimination is just beginning to emerge. In one of the only studies found on the topic, McWhirter, Garcia, and Bines (2018) concluded that school connectedness partially mediates the relationship between discrimination experiences at school and drop out thoughts. The present study proposed that school connectedness might be one of the experiences that act as a coping resource for Black adolescents and buffers the associations between perceived teacher discrimination and poor academic outcomes.

Family Support as a Protective Factor

Another factor that may hold promise as a buffer against the negative impact of perceived teacher discrimination on academic outcomes is family support. For many urban Black youth, family may also serve as an important source of support for responding to perceived discrimination, because family members usually share the same racial or ethnic background—and most likely encounter discrimination in their daily lives (Brondolo, Ver Halen, Pencille, Beatty, & Contrada, 2009; Carter & Forsyth, 2010). As several researchers have noted, families can support students who have experienced perceived discrimination by providing emotional support through the validation of feelings, a sense of empathy, and coping assistance by way of information, advice, and encouragement (Thoits, 2011); soothing distressed feelings and reminding adolescents of the environmental factors related to racial discrimination (Wei, Yeh, Chao, Carrera, & Su, 2013); teaching adolescents about the realities of racial oppression while emphasizing the possibility of achieving success in the face of these obstacles (Sarkisian, Gerena, & Gerstel, 2007); and instilling racial/ethnic pride (Carter & Forsyth, 2010).

Also, studies have demonstrated that family support serves a protective role to reduce the adverse influence of racial discrimination on psychological well-being, school suspensions, and school engagement among immigrant students and students of color (Cooper, Brown, Metzger, Clinton, & Guthrie, 2013; Wei et al., 2013). For instance, Wei et al. (2013) indicated that family support protects Asian American male college students from negative campus experiences and then leads to diminished psychological distress. Another study indicated that parent support moderated the associations between racial discrimination and students’ depressive symptoms and number of school suspensions among African American adolescents (Cooper et al., 2013). Thus, parents’ support in response to racial discrimination may be crucial for Black students’ academic outcomes. Nonetheless, the racial and ethnic distribution of family support is not straightforward. No study to date has examined the within-in group variations in the type of and extent to which family support protects against the negative effects of perceived discrimination among Black youth from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The majority of the literature on perceived discrimination pertains to social support as a general construct and does not differentiate between different sources or types of support. We examined two forms of family support, emotional support (e.g., listening to and encouraging their children) and tangible support (e.g., providing financial and other resources; Morrison & Bryan, 2014). Furthermore, no study has specifically examined the relationships between family support, perceived teacher discrimination, and academic achievement.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the following research questions:

Research Question 1: What relationships exist between perceived teacher discrimination and academic achievement among urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents after controlling for demographic variables (i.e., gender, ethnicity, age, household income, school diversity, or racial composition of the school)?

Research Question 2: Do the effects of perceived teacher discrimination on academic achievement among urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents change once school bonding and family support (i.e., intervening [or mediator] variables) are taken into consideration?

Research Question 3: Do the relationships among perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, family support, and academic achievement vary between urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents (i.e., by ethnicity)?

Results of this study should help counselors and educators recognize ethnic variation in urban Black students’ educational experiences and develop need-specific services and interventions for Caribbean and African American students to enhance their school experiences and outcomes.

Method

Participants

Participants were 1,122 urban Black youth who participated in the National Survey of American Life (NSAL; Jackson et al., 2004). The ethnic makeup included urban African American (n = 776) and Caribbean Black youth (n = 346). They ranged in age from 13 to 17 years (M = 15 years, SD = 1.41 years), comprised 47.8% males (n = 536) and 52.2% females (n = 586). Of the males, 48.5% were African American and 46.2% Caribbean Black, and of the females, 51.5% were African American and 53.8% Caribbean Black. The majority of participants lived in urban cities or surrounding areas. Most Caribbean Black adolescents (95.3%) lived in metropolitan areas of one million or more people while 4.7% lived in metropolitan areas of less than one million. Over half of African American adolescents (54.2%) lived in metropolitan areas of one million or more people, 31.7% lived in metropolitan areas of less than one million, 9.4% lived in urban areas, and 4.7% lived in rural areas.

Regarding their immigrant or generational status, most of the Caribbean Black adolescents’ parents were first-generation immigrants; 78% of them had parents born in the Caribbean, 16% had one parent each born in the United States and the Caribbean, and 6% had both parents born in the United States. Approximately 32% of their parents came to the United States more than 20 years ago, 29% came 11 to 20 years ago, and 16% came 0 to 10 years ago. Most Caribbean Black adolescents were born in the United States, with only 4% born in the Caribbean. The overall survey response rate was 80.6% (80.4% for African Americans and 83.5% for Caribbean Blacks).

Concerning parents’ education, most of the adolescents’ mothers had between 9 and 12 years of education (65% African American; 52% Caribbean Black) and between 13 and 16 years of education (33% African American; 28% Caribbean Black) with 1.8% of African American and 18% of Caribbean Black mothers having 17 or more years of education and very small percentages (0.2% African American; 2.0% Caribbean Black) having less than 9 years of education.

Measures

Dependent variable

We measured academic achievement by participants’ self-reported grades. Students were asked whether they earned mostly As, Bs, Cs, Ds, or Fs in school. Academic achievement was coded as an ordinal variable (i.e., 1 = F/D, 2 = C, 3 = B, 4 = A) with A as the reference category in all analyses. Actual grades from school transcripts were not available in this study; therefore, we used self-reported grades because previous research indicated high correlations between self-reported grades and measures of actual academic achievement (e.g., Cassady, 2001; Hishinuma, Johnson, Foster, & Nishimura, 2001). Overall, 16% of adolescents reported they received mostly As, 44% reported mostly Bs, 35% reported mostly Cs, and 5% reported mostly Ds or Fs. Among African American adolescents, 15% reported they received mostly As, 43.9% reported mostly Bs, 36.7% reported mostly Cs, and 4.4% reported mostly Ds or Fs, whereas among Caribbean Black adolescents, 15% reported they received mostly As, 52.4% reported mostly Bs, 26.8% reported mostly Cs, and 5.9% reported mostly Ds or Fs.

Independent variables

Perceived teacher discrimination

Perceived teacher discrimination was measured by the Perceived Teacher Discrimination Scale, a modified version of the Everyday Discrimination Scale (Williams, Yu, Jackson, & Anderson, 1997). It comprises three items that examine respondents’ perception of discrimination from his or her teachers: “In your day-to-day life how often have any of the following things happened to you?” (a) Your teachers treat you with less respect than other students, (b) your teachers act as if they think you are not smart, and (c) your teachers act as if they are afraid of you. The items were rated on a 6-point Likert-type scale (1 = almost everyday, 2 = at least once a week, 3 = a few times a month, 4 = a few times a year, 5 = less than once a year, and 6 = never). The three items were recoded to dichotomous items (yes = 1 and no = 0); total scores ranged from 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating that students believe they experienced more types of discriminatory events from teachers in the previous year. In the sample, 67.1% of African American adolescents and 65.5% of Caribbean adolescents reported no perceived teacher discrimination while 32.9% and 33.5% of African American and Caribbean adolescents, respectively, reported experiencing one to three types of perceived teacher discrimination. Perceived discrimination was used as a dichotomous variable in the analyses (0 = None, 1 = 1-3 counts) with 1 as the reference category.

Intervening Variables

School bonding

School bonding was conceptualized as the degree to which adolescents are attached to school and teachers and involved in extracurricular activities. We utilized a nine-item scale as a global measure of school bonding comprising items drawn from the school bonding literature (see Libbey, 2004). It measures the school attachment and school commitment aspects of school bonding including “I like school,” “I like my teachers,” “getting good grades is important to me,” “Homework is a waste of time,” and “I (feel/felt) as if I (don’t/didn’t) belong at school.” Respondents rated the nine items on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 4 = not at all true to 1 = very true. The scale was reversed for positively worded items (e.g., “Most of my teachers treat me fairly”) so that higher scores indicate stronger bonds to school demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .71). The global measure of school bonding was standardized for use in the analyses. We also used four separate items that captured the school involvement aspect of school bonding, that is, students’ involvement in extracurricular and out of school activities. The four items that measured school involvement asked how many hours a day the adolescent spent on homework, in after-school academics, in sports, and in after-school nonacademics and were rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (none, 1 or less hours, 2 hours, 3-4 hours, 5 or more hours). These four measures of school involvement were used in their original metric in the analyses.

Family support

Family support comprised two subscales measuring emotional support and tangible support. Emotional family support was measured by three items that assessed adolescents’ perceptions about how often their family made them feel loved, listened to them, and expressed concern about them. Tangible family support was measured by two items that assessed adolescents’ perceptions about how often their family provided transportation or helped them financially. The items were measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale (never needed help, never, not too often, fairly often, and very often). Both measures of family support were standardized for use in the analyses.

Control Variables

We controlled for the following variables: ethnicity (African American, Caribbean American); age (13-17 years); gender (male, female); household income; and school diversity or racial composition of the school. Ethnicity was only used as a control variable when analyses were conducted for the total sample. Household income was a categorical variable with four levels (1 = US$0-US$17,999; 2 = US$18,000-US$31,999; 3 = US$32,000-US$54,999; 4 = US$55,000+). On average, 26.3% of adolescents lived in households with income in the US$0 to US$17,999 range, 28.2% in the US$18,000 to US$31,999 range, 24.2% in the US$32,000 to US$54,999 range, and 20.9% with household income of US$55,000 or above. The median family income was US$28,000 (US$26,000 for African Americans and US$32,250 for Caribbean Blacks) with household income among African American adolescents (i.e., 30% in US$0-US$17,999 range; 27.6% in US$18,000-US$31,999 range; 23.3% in US$32,000-US$54,999 range; 19.1% in US$55,000+ range) and Caribbean Black adolescents’ (i.e., 18.4% in US$0-US$17,999 range; 30% in US$18,000-US$31,999 range; 26.5% in US$32,000-US$54,999 range; 25.1% in US$55,000+ range) varying somewhat in the lower and upper ranges. School diversity was a measure of the racial composition of the school. It was measured by an item asking adolescents to rate the amount of Black kids in the school on a 5-point scale (i.e., none, few, some, many, all). The categories none and few were combined because of the small numbers of students who said none. On average, 14.2% of adolescents reported having none or a few Black kids in their classes, 21.6% some, 25.9% many, and 38.4% all Black kids in their classes. The reference categories for the control variables in order were Caribbean American, 17 years old, female, $55,000 or more, and All.

Procedures and Data Analysis

NSAL is a nationally representative complex sample of urban African American and Caribbean Black households that allows researchers to examine within-race variation in the mental health and life outcomes of families and youth who self-identified as African American and Caribbean Black (Jackson et al., 2004; Thomas et al., 2009). We used SPSS 22.0 (IBM Corp., 2012) Complex Samples to conduct the data analyses on 1,122 Caribbean Black and African American adolescents drawn from NSAL. To answer the research questions, we conducted three hierarchical ordinal logistic regression analyses in which variables were entered in blocks (also known as steps or models) to assess the contributions of perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, and family support to academic achievement (i.e., self-reported grades) first for the full sample and then for each of the African American and Caribbean Black subsamples. Ordinal logistic regression takes into account the ordered nature of the dependent variable with the independent variables predicting the odds of an individual achieving a particular score or lower (Osborne, 2014). Using Aneshensel’s (2012) approach to theory-based data analysis, we entered perceived discrimination as a risk factor in Block 2 (Model 2) prior to the entry of school bonding and family support as protective factors in Block 3 (Model 3) to determine whether school bonding and family support acted as intervening (or mediator) variables, that is, whether they reduced or eliminated the association between perceived discrimination and academic achievement upon entry to the model. Sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, household income levels, school diversity) were entered in Block 1 (Model 1) of the regression analyses as control variables. Ethnicity was controlled for in the first block only when analyses were conducted on African American and Caribbean Blacks as a total sample.

Given that the variables were entered in a hierarchical order (or in blocks), we used the Nagelkerke R², change in R², and the related Wald χ² tests, to determine the added contribution at each step of the analyses (Hahs-Vaughn, 2017). For effect size estimators, we used odds ratio (1.5 = small effect, 2.5 = medium effect, and 3.5 = large effect) to determine the practical significance of the results (Maher, Markey, & Ebert-May, 2013). As recommended, prior to examining the proportional odds assumption that the regression coefficients are the same for all categories of the dependent variable, we investigated binary logistic regression models for each dichotomous response (Bender & Grouven, 1997; Norušis, 2012). We assessed the proportional odds assumption using the test of parallel lines, which was nonsignificant (p > .05) for each of the three ordinal logistic regression analyses, indicating that the effects of the independent variables are the same across all levels of academic grades.

Results

Ordinal Logistic Regression for the Total Sample

Nonparametric correlations indicated significant small intercorrelations among perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, family support, and academic achievement ranging from .|10| to .|27| at the .05 level of significance. In Table 1, we present the results of the ordinal logistic regression for the total sample. The ordinal logistic regression model was significant at the first step comprising only demographic variables, adjusted Wald χ² (12.37) = 31.40, p < .01, Nagelkerke R² = .12, at the second step when perceived teacher discrimination was entered, adjusted Wald χ² (12.91) = 35.28, p < .01, Nagelkerke R² = .14, and at the third step when the school bonding and family support variables were entered, adjusted Wald χ² (16.10) = 40.50, p < .01, Nagelkerke R² = .22. For the total sample, in the first block or model, ethnicity, gender, and level of household income were associated with self-reported grades. Male adolescents had 32% lower odds of making higher grades (odds ratio [OR] = .68) than females and African American adolescents had 58% lower odds of making higher grades (OR = .42) than Caribbean Black adolescents (who had 1/.42 = 2.38 greater odds of higher grades). Students whose household income was lower than US$55,000 had lower odds (ORs = .44-.57) of making higher grades than whose household income was US$55,000 or above. Students whose household income was US$55,000 or above had double the odds (ORs = 1.75-2.27) of making higher grades than students in lower income groups. In the second block, students who reported no perceived teacher discrimination had 64% greater odds (OR = 1.64) of making higher grades compared with students who believe they experienced teacher discrimination (OR = .61). Ethnicity, gender, and level of household income continued to be associated with self-reported grades. In the final block or model, school bonding and hours on homework were significantly associated with higher grades. With every one-unit increase in school bonding, the odds of higher grades increased (OR = 1.52). With every one-unit increase in hours spent daily doing homework, the odds of higher grades increased by 18% (OR = 1.18). Ethnicity, gender, level of household income, and teacher discrimination continued to be associated with self-reported grades in the same direction. However, the effect for teacher discrimination was weakened (OR = 1.40) after school bonding was included in the model. Family support was not a predictor of grades for the combined sample.

Table 1.

Hierarchical Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis Predicting Grades for the Combined Sample (N = 1,099).

	Model 1			Model 2			Model 3
	B	SE	OR	B	SE	OR	B	SE	OR
Intercepts/thresholds^a
Ds and Fs	−4.694	.352	0.009	−4.452	.384	0.012	−4.187	.486	0.015
Cs	−1.898	.269	0.150	−1.642	.310	0.194	−1.260	.421	0.284
Bs	0.345	.230	1.412	0.630	.276	1.878	1.113	.388	3.044
Ethnicity^a
African American	−0.387**	.116	0.679	−0.420***	.110	0.657	−0.499**	.146	0.607
Caribbean Black
Age^a
13 years old	−0.051	.222	0.950	−0.144	.237	0.866	−0.114	.238	0.892
14 years old	−0.269	.254	0.764	−0.346	.273	0.708	−0.321	.313	0.725
15 years old	−0.252	.257	0.777	−0.329	.268	0.719	−0.243	.274	0.784
16 years old	0.151	.221	1.163	0.082	.220	1.085	.131	.215	1.140
17 years old
Gender^a
Male	−0.868***	.143	0.420	−0.850***	.146	0.427	−0.852***	.145	0.427
Female
Household income^a
US$0-US$17,999	−0.820**	.252	0.440	−0.817**	.253	0.442	−0.790**	.266	0.454
US$18,000-US$31,999	−0.559*	.221	0.572	−0.559*	.214	0.572	−0.583**	.200	0.558
US$32,000-US$54,999	−0.789**	.240	0.454	−0.778**	.228	0.459	−0.797**	.229	0.451
US$55,000+
School diversity/% of Black students in class^a
None/few	−0.069	.231	0.933	−0.062	.237	0.940	−0.090	.226	0.914
Some	0.123	.204	1.131	0.138	.198	1.148	0.084	.183	1.088
Many	−0.081	.137	0.922	−0.037	.141	0.964	−0.094	.136	0.911
All
Perceived teacher discrimination^a
None				0.495**	.157	1.640	0.336*	.162	1.400
1-3 count
School bonding variables
School bonding^b							0.418***	.093	1.519
Hours on homework daily^c							0.161**	.059	1.175
Hours in afterschool academics daily^c							−0.024	.051	0.976
Hours in sports daily^c							0.078	.068	1.081
Hours in afterschool nonacademics daily^c							0.058	.059	1.059
Family support variables
Emotional support^b							−0.035	.097	0.966
Tangible support^b							0.016	.078	1.016
Nagelkerke R²	12			.14			0.22

Note. OR = odds ratio.

Indicates reference category for each variable with superscript a in order: A’s, Caribbean Black, 17 years old, female, $55,000 or more, All, and 1-3 counts.

Standardized composite variable.

Variable in original measurement metric.

p < .05. **p <. 01. ***p < .001.

Ordinal Logistic Regression for the African American Sample

The ordinal logistic regression model was significant at the first step comprising only demographic variables, adjusted Wald χ² (11.79) = 29.22, p < .01, Nagelkerke R² = .12, at the second step when perceived teacher discrimination was entered, adjusted Wald χ² (12.28) = 32.89, p < .01, Nagelkerke R² = .14, and at the third step when the school bonding and family support variables were entered, adjusted Wald χ² (15.44) = 36.96, p < .01, Nagelkerke R² = .23.

The models for the African American sample performed similarly to the total sample at each block. In the first block, gender and level of household income were associated with self-reported grades. African American male adolescents had 56% lower odds of making higher grades (OR = .44) than African American females (OR = 2.27). Students whose household income was lower than US$55,000 had lower odds of making higher grades (ORs = .42-.57). Students whose household income was US$55,000 or above had double the odds (ORs = 1.76-2.39) of making higher grades than students in lower income groups. In the second block, students who reported no perceived teacher discrimination had 61% greater odds (OR = 1.61) of making higher grades compared with students who believed they experienced teacher discrimination (OR = .62). Gender and level of household income continued to be associated with self-reported grades. In the final block, school bonding and hours a day adolescents spent doing homework were significantly associated with higher grades. With every one-unit increase in school bonding, the odds of higher grades increased by almost 50% (OR = 1.49). With every one-unit increase in hours spent daily doing homework, the odds of higher grades increased by 18% (OR = 1.18). Gender, level of household income, and teacher discrimination continued to be associated with self-reported grades in the same direction and with similar effect as in the previous blocks. However, the effect for teacher discrimination was weakened (OR = 1.42) after school bonding and family support were included in the model. Family support was not a predictor of grades for African American adolescents.

Ordinal Logistic Regression for the Caribbean Sample

The ordinal logistic regression model was significant at the first step comprising only demographic variables, adjusted Wald χ² (2.21) = 87.16, p < .001, Nagelkerke R² = .39, at the second step when perceived teacher discrimination was entered, adjusted Wald χ² (2.56) = 114.61, p < .001, Nagelkerke R² = .43, and at the third step when the school bonding and family support variables were entered, adjusted Wald χ² (3.85) = 46.40, p < .001, Nagelkerke R² = .61.

For the Caribbean sample, the model performed differently than the model for the total sample and the African American sample with much larger effect sizes as indicated by the stronger R²s and odds ratios. In the first block, gender was associated with self-reported grades. Interestingly, level of household income did not predict self-reported grades. Caribbean male adolescents had 82% lower odds of making higher grades (OR = .18) than Caribbean females (OR = 5.55). In the second block, teacher discrimination was associated with self-reported grades. Students who reported no perceived teacher discrimination had three times greater odds (OR = 3.05) of making higher grades compared with students who believe they experienced teacher discrimination (OR = .33). The effect of perceived discrimination on Caribbean Black (CB) adolescents’ academic achievement was almost twice that of African American(AA) adolescents’ (OR_CB/OR_AA = 3.05/1.61 = 1.89). Gender continued to be associated with self-reported grades.

In the final block, school bonding and hours a day the adolescent spent in after-school academics and in sports were significantly associated with higher grades. With every one-unit increase in school bonding, Caribbean adolescents had two and a half times (OR = 2.58) greater odds of making higher grades. The effect of school bonding on Caribbean Black (CB) adolescents’ academic achievement was almost twice that of African American (AA) adolescents’ (OR_CB/OR_AA = 2.58/1.49 = 1.73). With every one-unit increase in hours spent in after-school academics, the odds of higher grades increased by 22% (OR = 1.22). With every one-unit increase in hours spent in sports, the odds of higher grades increased by 40% (OR = 1.40). Emotional family support was also associated with odds of higher grades. With every one-unit increase in emotional family, the odds of higher grades almost doubled (OR = 1.95). Gender continued to be associated with self-reported grades in the same direction. Caribbean male adolescents had even lower odds of making higher grades (OR = .15) than Caribbean females after accounting for school bonding and family support. However, the effect for teacher discrimination completely disappeared after school bonding and family support were included in the model.

Discussion

This study revealed that the practice of homogenizing Black youth in research may mask differences in their educational experiences and needs. For example, although school bonding appears to be a protective factor for Black students in general, it merely lessens the association between perceived teacher discrimination and academic performance for African American adolescents while totally removing it for Caribbean Black student. The reason for this is not clear, but it may have something to do with the differences in students experiences and perceptions of discrimination by teachers against their racial group in general (i.e., general discrimination) versus their experiences with prejudice and discrimination directed at themselves by teachers (i.e., personal discrimination; e.g., Sellers et al., 2006). Furthermore, while perceived discrimination was significantly related to academic grades with both urban African American and Caribbean Black adolescents who perceive some teacher discrimination reporting lower academic grades, the initial effects of perceived teacher discrimination appear to be stronger for Caribbean Black students than African American students. A possible explanation for this might be that preparation for bias is more prevalent among African American parents in comparison to parents from other ethnic and racial backgrounds, including Caribbean parents (Hughes et al., 2006). According to Hughes et al. (2006), 67% to 90% of African American parents report implementing racial socialization parenting practices that help youth learn to anticipate and cope with discriminatory experiences inside and outside of school (Hughes et al., 2006).

One unanticipated finding was that combined with school bonding, emotional family support appears to totally buffer Caribbean Black adolescents from the effects of perceived teacher discrimination. Given that many of the Caribbean Black parents are first generation (77%) and their children are second generation, family support may have a greater influence on adolescents of immigrant Caribbean parents (Pinder, 2012). Given the unique circumstances of the immigrant experience, strong emotional support may be particularly important for Caribbean adolescents in their academic success (Suárez-Orozco, Bang, & Kim, 2011). Surprisingly, family support did not emerge as a protective factor for African American adolescents in this study. Perhaps, the measure of family support did not capture the form of family support that is salient for African American adolescents. It is also possible that family emotional and tangible support may not have immediate, but longitudinal effects on academic achievement for African American adolescents. Another explanation may be that the family support subscales do not capture family support in ways that African American families provide it, for example, racial socialization parenting practices (i.e., the mechanisms through which parents transmit information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity and race to their children; Berkel et al., 2009).

Consistent with general patterns in the education and counseling research (e.g., Bryan, Moore-Thomas, et al., 2012), gender predicted grades with females reporting higher academic grades than their male counterparts. Results revealed that urban African American and Caribbean Black females had 2 to 5 times better odds of higher grades than males. These findings reflect the national concern about the educational outcomes of urban Black males and emphasize the need to determine the factors that promote successful academic achievement for Black males. Ethnicity was also associated with academic grades with Caribbean Black adolescents reporting greater odds of making higher grades than African American adolescents. However, the effect size is small (less than 2.5) so that this result should be interpreted cautiously. Household income was associated with academic grades for African American adolescents across the board with consistent negative odds, even after school bonding and family support were considered as intervening variables. Interestingly, household income was only a negative predictor for Caribbean Black adolescents whose families made between US$18,000 and US$31,999, but a positive predictor for students making US$32,000 to US$54,999 after school bonding and family support were considered as intervening variables. These results likely reflect the differential impact of sociocultural and community forces on Caribbean and African American youth who live in the same neighborhoods (e.g., Ogbu, 2003; Rong & Brown, 2002). Although, urban African American and Caribbean adolescents typically live in the same vicinity and attend the same schools, the average household income of Caribbean Black families tends to be higher than that of African American families (Thomas, 2012). In addition, some scholars indicate that even among middle class and higher income African American families, discrimination and racism in the schools suppress the positive effect of higher income on education (Caldas & Cornigans, 2015).

Limitations and Implications

Despite the strengths of this study, it is a cross-sectional study. Thus, further research with longitudinal data is needed to support the associations found among the variables and to determine causal effects. Furthermore, some scholars highlight the limitations of using self-reported grades to measure academic achievement (e.g., Cole & Gonyea, 2010; Kuncel, Credé, & Thomas, 2005), in spite of the strong relationships found between actual academic achievement scores and self-reported grades (Cassady, 2001; Hishinuma et al., 2001). Despite these limitations, the findings point to the importance of school counselors and educators working to reduce school-based discrimination and support urban Black students’ ability to persist in the face of discrimination. School counselors and educators can focus on prevention strategies (e.g., psychological and social resources) that urban Black students can utilize to deter and overcome discriminatory incidents when they are perceived (e.g., Thomas et al., 2009). Research shows that preparation for biased messages and discriminatory experiences enhances students’ coping repertoires, promotes self-esteem, and prevents mental health problems (Harris-Britt, Valrie, Kurtz-Costes, & Rowley, 2007).

Effective intervention requires school counselors and educators to recognize the frequency and effects of perceived teacher discriminatory experiences of urban African American and Caribbean Black students. Learning to recognize and interrupt overt forms of discrimination as they occur may reduce both the frequency with which discrimination occurs and its potential negative impact on students. Furthermore, school counselors and educators must focus on providing Black children with emotional support through the validation of feelings, a sense of empathy, and coping assistance by way of information, advice, and encouragement; by soothing distressed feelings and reminding adolescents of the environmental factors related to racial discrimination; and teaching adolescents about the realities of racial oppression while emphasizing the possibility of achieving success in the face of these obstacles and instilling racial/ethnic pride (Carter & Forsyth, 2010; Ellis, Rowley, Nellum, & Smith, 2015; Sarkisian et al., 2007; Thoits, 2011).

In classrooms and schools where teachers and other school personnel build supportive relationships and have positive expectations of and interactions with students, teachers are less likely to behave in biased ways and students are less likely to feel discriminated against (Bryan, Day-Vines, et al., 2012; Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010; Thomas, 2012). School counselors and educators can play a pivotal role in training teachers to identify and respond to their own biases in their perceptions of Black students, which may further help to reduce perceptions of racial discrimination for students of color, subsequently improving school bonding (Bryan, Day-Vines, et al., 2012; Bryan, Moore-Thomas, et al., 2012; Quintana & Mahgoub, 2016; Thomas, 2012). Helping teachers to reflect on their own bias may help to make implicit norms more explicit, but also illuminate when teachers have different expectations for Black students (Bingham & Okagaki, 2012). Efforts to increase school bonding should include school and district-wide strategies aimed at eliminating bias and disproportionate discipline practice, promoting culturally responsive classrooms, supporting positive behavior, and critically evaluating school norms and expectations about appropriate vocabulary, physical expression, and interpersonal communication styles and, then intentionally teaching them to students (Bryan, Day-Vines, et al., 2012; Bryan, Moore-Thomas, et al., 2012; McIntosh, Girvan, Horner, Smolkowski, & Sugai, 2014; Monroe, 2006; Quintana & Mahgoub, 2016; Thomas, 2012; Townsend, 2000). Finally, schools can offer parent empowerment education programs that help urban Black parents feel empowered to support and advocate for their children in schools.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Julia Bryan

Author Biographies

Julia Bryan is an associate professor of Counselor Education at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Bryan examines the role of school counselors in school-family-community partnerships and has developed an equity-focused partnership process model to foster positive academic mindsets and achievement, resilience, and college and career access for marginalized students. She also uses large national secondary datasets to research school counselors’ roles in addressing academic achievement, college access, disciplinary referrals, school bonding, and other equity issues in schools that greatly affect students’ lives.

Joseph M. Williams is an associate professor in the Counselor Education Program at the University of Virginia. His primary line of research focuses on identifying and understanding the factors and processes that contribute to the educational resilience of K-12 students of color and those from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. His second line of inquiry examines multicultural-social justice training practices for K-12 counselors, educators, and other helping professionals.

Jungnam Kim is an assistant professor in the School Counseling Program at the Ball State University. Her primary line of research focuses on developing parent empowerment framework and investigating effects of parent empowerment framework on educational outcomes, especially, for marginalized parents. Her second line of inquiry identifies and examines student, parent, and school counselor factors that impact college going outcomes.

Stephaney S. Morrison is an assistant professor in the Counselor Education Program at Fair field University CT. Her current research focuses on factors impacting Caribbean immigrant children’s academic success in K-12. Her research also looks at Caribbean parents’ child discipline practices and goals for their children’s academic attainment.

Cleopatra H. Caldwell is a professor and chair of the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her primary areas of research focus on the influence of social relationships and social identities on the health and well-being of Black adolescents; the role of paternal support, racial discrimination, and racial identity attitudes as risk or protective factors for adolescent risky behaviors; and fatherhood as a context for understanding men and boy’s health.

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