The impact of family and neighbourhood on the academic achievement among African American teenagers

1.0 IntroductionPerformance in indoctrinate has for many geezerhood been closely attributed to an individuals life chances. As the need for an individual to undergo advanced level of training to be able to sustain fundamental living become a necessity, the consequence of difficulty in inculcateing earn become imperative (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). However, individuals do not attend schools in a vacuum as they come from families, neighborhoods, and various life events that generally impact on their process in one way, or an another(prenominal).Currently, al some half of the school going teenagers are coloured. Over 70 percent of residents in large cities in the United States are also coloured (Williams et al., 2002). Based on this statistics it is measurable to understand the specific aspects of schoolman development of coloured people in the United States.According to ecological theory, the environment has a great influence on the development of adolescents (Steinberg, 2001 Ingoldsby & Shaw, 2002). As much as the adolescents make their own behavioural choices, societal structures and interpersonal relationships are viewed as imperative aspects that shape the adolescent choices (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Adolescents growing up in the 21st century look beyond their parents and siblings for developmental support. Therefore, the concept of neighbourhood comes in when analysing the development of adolescents. The neighbourhood concept in this context refers to some(prenominal) home and school neighbourhood and how it interacts with the teenager.2.0 Problem DefinitionThe issue of educational achievement possible action has been documented by various studies (Gutman et al., 2002 Rankin & Quane, 2002). Unfortunately, most of these studies indicate that African American learners obligate the lowest educational standards in the United States (Moore & followers?Lansdale, 2001). Empirical evidences indicate that in comparison to their white counter parts, the motion of African American children is below the normal standards (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Many African American learners come from families that are not only economically unstable but also socially underserved. several(prenominal) reasons work been linked to the poor schoolman performance of African American teenagers which eventually results to high rates of school dropout. Common issues that these teenagers face include racism, poverty, and fierceness (Brody et al., 2001). These issues affect their emotional and schoolman performance. Due to their poverty ridden home settings and surrounding, African American teenagers fail to establish a link between faculty member justice and better adult life (Moore & Chase?Lansdale, 2001). The teenagers are also aware of the stereotypic approach linked to their race which affects their self-concept and ultimately educational performance (Gutman et al., 2002).Consequently, it is all-important(prenominal) to establis h family and neighbourhood factors and how they impact on the donnish performance of African American teenagers. This position is vital in the context that the current understanding on the issue is limited and does not consider the modern-day neighbourhood concept, where the United States has embraced mixed racial neighbourhood settings in most places where African Americans reside. More so, most African Americans live in big cities, which expose them to multiracial settings that may affect academic performance of the teenagers. Specifically, it is important to analyse how parents, peers, close friends, classmates, and teachers influence the performance of the African American teenagers.3.0 Research Aim and ObjectivesTo fully look this research issue, the following objectives give guide this studyTo investigate the links between family settings and academic achievement of the African American teenagers To examine how school and home neighbourhoods influences academic achievement among African American adolescents To devise a way forward regarding family and neighbourhood in managing the poor academic performance among African American teenagers 4.0 Literature ReviewVarious factors have been linked to poor academic performance among students. A study by Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn, (2000) identified variables within a culture, a family, and the environment to greatly influence the academic achievement of learners as compared to the type of an educational program. The roles of social and individual support in education are influential in the academic achievement outcomes. The school environment communicates to the learners on how the school perceives them (Brody et al., 2001). A school that is known to promote collegiality, respect and values has students that are positively inclined to better performance (Gutman et al., 2002). African American learners record high levels of school drop-outs callable to the possibility that the school environment does not supp ort their needs. Consequently, the school setting as a learners neighbourhood influences the academic achievement of the learners (Rankin & Quane, 2002).Studies have also suggested the existence of other various factors that influence the academic achievement of the learners other than the school curriculum (Ingoldsby & Shaw, 2002). It is essential to understand how these other factors affect the African American adolescent especially those that are facing academic hurdles. Peers have been identified to determine the teenagers deposition towards their learning institutions (Brody et al., 2001). The fact that African Americans generally have a problem with academic performance the role of peers may in most cases be negative as far as academic performance is concerned. For instance, studies have shown that the mere lack of approval from peers is substantive adequate to negatively influence the academic achievement of the adolescents (Williams et al., 2002).Furthermore, numerous studi es identify parenting as a primeval player in academic performance of teenagers (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000 Gutman et al., 2002). Parents that have supportive association with their teenagers tend to promote a sense of autonomy among the teenagers which allows the teenagers to not only explore their environment but also seek parental emotional support (Steinberg, 2001). Studies have also shown that the role of parent in defining the emotional and academic performance of the teenagers is greater among the minorities in the United States (Moore & Chase?Lansdale, 2001).Another issue that was identified in the literature review as an influential factor for academic permanence among teenagers was the social support. Specifically, social support was closely linked to school retention levels for adolescents (Brody et al., 2001). Specifically four social factors are known to influence the academic performance of African American teenagers, namely neighbourhood, peers, parents, and the s chool (Williams et al., 2002).This clearly indicates that there is a link between the research issues and the academic performance of African American teenagers. This study will try to provide an in-depth analysis of existing information on the research issue in an attempt to establish a gap of knowledge that the study will attempt to seek. Specifically current literature links family and neighbourhood to performance, but it does not provide the exact family and neighbourhood factors that have resulted to poor academic achievement among African American this will be the area of interest for this study. To be able to establish a comprehensive investigation into the research issue, it will be important to provide an overview of the general research plan that will be adopted5.0 Research Plan 6.0 General methodologyTo conduct the research successfully, it is vital to develop and abide by a working methodology to ensure the outcomes are worthwhile (Creswell, 2003). This research is an analytic in nature as it will involve the analysis of the existing situation of academic performance of African American teenagers relative to their homes as well as neighbourhoods. This will ultimately allow the investigator to draw conclusions based on these analyses pertaining to how much homes and neighbourhoods influence the academic performance of teenage African Americans. The research methodology that will be used will blend quantitative and qualitative research methods as summarized belowLiterature ReviewThe literature review will bring home the bacon an overview of the research topic at hand using data collected from articles, journals and books. A literature review will be important in the intuition of the background of the topic (Creswell, 2003). It will also serve as a base in aiding the methods employed in the research. Specifically, this will involve examining articles, books and any other literature that has already been published on the research issueSurveysSinc e the research issue involves analysing the public opinions, which is vast, survey is an appropriate method for collecting quantitative data (Creswell, 2003). This will be done through creating questionnaires. The questionnaires will then be used for collecting numerical data from the participants. The questionnaire will also contain a surgical incision that will be used for the collection of demographic data from the participants.InterviewsTo further enhance the effectiveness of the analysis, interviews of a selected few people will be conducted in stray to provide qualitative data for analysis. Interviews, unlike surveys require a lot of time but provide more in depth data founded on opinions and hence assist in uncovering specific information relevant to the research issue (Creswell, 2003). Semi structured interviews will be conducted to joint subjective views of the study participants on the research issue.A combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods will be necessary to provide enough data needed for the analysis to ensure the study arrives at a well informed conclusion. Consequently, combining all the data uncovered through the supra methods, a data analysis will follow. This will be implemented through vigilant assessment of qualitative and quantitative data in order to reach an acceptable conclusion. Specifically, the findings from the qualitative part of the study will be used to enrich the quantitative findings (Creswell, 2003)6.1 Research QuestionsThe above research methodology will be used in providing responses to the following research questionsWhat are the links between family settings and academic achievement of the African American teenagers How does school and home neighbourhoods influences academic achievement among African American adolescents What is the way forward regarding family and neighbourhood in managing the poor academic performance among African American teenagers 7.0 Research Study Stages and era Li nes ReferencesBrody, G. H., Conger, R., Gibbons, F. X., Ge, X., McBride Murry, V., Gerrard, M., & Simons, R. L. (2001). The influence of neighbourhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting on African American childrens affiliation with deviant peers. Child development, 72(4), 1231-1246.Creswell, J. (2003). Research design Qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approaches (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE PublicationsGutman, L. M., Sameroff, A. J., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). The academic achievement of African American students during early adolescence An examination of multiple risk, promotive, and protective factors. American journal of community psychology, 30(3), 367-399.Ingoldsby, E. M., & Shaw, D. S. (2002). part contextual factors and early-starting antisocial pathways. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 5(1), 21-55.Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighbourhoods they live in the effects of neighbourhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological bulletin, 126(2), 309.Moore, M. R., & Chase?Lansdale, P. L. (2001). Sexual intercourse and pregnancy among African American girls in high?poverty neighbourhoods The role of family and perceived community environment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(4), 1146-1157.Rankin, B. H., & Quane, J. M. (2002). Social contexts and urban adolescent outcomes The interrelated effects of neighbourhoods, families, and peers on African-American youth. Social Problems, 49(1), 79-100.Steinberg, L. (2001). We know some things Parentadolescent relationships in retrospect and prospect. Journal of research on adolescence, 11(1), 1-19.Williams, T. R., Davis, L. E., Saunders, J., & Williams, J. H. (2002). Friends, family, and neighbourhood understanding academic outcomes of African American youth. Urban Education, 37(3), 408-431.