To determine the effects of gender on the relationship between school, family, and community support and academic achievement, survey and interview data from 826 African-American urban adolescents in the southeastern United States were analyzed. Results suggest that the school, family, and church simultaneously influence students’ academic achievement through their effects on academic self-concept and school behavior. These effects remain constant even after controlling for student background characteristics.
However, differences exist in the effects for males and females in the study. These differences are primarily related to the attributes female African-American adolescents bring to school compared to males. Female adolescents in the study perceive more family and teacher support, and are more active in the black church than are male adolescents. It is not surprising, therefore, that African-American females also report more positive academic self-concepts and achievement ideologies, less disruptive school behavior, and higher achievement than the male students surveyed.
The study’s findings highlight the importance of: (1) student affiliation in stable adult-supervised, community-based organizations like the black church; (2) the family’s support of and high expectations for school achievement; and (3) teacher support for student learning for the academic success of both male and female African American urban youth. Support from the home, school, and community can be enhanced through well-designed and implemented partnership programs. The study further suggests that such programs may be especially important for African-American male and female students who live below the poverty level, and for students who are older than average for their grade level.
From: Mavis G. Sanders and Jerald R. Herting. (In press). Gender and the effects of school, family and church support on the academic achievement of African-American urban youth. In Mavis G. Sanders (ed.), Schooling Students Placed At Risk: Research, Policy, and Practice in the Education of Poor and Minority Adolescents. New Jersey: Lawrence-Erlbaum Publishers.