Understanding the Effects of School Context on the Academic Achievement of African American and White Students

Leslie Morrison Gutman

It has been almost half a century after Brown v. Board of Education, yet the achievement gap persists between African American and White students. How does the school context contribute to the achievement gap between African American and White students from middle school to college? The proposed study addresses this critical question. Specific aims include: (1) To examine how changes in students’ perceptions of the school context from middle school to high school influence their academic trajectories; (2) To investigate how school-wide characteristics moderate the relation between students’ perceptions of the school context and their academic trajectories; and (3) To analyze how these processes predict the quantity and type of tertiary education in which students are engaged. Research aims will be examined using a six-wave, longitudinal study of African American and White students from diverse socioeconomic status backgrounds. Analytical techniques will include hierarchical linear modeling, multiple regression, and logistic regression. These findings can provide important insights into avenues for school intervention. For example, results from this research could help identify the school experiences and characteristics that allow many African Americans to negotiate higher education institutions successfully. Understanding the factors that contribute to the achievement gap between African American and White students is essential for addressing disparities in educational outcomes as well as in subsequent earnings.

About Leslie Morrison Gutman

At present, I am a research investigator in the Gender and Achievement Research Program at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. I defended my dissertation in 1998 for the Ph.D. in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. My research focuses on the factors that impede and support healthy developmental trajectories with a strong interest in ethnic minority children and adolescents. Three central issues underlie my work: the study of risk and resilience, the role of ecological influences during critical developmental transitions, and the effects of school context on students’ academic achievement. I am principal investigator of a project with data from African American parents, adolescents, teachers, and principals collected during the middle school transition (Wave 1), high school transition (Wave 2), and the transition to young adulthood (Wave 3). This research project has been supported by the Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (1997-1998), Spencer Foundation Small Grants Program (1999-2000), and the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan (2004-2005). I am also co-investigator of a longitudinal study of high-risk individuals spanning from infancy to young adulthood funded by the National Institute of Mental Health-Centers for Behavioral Sciences Research.