Journal of Race and Policy

ABSTRACT:

As a cornerstone of American history, a quality education presents individuals with numerous opportunities for economic and social mobility. For African American youth, the occurrence, and toxic effects, of discrimination within the classroom likely forestalls their economic and social mobility by undermining their academic achievement, hindering their capacity to acquire and nurture the competencies and skills essential to the workforce, and thus limiting their access to employment opportunities and higher wage earnings. As a strategy for safeguarding and promoting school engagement and academic achievement for African American youth confronting the deleterious effects of low expectations and treatment by teachers within the classroom, it is important to examine the role of racial socialization as a protective factor for African American youth. Thus, this study explores the moderating role of racial socialization on the association between perceptions of differential treatment by teachers and the academic achievement of a nationally representative sample of African American youth who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement study. While perceptions of differential treatment by teachers was a risk factor for the underachievement of African American youth, racial socialization negated this risk. These results have implications for educational policies and practices.