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theses

The current study examined the degree to which first and second-generation Afro-Caribbean students, relative to African American students, experienced a supportive, restorative, and equitable climate in their high school. Prior school climate research has neglected to consider the experience of Afro-Caribbean students. The current study addressed this understudied area of research and also considered whether Afro-Caribbean students' perceptions of school climate varied by immigrant status. The study's participants included 193 students who were enrolled in ninth through twelfth grade at an urban high school in the Northeastern region of the U.S. On surveys, students reported on their perceptions of adult support, restorative practices (RP), and racial and ethnic fair treatment. It was anticipated that Afro-Caribbean students (n = 96) would have more positive reports of supportive, restorative, and equitable treatment relative to their African American peers (n = 97) when accounting for parental educational attainment. It was also anticipated that first generation Afro-Caribbean students (n = 42) would have more positive perceptions of supportive, restorative, and equitable school climate when compared to second-generation Afro-Caribbean students (n = 54). Contrary to the hypotheses, results from multiple regression analyses showed that there were no significant differences between perceived school climate across scales between Afro-Caribbean and African American students. While there were no significant differences across groups on the aforementioned scales, it is noteworthy that Afro-Caribbean student responses on perceptions of support and RP use, on average, trended in a higher direction than African American students. In addition, regression results showed that there were no significant differences across generation status. The findings suggest that, in the participating one school, there were no microclimates for Afro-Caribbean and African American students. Moreover, in general, school climate perceptions were relatively positive. This suggests the school climate was experienced similarly positive across racial/ethnic groups and first and second-generation immigrants.

ETD_9748

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-q27q-w857

ETD doctoral

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