Sullivan, Jeremy R.; Riccio, Cynthia A.; Reynolds, Cecil R.

(2008, September
1). Variations in students' school- and teacher-related attitudes across gender,
ethnicity, and age The Free Library. (2008). Retrieved November 09, 2008 from
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Variations in students' school- and teacher-related
attitudes across...-a0188351824

Variations in students' school- and teacher-related attitudes across

gender, ethnicity, and age.

The present study examined differences across gender, ethnicity ethnicity Vox
populi Racial status–ie, African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic , and age
with regard to the nature of participants' self-reported attitudes toward school
and teachers, based on previous research suggesting that students' school-
and teacher-related attitudes appear to have an influence on academic
achievement. This study employed an archival approach using the
standardization standardization

In industry, the development and application of standards that make it possible

to manufacture a large volume of interchangeable parts. Standardization may
focus on engineering standards, such as properties of materials, fits and
tolerances, and drafting
..... Click the link for more information. data (N = 10,140) from the Attitude to
School and Attitude to Teachers scales of the Behavior Assessment System for
Children Self-Report of Personality. Results of data analyses suggest that in
general, males reported more negative attitudes toward both school and
teachers; however, the effect sizes for the statistically significant gender
differences were rather small. Age was not a significant main effect in any of the
analyses for these two scales; there were no consistent patterns of more or less
negative attitudes with increasing age for any of the gender or ethnic groups.
Perhaps the most notable finding in the present study was a trend toward
Hispanics reporting the most negative attitudes toward school while also
reporting the most positive attitudes toward teachers. This finding suggests that
there are factors other than teachers that contribute to Hispanics' negative
perceptions of school; the exploration of these factors represents an important
area for future research.

Keywords: Attitudes, School, Teachers, Gender, Ethnicity, Age

**********

It is estimated that in 2003, 9.9% of individuals aged 16-24 years were not
enrolled in high school and had not obtained their high school diploma A high
school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the
United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for
government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED.
..... Click the link for more information. (Laird laird
n. Scots

The owner of a landed estate.

[Scots, from Middle English lard, variant of lord, owner, master; see lord. , Lew,
DeBell, & Chapman, 2006). The implications of not earning a high school
diploma include short-and long-term impact on career options and earning
potential (U.S. Census Bureau Noun 1. Census Bureau - the bureau of the
Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides
demographic information and analyses about the population of the United
States
Bureau of the Census , 1999) and a four-fold increased risk of unemployment
(Edmondson & White, 1998). Research also supports an interaction between
achievement and psychopathology psychopathology /psy·cho·pa·thol·o·gy/
(-pah-thol´ah-je)
1. the branch of medicine dealing with the causes and processes of mental
disorders.

2. abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity. (Hawkins, Catalano,

Kosterman, Abbott, & Hill, 1999). School contexts provide a critical environment
for the multitude of interactions that mediate MEDIATE, POWERS. Those
incident to primary powers, given by a principal to his agent. For example, the
general authority given to collect, receive and pay debts due by or to the
principal is a primary power. the attainment of academic skills and foster
cognitive, social, and affective affective /af·fec·tive/ (ah-fek´tiv) pertaining to
affect.

af·fec·tive
adj.
1. Concerned with or arousing feelings or emotions; emotional.

2. development. Students who do not complete high school therefore may

suffer from poor psychological outcomes as a result of failing to develop these
skills and competencies within the school setting.
One potential source of school underachievement among children and
adolescents may be classified as negative school-related attitudes. Research
suggests that negative attitudes towards school are associated with lower
achievement, lower expectations of future success, and antisocial
antisocial /an·ti·so·cial/ (-so´sh'l)
1. denoting behavior that violates the rights of others, societal mores, or the law.
2. denoting the specific personality traits seen in antisocial personality disorder.
behaviors (Brier brier or briar, name sometimes given any thorny plant, more
specifically the sweetbrier, and the greenbrier. French brier, or brierroot, is a
name for the root of the European white heath so widely used in the
manufacture of smoking pipes. , 1995). Students with negative attitudes toward
school also are likely to have poor relationships with teachers (Baker, 1999).
There is considerable evidence that positive, supportive relationships with
adults, including positive relations with school staff, improve outcomes for
children (Masten & Reed, 2002; Resnick et al., 1997). Further, difficulty getting
along with teachers and dissatisfaction with school appear to be common
reasons students give for dropping out (Loughrey & Harris, 1990); research
suggests that students who drop out of school perceive their teachers as unfair,
disinterested Free from bias, prejudice, or partiality.

A disinterested witness is one who has no interest in the case at bar, or matter
in issue, and is legally competent to give testimony. , and uncaring (Murdock,
1999; Tidwell, 1988). For middle school students, positive relations with
teachers have been found to be associated with achievement, feelings of
belonging, interest in school, and academic motivation (Roeser, Eccles, &
Sameroff, 1998).

Evidence suggests that the process of disengagement

disengagement /dis·en·gage·ment/ (dis?en-gaj´ment) emergence of the fetus
from the vaginal canal.

dis·en·gage·ment
n. from the academic environment begins prior to students entering high
school, probably initiating in elementary grades (Einsminger & Slusarcick,
1992). Transition from elementary to middle school is associated with changes
in school structure, variable classroom organizations and teaching styles, and
differing teacher expectations, as well as changes in academic demands and
standards (e.g., see Midgley, Feldlauger, & Eccles, 1989). The school context,
academically and socially, is less predictable and more ambiguous with
increased demands for self-motivation and self-responsibility (Eccles, Wigfield,
& Schiefele, 1998). The change in school structure that occurs at middle school
is associated with less positive relations between students and teachers,
increased negative attitudes toward school, and decreased academic
motivation (Roeser & Eccles, 1998; Wigfield & Eccles, 1994). Further, children's
experience in transitioning to middle school/junior high is predictive of later
adjustment (Eccles, Lord, Roeser, Barber, & Jozefowicz, 1999).

Similarly, Learner and Kruger (1997) suggested that research reflecting a

decline in perceived quality of student-teacher relationships once students
reach high school may be the result of changes in the way classes are taught in
middle and high school as compared to elementary school elementary
school: see school. . The authors suggested that high school teachers may
spend more time keeping order within the classroom than providing
individualized in·di·vid·u·al·ize
tr.v. in·di·vid·u·al·ized, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·ing, in·di·vid·u·al·iz·es
1. To give individuality to.

2. To consider or treat individually; particularize.

3. attention or ensuring that students' emotional needs are being met. Indeed,
high school tends to emphasize covering course content over nurturance.
Further, most elementary school students have only a couple of teachers and
ample opportunity to build personal relationships, whereas high school students
typically have a different teacher for each class, thereby limiting the teachers'
opportunity to build more personal relationships with students.

Ethnic minority status also may be seen as a risk factor for low achievement, as
students from ethnic minority backgrounds may experience more distress and
negative school-related attitudes during adolescence adolescence, time of life
from onset of puberty to full adulthood. The exact period of adolescence, which
varies from person to person, falls approximately between the ages 12 and 20
and encompasses both physiological and psychological changes. due to
discrimination, prejudice, alienation alienation, in property laws: see tenure.
alienation

In the social sciences context, the state of feeling estranged or separated from
one's milieu, work, products of work, or self. from the majority culture, and the
incidence of poverty among these groups (Spencer & Dornbusch, 1990).
Indeed, students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds are more likely
to drop out of school (e.g., Allen & Mitchell, 1998; U.S. Census Bureau, 1999);
research suggests that of White, African American African American Multiculture
A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. ,
and Hispanic students, Hispanics are most likely to drop out, followed by African
Americans (Laird et al., 2006; Rumberger, 1995).

Huebner and McCullough (2000) noted that much additional research is needed
to explore the possible influences of factors such as gender, ethnicity, and age,
as well as their interactions, on students' attitudes and level of school
satisfaction. Further, although much research has been conducted on the
nature of teacher-child relationships, children's attitudes toward teachers have
not been studied extensively, especially with regard to ethnic and gender
differences across grade levels.
Research Questions

The purposes of this paper were to investigate variations in school- and

teacher-related attitudes based on gender, ethnicity, and age, in order to
determine whether these variables are associated with negative attitudes
towards school and teachers. Our specific research questions were as follows:
(1) Do students' attitudes towards school and teachers become more negative
with age? (2) Do males and females differ in their self-report of school-and
teacher-related attitudes? (3) Do White, African American, and Hispanic children
and adolescents differ in their self-report of school- and teacher-related
attitudes?

Method

Participants

This study employed an archival approach using the standardization data from
the Behavior Assessment System for Children Self-Report of Personality (BASC
BASc
abbr.
1. Bachelor of Agricultural Science

2. Bachelor of Applied Science SRP SRP - A data link layer protocol. ;

Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). Participants were obtained from the normative
nor·ma·tive
adj.
Of, relating to, or prescribing a norm or standard: normative grammar.

nor dataset of both the Child and Adolescent forms of this instrument. As
reported in the BASC manual (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), children and
adolescents were selected from a total of 116 public and private school sites for
participation in the standardization project in order to provide diversity in
geographic region, socioeconomic status socioeconomic status,
n the position of an individual on a socio-economic scale that measures such
factors as education, income, type of occupation, place of residence, and in
some populations, ethnicity and religion. , and ethnicity. Participants were
recruited throughout the United States United States, officially United States of
America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq
km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in
population and the fourth largest country in area. , and 26 states were
represented in the norm development project. The 10,140 cases included in the
present study represent those for which complete demographic data were
available with regard to gender (female n = 5,040 or 49.7%; male n = 5,100 or
50.3%) and age, and who were listed as either White (n = 7,912 or 78%),
African American (n = 971 or 9.6%), or Hispanic (n = 1257 or 12.4%). The Child
form sample consists of 5,270 participants from ages 8 to 11 (52% of the total
sample), and the Adolescent form sample consists of 4,870 participants from
ages 12 to 18 (48% of the total sample). Table 1 provides a complete
demographic representation of the sample, categorized cat·e·go·rize
tr.v. cat·e·go·rized, cat·e·go·riz·ing, cat·e·go·riz·es
To put into a category or categories; classify.

cat within each year of age by total sample, gender, and ethnicity.

Instrument

The Behavior Assessment System for Children (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992)
is a comprehensive assessment tool that is frequently used in behavioral and
psychological evaluations of children and adolescents. The BASC is
multifaceted mul·ti·fac·et·ed
adj.
Having many facets or aspects. See Synonyms at versatile.

Adj. 1. multifaceted - having many aspects; "a many-sided subject"; "a

multifaceted undertaking"; "multifarious interests"; "the multifarious and
includes rating scales for parents and teachers, a self-report scale for children
and adolescents, a student observation scale, and a developmental history
component. Each of these components may be administered independently of
the others.

The present study focused only upon the Self-Report of Personality (SRP)
component of the BASC. The BASC SRP is an omnibus omnibus: see bus.
self-report measure designed to assess the psychological and emotional
functioning of children and adolescents. In order to provide examinees with
developmentally appropriate items, there are two forms of the SRP: Child (ages
8 to 11) and Adolescent (ages 12 to 18). The Child form consists of 152 items,
to which children provide a dichotomous di·chot·o·mous
adj.
1. Divided or dividing into two parts or classifications.

2. Characterized by dichotomy.

di·chot answer of either "True" or "False" depending on whether the item

accurately describes how they think or feel. The Adolescent form consists of
186 items in the same format. Responses to the SRP yield 14 individual clinical
and adaptive scale scores, in addition to several composite and validity scale
scores.

For the purposes of this study, school-and teacher-related attitudes were

assessed by examining participants' responses on the Attitude to School and
Attitude to Teachers scales of the SRP. According to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3. the BASC manual, the Attitude to School scale was defined as measuring
"feelings of alienation, hostility, and dissatisfaction regarding school"; the
Attitude to Teachers scale was defined as "feelings of resentment and dislike of
teachers; beliefs that teachers are unfair, uncaring, or overly demanding"
(Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992, p. 58, Table 8.5). Examples of items on the
Attitude to School scale include: "I don't like thinking about school", "School is a
waste of time", "I don't care about school", and "I can hardly wait to quit school".
The Child form of the Attitude to School scale contains 9 items, while the
Adolescent form contains 10 items. Examples of items on the Attitude to
Teachers scale include: "Most teachers are unfair",' 'Most teachers are lazy",
"Teachers mostly look for the bad things that you do", and "My teacher cares
about me". The Child form of the Attitude to Teachers scale contains 10 items,
while the Adolescent form contains 9 items.

As reported in the BASC manual (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), the scales of
the SRP appear to have adequate psychometric psy·cho·met·rics
n. (used with a sing. verb)
The branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and
interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological
variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and properties. For example, with
regard to the Attitude to School and Attitude to Teachers scales, internal
consistency In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure
based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same
subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to
measure the same general construct produce similar scores. coefficients were
as follows: Attitude to School: Child = .83, Adolescent = .81; Attitude to
Teachers: Child = .75, Adolescent = .80. Test-retest reliability test-retest
reliability Psychology A measure of the ability of a psychologic testing
instrument to yield the same result for a single Pt at 2 different test periods,
which are closely spaced so that any variation detected reflects reliability of the
instrument coefficients, based on a subsample sub·sam·ple
n.
A sample drawn from a larger sample.

tr.v. sub·sam·pled, sub·sam·pling, sub·sam·ples

To take a subsample from (a larger sample). of 223 children and adolescents
tested and retested over a one-month interval, were as follows: Attitude to
School: Child = .80, Adolescent = .83; Attitude to Teachers: Child = .72,
Adolescent = .69. For more detailed information regarding the psychometric
characteristics of the SRP, readers are referred to the BASC Manual (Reynolds
& Kamphaus, 1992).

Data Analyses

Before conducting any analyses, raw scores on each individual scale were
converted to z-scores in order to obtain a common metric, thereby making it
easier to look across scales. The General Linear Model Univariate Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA anova

see analysis of variance.

ANOVA Analysis of variance, see there
..... Click the link for more information.) function of SPSS A statistical package
from SPSS, Inc., Chicago (www.spss.com) that runs on PCs, most mainframes
and minis and is used extensively in marketing research. It provides over 50
statistical processes, including regression analysis, correlation and analysis of
variance. was used to determine statistically whether mean differences exist
among gender and ethnic groups in self-reported attitudes, and whether these
groups exhibit different patterns across age. Because the number of items on
each scale varies across the two forms (i.e., Child and Adolescent), separate
analyses (and z-score conversions) were conducted for each form of each
scale.

Given the multiple comparisons involved in the present study, the Bonferroni
correction In statistics, the Bonferroni correction states that if an experimenter
is testing n independent hypotheses on a set of data, then the statistical
significance level that should be used for each hypothesis separately is 1/n was
used to determine the appropriate alpha level for the detection of statistically
significant mean differences. For ANOVA results, the variance-accounted-for
partial eta squared effect sizes for all differences are reported in order to
determine the percentage of variance in the dependent variable that is
explained by the independent variable or combination of variables.

The Games-Howell post-hoc test was used to detect significant differences

among the multilevel mul·ti·lev·el
adj.
Having several levels: a multilevel parking garage.
Adj. 1. multilevel - of a building having more than one level factors (i.e., Age
and Ethnicity). This test was used instead of the other common post-hoc tests
(e.g., Bonferroni) because Games-Howell does not assume equal variances,
and the homogeneity Homogeneity

The degree to which items are similar. of variance assumption was violated
vi·o·late
tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates
1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example).

2. To assault (a person) sexually.

3. in the ANOVA analyses (i.e., the Levene Test of Equality of Error Variances
was significant at the .05 level for all analyses). Research suggests that the
Games-Howell procedure is appropriate when (a) the homogeneity of variance
assumption is violated, (b) the sample sizes within cells of the ANOVA design
are unequal, and/or (c) the dependent variable is not normally distributed
(Games & Howell, 1976; Jaccard, Becker, & Wood, 1984). Games-Howell is
recognized as a robust post-hoc test that maintains the experimentwise alpha
near its nominal level This article is about the term used in sound and signal
processing. For usage in statistics, see nominal measurement.

Nominal level is the operating level at which an electronic signal processing

device is designed to operate. even when the assumptions of ANOVA are
violated, while also demonstrating more power against Type II errors than other
post-hoc procedures.

Results

School-Related Attitudes

For the Child form of the Attitude to School scale, only the Gender variable
produced a statistically significant difference among means, with males (mean
z-score = .18) reporting more negative attitudes towards school than females
(mean z-score = -.18), F (1, 4966) = 30.83, p < .001; the partial [[eta].sup.2]
value for this effect was .006. The total Child form model accounted for 3.5% of
the variance within the dependent variable (Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .035).

The Adolescent form ANOVA revealed significant main effects for Gender, F (1,
4587) = 20.84, p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .005, and Ethnicity, F(2,4587) =
15.27,p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .007, and a significant interaction effect for
Gender x Ethnicity, F (2, 4587) = 6.00, p = .003, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .003. The
gender difference is explained by males (mean z-score = .15) reporting more
negative attitudes than females (mean z-score = -.16); this difference was
consistently demonstrated at each year of age. Results of the Games-Howell
post-hoc analysis Post-hoc analysis, in the context of design and analysis of
experiments, refers to looking in the data—after the experiment has concluded
—for patterns that were not specified a priori. indicate that Hispanics scored
significantly higher (i.e., more negative attitude) on the Attitude to School scale
than did Whites (p < .001) and African Americans (p = .002); mean z-scores
were as follows: Hispanic = .19, African American = -.03, White = -.04. The
significant Gender x Ethnicity interaction is explained by Hispanic male and
female adolescents scoring more similarly on the Attitude to School scale
across age than males and females in the other ethnic groups (total Hispanic
male mean = .24, total Hispanic female mean = .14). With the African American
and White adolescents, males consistently scored higher (i.e., more negative
attitude) than females across age (total African American male mean = .16, total
African American female mean = -.28; total White male mean = .13, total White
female mean = -.21). Similar to the Child form model, the Adolescent form
model accounted for 3.6% of the variance within the Attitude to School variable
(Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .036).

Teacher-Related Attitudes

ANOVA results for the Child form of the Attitude to Teachers scale revealed a
significant main effect for Ethnicity, F (2, 5035) = 18.24, p < .001, partial
[[eta].sup.2] = .007, and no significant interactions. Results of the Games-
Howell post-hoc analysis indicate that Hispanics scored significantly lower (i.e.,
more positive attitude) on the Attitude to Teachers scale than did Whites (p <
.001) and African Americans (p = .003); this pattern was observed at each year
of age (total Hispanic mean = -.28, total African American mean = -.03, total
White mean = .03).

ANOVA results for the Adolescent form revealed a significant main effect for
Ethnicity, F (2, 4629) = 37.31 ,p < .001, partial [[eta].sup.2] = .016, as well as a
significant main effect for Gender, F (1,4629) = 19.23,p < .001, partial ]]2 = .004,
and a significant Ethnicity x Age interaction effect, F (12, 4629) = 2.64, p = .002,
partial [[eta].sup.2] = .007. The Gender main effect is explained by adolescent
males consistently scoring higher (i.e., more negative attitude) than adolescent
females on this scale (mean z-scores = .09 and -.09, respectively).

Results of the Games-Howell post-hoc analysis indicate that Hispanic

adolescents scored significantly lower (i.e., more positive attitude) on the
Attitude to Teachers scale than did Whites (p < .001) and African Americans (p
= .009); Hispanic mean = -.30, African American mean = -.10, White mean =
.07. At the same time, there was much variability among ethnic groups across
age; this variability accounted for the significant Ethnicity x Age interaction
effect. The interaction can be summarized by stating that which ethnic group
reported the most or least positive attitudes toward teachers depended on the
year of age. This effect is most evident for the Hispanic and African American
groups, as these groups show much variability across age. Whites, in contrast,
showed little variability across age, with a slow but steady increase in negative
attitude from age 14 to 18. In sum, the entire Child form model accounted for
only 1.8% of the total variance within the Attitude to Teachers variable (Adjusted
[R.sup.2] = .018), while the Adolescent form model accounted for 3.3% of the
variance (Adjusted [R.sup.2] = .033).

Discussion

Overall, there was a tendency for males to report more negative attitudes
towards both school and teachers, although the effect sizes for the statistically
significant gender differences were rather small. Further, the significant Gender
x Ethnicity interaction observed for the Adolescent form of the Attitude to School
scale indicates that adolescent Hispanic males and females are less different
than are males and females within the other ethnic groups. The trend for males
to report more negative attitudes is consistent with previous research in which
females reported more satisfaction with school, higher levels of affiliation with
school, and more positive relationships with teachers (Calabrese & Poe, 1990;
Trusty & Dooley-Dickey, 1993).

In light of the significant Gender x Ethnicity and Ethnicity x Age interactions for
the Attitude to School and Attitude to Teachers scales, respectively, it is difficult
to make summary statements based on ethnic group alone. That is, which
ethnic group scored highest or lowest depended to some extent on gender and
age. At the same time, there was a trend in which (a) Hispanic adolescents
reported more negative attitudes toward school than did African American and
White adolescents, and (b) White and African American children and
adolescents reported more negative attitudes toward teachers than did Hispanic
children and adolescents. These findings are consistent with some of the
previous research in this area which suggested that (a) Hispanic students are
more likely than White and African American students to drop out of school
(Laird et al., 2006; Rumberger, 1995), and (b) Hispanic students report being
more fearful of school than Whites and African Americans, perhaps due to
negative early experiences with school and a low academic self-concept
(Newbill & Clements, 2000). This combination of results (i.e., Hispanics
reporting the most negative attitudes toward school while also reporting the
most positive attitudes toward teachers) suggests that there are factors other
than teachers that contribute to Hispanics' negative perceptions of school; the
exploration of these factors represents an important area for future research.

Age was not a significant main effect in any of the analyses for these two
scales. Further, no age patterns were consistent enough to suggest more
negative attitudes towards school or teachers with increased age; this was true
for both genders and all three ethnic groups. Overall, the observed z-scores
indicate that there is much variability across age with regard to school- and
teacher-related attitudes, rather than the linear declines that have been
suggested in the literature. The finding that negative attitudes towards school
and teachers did not consistently increase with age was somewhat surprising
not only in light of previous research, but also in light of the increased academic
demands, changes in teacher-student relationships, and less individualized
attention that may be associated with the transition from elementary to middle to
high school (Learner & Kruger, 1997). It is possible that some students who
would have reported negative attitudes had left school by the time they reached
the older ages included in the study (i.e., ages 16, 17, and 18), and therefore
their perceptions were underrepresented un·der·rep·re·sent·ed
adj.
Insufficiently or inadequately represented: the underrepresented minority
groups, ignored by the government. in the data.

While the results of our study did reveal some statistically significant differences
among groups, the low effect sizes associated with most of these differences
suggest that most of the variance within the dependent variables can be
accounted for by independent variables other than gender, ethnicity, and age.
These findings are similar to those of McDermott (1995), who found that less
than 6% of the variance in children's and adolescents' overall adjustment was
explained by demographic variables such as gender, ethnicity, and age. The
author concluded that while many of the variance-accounted-for percentages
were statistically significant, they were relatively trivial in a practical sense. We
are reminded that statistical significance is distinct from practical and clinical
significance, and our excitement about the statistically significant differences
observed in the present study is tempered by the low effect sizes associated
with these differences. At the same time, this also leads to the question: if
variations in school- and teacher-related attitudes are explained to only a limited
degree by demographic variables, what factors or variables may have more
predictive or explanatory ex·plan·a·to·ry
adj.
Serving or intended to explain: an explanatory paragraph.

ex·plan power?

Rutter (1985) hypothesized that as children grow into adolescents, their

increasing capacity to understand and process stressful events and
circumstances may boost their resilience resilience (r ·zilˑ·yens),
n to distress. As related to the lack of age effects on our dependent variables,
one hypothesis would be that perhaps the simultaneous development of coping
skills A coping skill is a behavioral tool which may be used by individuals to
offset or overcome adversity, disadvantage, or disability without correcting or
eliminating the underlying condition. Virtually all living beings routinely utilize
coping skills in daily life. and problem-solving abilities during childhood and
adolescence serves as a buffer against the possible negative effects of changes
in the school environment from elementary to middle to high school. With regard
to developmental differences in coping skills and problem-solving abilities,
research findings suggesting increases in the use of various adaptive coping
strategies The German Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney defined four so-
called coping strategies to define interpersonal relations, one describing
psychologically healthy individuals, the others describing neurotic states. with
age have been reported in the literature (e.g., Altshuler & Ruble, 1989; Band &
Weisz, 1988; Compas, Malcarne, & Fondacaro, 1988).

In a recent review of the coping literature by Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman,

Thomsen, and Wadsworth (2001), the authors noted that developmental
differences in coping abilities, in addition to differences related to demographic
characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, have not been satisfactorily
examined in the literature largely due to inconsistencies in the conceptualization
con·cep·tu·al·ize
v. con·cep·tu·al·ized, con·cep·tu·al·iz·ing, con·cep·tu·al·iz·es

v.tr.
To form a concept or concepts of, and especially to interpret in a conceptual
way: and measurement of coping. One of the conclusions was that given the
developmental changes and potentially stressful experiences that occur during
adolescence, an important avenue for future research will be to examine
whether these developmental changes and challenges are paralleled by
simultaneous changes in coping abilities (Compas et al., 2001).

The results of the present study must be interpreted in light of several

limitations. First, some of the cell sample sizes for African Americans were quite
small, especially from age 15 to 18 (see Table 1). These small cell sizes limit
our confidence in the results for older African American adolescents. Further,
because the results are based on small samples, their generalizability to the
population of African American adolescents is likely quite limited.

Second, the study is limited by the relatively few demographic variables

included. Unfortunately, the inclusion of SES as an independent variable was
not possible using the database that was employed in the present study. This
variable may have explained a greater proportion of the variance in the
dependent variables than did gender, ethnicity, and age, due to the potential
negative effects of poverty on children's development (Luthar, 1999). The
developmental psychopathology Developmental psychopathology is the
analysis of development of psychopathic tendencies in all aspects of mental
aging throughout life.

Developmental psychopathology is a sub-field of developmental psychology

characterized by the following (non-comprehensive) list of perspective also has
demonstrated the importance of including additional independent or predictor
variables Noun 1. predictor variable - a variable that can be used to predict
the value of another variable (as in statistical regression)
variable quantity, variable - a quantity that can assume any of a set of values in
developmental research studies.

Third, the study employed a cross-sectional design, which limits the amount of
confidence we have in developmental trends because each participant
completed the SRP on only a single occasion, rather than on multiple occasions
over time. A longitudinal lon·gi·tu·di·nal
adj.
Running in the direction of the long axis of the body or any of its parts.
approach would provide more insight into the ways in which school- and
teacher-related attitudes change over time, and also would allow researchers to
examine whether students with negative school- and teacher-related attitudes at
a young age are likely to drop out of high school.

Finally, this study did not include a measure of level of acculturation

acculturation, culture changes resulting from contact among various societies
over time. Contact may have distinct results, such as the borrowing of certain
traits by one culture from another, or the relative fusion of separate cultures. for
minority participants. Given the large amount of within-group variability among
diverse ethnic groups, it would have been useful to look at the influence of level
of acculturation on the experience of school among minorities.

Author Note:

This research is based on part of the first author's doctoral dissertation

dis·ser·ta·tion
n.
A lengthy, formal treatise, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral
degree at a university; a thesis.

dissertation
Noun

1. . The second author served as chair of the dissertation committee, and the
third author served as a member of the committee. A preliminary version of this
article was presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of
School Psychologists The National Association of School Psychologists
(NASP) is the first and largest national professional organization created for the
purpose of serving school psychologists. , April 1, 2004, Dallas, TX.

References

Allen, L., & Mitchell, C. (1998). Racial and ethnic differences in patterns of
problematic and adaptive development: An epidemiological epidemiological

emanating from or pertaining to epidemiology.

epidemiological associations
the associative relationships between the frequency of occurrence of a disease
and its determinants, its predisposing and precipitating review. In V. C. McLoyd
& L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual,
methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 29-54). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Altshuler, J. L., & Ruble, D. N. (1989). Developmental changes in children's

awareness of strategies for coping with uncontrollable stress. Child
Development, 60, 1337-1349.

Baker, J. A. (1999). Teacher-student interaction in urban at-risk classrooms:

Differential behavior, relationship quality, and student satisfaction with school.
Elementary School Journal Published by the University of Chicago Press, The
Elementary School Journal is an academic journal which has served
researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners in elementary and middle
school education for over one hundred years. , 100, 57-70.

Band, E. B., & Weisz, J. R. (1988). How to feel better when it feels bad:
Children's perspectives on coping with everyday stress. Developmental
Psychology developmental psychology

Branch of psychology concerned with changes in cognitive, motivational,

psychophysiological, and social functioning that occur throughout the human life
span. , 24, 247-253.

Brier, N. (1995). Predicting antisocial behavior in youngsters displaying poor

academic achievement: A review of risk factors. Journal of Developmental and
Behavioral Pediatrics, 16, 271-276.

Calabrese, R. L., & Poe, J. (1990). Alienation: An explanation of high dropout

(1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or
recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected
by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often
not noticed by the human rates among African American and Latino students.
Educational Research Quarterly, 14(4), 22-26.

Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., &

Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and
adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research.
Psychological Bulletin, 127, 87-127.

Compas, B. E., Malcarne, V. L., & Fondacaro, K. M. (1988). Coping with

stressful events in older children and young adolescents. Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
(JCCP) is a bimonthly psychology journal of the American Psychological
Association. Its focus is on treatment and prevention in all areas of clinical and
clinical-health psychology and especially on topics that appeal to a broad , 56,
405-411.

Eccles, J. S., Lord, S. E., Roeser, R. W., Barber, B. L., & Jozefowicz, D. M.
(1999). The association of school transitions in early adolescence with
developmental trajectories through high school. In J. Schulenberg, J. L. Maggs,
& K. Hurrelmann (Eds.), Health risks and developmental transitions during
adolescence. New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and
Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of :
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press (known colloquially
as CUP) is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of
the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). .

Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1998). Motivation to succeed. In W.

Damon & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (5th ed., Vol. 3:
Social, emotional, and personality development, pp. 1017-1095). Hoboken, N J:
Wiley.

Edmondson, J. H., & White, J. (1998). A tutorial An instructional book or

program that takes the user through a prescribed sequence of steps in order to
learn a product. Contrast with documentation, which, although instructional,
tends to group features and functions by category. See tutorials in this
publication. and counseling program: Helping students at risk of dropping out of
school. Professional School Counseling, 1, 43-48.

Einsminger, M. E., & Slusarcick, A. L.(1992). Paths to high school graduation or

dropout: A longitudinal study longitudinal study
a chronological study in epidemiology which attempts to establish a relationship
between an antecedent cause and a subsequent effect. See also cohort study.
of a first grade cohort cohort /co·hort/ (ko´hort)
1. in epidemiology, a group of individuals sharing a common characteristic and
observed over time in the group.

2. . Sociology of Education The sociology of education is the study of how

social institutions and individual experiences affect educational processes and
outcomes. Education has always been seen as a fundamentally optimistic
human endeavour characterised by aspirations for progress and betterment. ,
65, 95-113.

Games, P. A., & Howell, J. F.(1976). Pairwise multiple comparison procedures

with unequal Ns and/or variances: A Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (môNtā` kärlō`),
town (1982 pop. 13,150), principality of Monaco, on the Mediterranean Sea and
the French Riviera. study. Journal of Educational Statistics, 1,113-125.

Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., Kosterman, R., Abbott, R., & Hill, K. G. (1999).
Preventing adolescent health-risk behavior by strengthening protection during
childhood. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine adolescent medicine
n.
The branch of medicine concerned with the treatment of youth between 13 and
21 years of age. Also called ephebiatrics, hebiatrics. , 153, 226-234.

Huebner, E. S., & McCullough, G. (2000). Correlates of school satisfaction

among adolescents. Journal of Educational Research, 93, 331-335.

Jaccard, J., Becker, M. A., & Wood, G. (1984). Pairwise multiple comparison
procedures: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 589-596.

Laird, J., Lew, S., DeBell, M.,& Chapman, C. (2006). Dropout rates in the United
States: 2002 and 2003 (NCES NCES National Center for Education Statistics
NCES Net-Centric Enterprise Services (US DoD)
NCES Network Centric Enterprise Services
NCES Net Condition Event Systems 2006-062). U.S. Department of Education.
Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics The National Center
for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of
Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), collects, analyzes, and
publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in
the United States; conducts studies .

Learner, D. G., & Kruger, L. J. (1997). Attachment, self-concept, and academic

motivation in high-school students. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
or·tho·psy·chi·a·try
n.
The psychiatric study, treatment, and prevention of emotional and behavioral
problems, especially of those that arise during early development. , 67, 485-
492.

Loughrey, M. E., & Harris, M. B. (1990). A descriptive study of at-risk high

school students. High School Journal, 73, 187-193.

Luthar, S. S. (1999). Poverty and children's adjustment. Thousand Oaks

Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a
farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery
products are grown. , CA: Sage.

Marcus, G., Gross, S., & Seefeldt, C. (1991). Black and White students'
perceptions of teacher treatment. Journal of Educational Research, 84, 363-
367.

Masten, A. S., & Reed, M. G. (2002). Resilience in development. In S. R.

Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), The handbook of positive psychology (pp. 74-88).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

McDermott, P.A. (1995). Sex, race, class, and other demographics The
attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing
purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age
range are examples of demographic data. as explanations for children's ability
and adjustment: Anational appraisal. Journal of School Psychology, 33, 75-91.

Midgley, C., Feldlauger, H., & Eccles, J. S. (1989). Student/teacher relations

and attitudes toward mathematics before and after the transition to junior high
school. Child Development, 60, 981-992.

Murdock, T. B. (1999). The social context of risk: Status and motivational

predictors of alienation in middle school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91,
62-75.

Newbill, S. L., & Clements, A. (2000). Developing an identity of third-graders.

Research in the Schools, 7(2), 59-69.

Resnick, M. D., Bearman, P. S., Blum, R. W., Bauman, K. E., Harris, K. M.,
Jones, J., et al. (1997). Protecting adolescents from harm: Findings from the
National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. Journal of the American
Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical
Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal,
published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the
most widely circulated medical journal in the world. , 278, 823-832.

Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (1992). Behavior Assessment System for

Children manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

Roeser, R. W., & Eccles, J. S. (1998). Adolescents' perceptions of middle

school: Relation to longitudinal changes in academic and psychological
adjustment. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 8, 123-158.

Roeser, R. W., Eccles, J. S., & Sameroff, A. J. (1998). Academic and emotional
functioning in early adolescence: Longitudinal relations, patterns, and
predictions by experience in middle school. Development and Psychopathology,
10, 321-352.

Rumberger, R. W. (1995). Dropping out of middle school: A multilevel analysis

of students and schools. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 583-625.

Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity ad·ver·si·ty

n. pl. ad·ver·si·ties
1. A state of hardship or affliction; misfortune.

2. A calamitous event. : Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric

psy·chi·at·ric
adj.
Of or relating to psychiatry.

psychiatric adjective Pertaining to psychiatry, mental disorders disorder. British

Journal of Psychiatry psychiatry (səkī`ətrē, sī–), branch of medicine that
concerns the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral
disorders, including major depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. , 147, 598-
611.

Spencer, M. B., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1990). Challenges in studying minority

youth. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold At the Threshold,
whose son Lil E. Tee won the 1992 Kentucky Derby for W. Cal Partee, died
March 23 of a stroke at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in
West Lafayette, Ind. The 21-year-old stallion stood at Wayne Houston's Stoney
Creek Horse Farm near Mooreland, Ind.
..... Click the link for more information.: The developing adolescent (pp. 123-
146). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press The Harvard University Press
is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected
in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913. In 2005, it
published 220 new titles. .
Tidwell, R. (1988). Dropouts speak out: Qualitative data on early school
departures. Adolescence, 23, 939-954.

Trusty, J., & Dooley-Dickey, K. (1993). Alienation from school: An exploratory

analysis of elementary and middle school students' perceptions. Journal of
Research and Development in Education, 26, 232-242.

U.S. Census Bureau. (1999). Statistical abstract of the United States The
Statistical Abstract of the United States is a publication of the United States
Census Bureau, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce.
Published annually since 1878, the statistics describe social and economic
conditions in the United States.
..... Click the link for more information.: 1999. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (1994). Childrens' competence beliefs, achievement

values, and general self-esteem: Change across elementary and middle school.
Journal of Early Adolescence, 14, 107-138.

Jeremy R. Sullivan, University of Texas at San Antonio The main campus is

situated on 600 acres (2.4 km²,) at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Loop
1604 near the northern edge of San Antonio, Texas in Bexar County. The
university is also one of the UT System's fastest growing schools, maintaining a
12.
..... Click the link for more information.. Cynthia A. Riccio and Cecil R. Reynolds
Cecil Randy Reynolds is an American psychology professor known for his
work in psychological testing and assessment.

Reynolds was born on February 7, 1952 at the US Naval Hospital in Camp

Lejeune, North Carolina. His father, Cecil C. , Texas A&M University.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jeremy R.

Sullivan, University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Counseling and
Educational Psychology. E-mail: jeremy.sullivan@utsa.edu
Table 1
Frequency and percent of cases for each year of age across total
sample, gender, and ethnicity

Gender

Total Sample Male Female

Age Freq % Freq % Freq %

8 871 8.6 421 4.2 450 4.4
9 1,462 14.4 757 7.5 705 7.0
10 1,523 15.0 727 7.2 796 7.9
11 1,414 13.9 687 6.8 727 7.2
12 1,259 12.4 621 6.1 638 6.3
13 1,326 13.1 680 6.7 646 6.4
14 651 6.4 332 3.3 319 3.1
15 476 4.7 246 2.4 230 2.3
16 436 4.3 244 2.4 192 1.9
17 464 4.6 257 2.5 207 2.0
18 258 2.5 128 1.3 130 1.3

Ethnicity

African
White American Hispanic

Age Freq % Freq % Freq %

8 754 7.4 75 0.7 42 0.4

9 1,178 11.6 184 1.8 100 1.0
10 1,175 11.6 188 1.9 160 1.6
11 1,082 10.7 168 1.7 164 1.6
12 1,008 9.9 119 1.2 132 1.3
13 1,098 10.8 107 1.1 121 1.2
14 492 4.9 57 0.6 102 1.0
15 322 3.2 32 0.3 122 1.2
16 291 2.9 20 0.2 125 1.2
17 316 3.1 16 0.2 132 1.3
18 196 1.9 5 0.0 57 0.6

Note. N = 10,140. Ages 8 through 11 comprise the Child form of

the SRP; ages 12 through 18 comprise the Adolescent form.