Classroom and School Predictors of Civic Engagement Among Black and Latino Middle School Youth.

This study used short-term longitudinal data to examine the contributions of democratic teaching practices (e.g., the Developmental Designs approach) and equitable school climate to civic engagement attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors among 515 Black and Latino middle school students (47.9% male). Concurrent experiences of democratic homeroom and classroom practices, and equitable school climate were associated with higher scores on each civic engagement component. The relation between classroom practices and civic attitudes was more robust when school climate was seen as more equitable. Longitudinally, homeroom practices and equitable school climate predicted higher civic attitudes 1 year later. Discussion focuses on civic attitudes and future research on school experiences that support civic engagement among youth of color.

Just Good Developmental Science: Trust, Identity, and Responsibility in Ethnic Minority Recruitment and Retention.

Given the noted difficulty of recruiting and retaining ethnic and racial minority populations into various kinds of research endeavors (e.g., basic, prevention, intervention, health), they remain underrepresented and thus underserved by the research community as compared to other US groups. As developmental scientists, we often ask questions that imply longitudinal research designs, and thus, issues of attentiveness and responsiveness are paramount to the successful engagement (i.e., recruitment) and sustainability (i.e., retention) of our research with ethnic/racial minority samples. The goal of this chapter is to advance an ongoing dialogue about much of the work researchers of ethnic/racial minority child and youth development do in order to effectually recruit and retain youth and families but that is not often obvious to colleagues and readers of the final products. We frame our discussion with three key broadly significant themes: the role of trust, researcher identity and insider/outsider status, and responsibility. Perhaps most importantly, throughout the chapter, we provide concrete examples of the ways in which developmental scientists are transforming potential recruitment and retention challenges into opportunities in their own research programs.

Middle School as a Developmental Niche for Civic Engagement.

The present study investigated how school climate, school connectedness and academic efficacy beliefs inform emergent civic engagement behaviors among middle school youth of color. These associations were examined both concurrently and longitudinally using a developmentally appropriate measure of civic engagement. Data were drawn from two subsamples of a larger study of social/emotional development in middle school (cross-sectional sample n = 324; longitudinal sample n = 232), M = 12 years old, 46 % female, 53 % male. Forty-two percent (42.2 %) of the sample self-identified as African American, 19.8 % as Multiracial or Mixed, 19.4 % as Latino, 11.6 % as Asian American or Pacific Islander, 11.6 % identified as Other, and 5.2 % as Native American. The study tested and found support for a latent mediation model in which more positive perceptions of school climate were positively related to school connectedness, and this in turn, was positively associated with civic engagement; school climate was also positively associated with academic-self-efficacy beliefs, but such beliefs did not mediate the climate-civic engagement association. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.