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School racial/ethnic diversity has been linked to positive developmental outcomes for youth in early adolescence (Graham, 2018). The purpose of this study was to examine whether school diversity and co-ethnic representation was associated with academic outcomes of children in middle childhood. Given mixed findings in previous research, this study explored whether the effects of school diversity and co-ethnic representation on academic achievement were moderated by the ethnicity of the individual in a sample of twins in middle childhood (N=485; Mage= 8 8.36 years, SD = .62). Parent-report, teacher-report, and objective ratings of academic outcomes were used. Results indicated that school diversity was positively and significantly associated with teacher reported achievement (b = .80, p < .05) across the full sample. Moderation analyses suggest that greater school diversity was associated with lower parent-reported and objective academic scores for European American youth, but higher teacher-reported and objective academic outcomes for ethnic minority youth. Results indicated that, across the full sample, co-ethnic representation was significantly and negatively associated with one measure of objective academic outcomes (b = -7.99, p < .05). Contrary to hypotheses, greater co-ethnic representation was associated with better teacher-reported and objective academic outcomes for European American youth, but lower objective academic outcomes for ethnic minority children. Findings demonstrate that the ethnic composition of schools are associated with academic outcomes of children in middle childhood, but findings vary by measurement of diversity (i.e., diversity index vs. co-ethnic representation and by the child’s own race/ethnicity.
ContributorsEzeh, Dirichi (Author) / Doane, Leah (Thesis director) / Lemery, Kathyrn (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05