Transitioning to high school: issues and challenges for African American students.

Although there is a growing body of literature on students' transition from middle school to high school, much of the literature fails to take into consideration the distinctive racial and environmental circumstances of African American students. This article reviews literature related to the transitioning of African American students and discusses the unique challenges that African American students experience during adolescence. Counseling interventions are delineated and implications for school counseling professionals also are discussed.

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The process of transitioning from middle school/junior high to high school is one of the many developmental challenges that students face in their adolescent lives. This process constitutes an "ecological transition" that involves changes in the environment as well as changes in the role of the student (Newman, Myers, Newman, Lohman, & Smith, 2000). Research indicates that during this transition period, specifically in the school year following transition, many students experience a decrease in their academic achievement and grade point average (Reyes, Gillock, Kobus, & Sanchez, 2000). Minority students, in particular, seem to be at a greater risk for adjustment and academic difficulties post-transition to high school (Newman et al.; Reyes et al.). The purpose of this article is to review the literature related to the process of transitioning from middle to high school for a particular minority population--African American students. Also, implications for school counselors are provided.

The transition to high school has been found to bring about increased stress levels, decreased self-esteem, deteriorated academic performance, and heightened risk for maladjustment (Alvidrez & Weinstein, 1993). In addition, the process of transitioning from middle to high school involves a new environment and new roles and behaviors for the student (Keyes et al., 2000). These include increased student population size and heterogeneity; changes in school day structure; more teachers with a variety of teaching styles, rules, and expectations; higher-stakes grading; and stricter school policies (Reyes et al.). Research shows that a student's grades, self-esteem, and sense of academic efficacy are likely to decline after the transition to high school (Fuligni, Eccles, Barber, & Clements, 2001).

In addition to academic demands, beginning high school students also may become distracted by the increased complexity of social interactions that are fostered within the high school environment (Newman et al., 2000). Peers emphasize fitting in and belonging, and this can be a great source of pressure and anxiety for many students (Isakson & Jarvis, 1999). Further, due to the increase in the number of students, the high school environment can become a more anonymous setting than the middle school environment. For example, students who were top scholars and athletes in middle school may experience role loss when they arrive in high school (Newman et al.). Although a slight drop in grades and other adjustment difficulties may surface post-transition, the long-term outcomes following transition are largely determined by the ability of the student to cope with and manage change in the new environment (Isakson & Jarvis).

The literature related to middle-to-high school transitioning pays special attention to how environments affect individuals and how interactions between environments and individuals influence adaptation (Kelly, Ryan, Altman, & Stelzner, 2000). Using an ecological perspective, some authors (Fraser & Wahlberg, 1991) pointed to the importance of interdependence in the transitioning process. Changes in any part of an interrelated system, according to these authors, will affect changes in other parts of the system. Understanding the changes that adolescents encounter during school transition and the effects of these changes on students' adaptation is facilitated through this person-environment interactive framework. As such, transition-related changes in the school environment will require adaptive changes in the students' roles and behaviors (Kelly et al.).

This person-environment interaction perspective in the literature has been found to depend greatly on school characteristics. For example, the difficulties that students encounter during school transition have been attributed to the significant differences they encounter between their primary and secondary school environments (Eccles et al., 1993). The high school, when compared to elementary schools, typically has a larger student body and is more varied in terms of racial, socioeconomic status, and ability distributions (Bryk, Lee, & Smith, 1990). Factors such as more departmentalized curriculum programming and whole class instruction can create a more competitive atmosphere in high schools and therefore can complicate the adaptation of students, generate student passivity and irresponsibility, and decrease responsiveness to individual student needs (Lee, Bryk, & Smith, 1993).

Teachers also play a role in the school transition process. As students' primary contact in a school, teachers largely reflect a school's ability to be responsive to students' needs (Fraser & Wahlberg, 1991). However, high schools typically are characterized by greater teacher control and authority, more rigid discipline, and less personal attention from teachers (Reyes, Gillock, & Kobus, 1994). This is largely due to the large numbers of students taught at the high school level. Teaching and providing services to large numbers of students at the high school level usually requires more formalized rules and regulations (Lee et al., 1993), which can in turn create a more impersonal school climate (Eccles et al., 1993) and increased numbers of students not attending school, failing, or dropping out (Croninger & Lee, 2001).

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS TRANSITIONING TO HIGH SCHOOL

A limited number of studies have examined the effect that the transition process has on the academic adjustment and achievement of minority students, particularly African American students. Evidence suggests that minorities have the greatest academic difficulty following the move to middle-level schools and high school (Simmons, Black, & Zhou, 1991). In 1996, Gillock and Reyes examined the influence of school personnel perceptions and self-perceptions on the academic performance of 71 minority (e.g., Latino and African American) eighth graders during their transition to high school. The authors noted that it was predominately students' perceptions of their teachers that significantly affected their self-perceptions and their academic performance. In addition, they found support for the claim that students' academic performance and attendance rates declined as part of the transition to high school. In another study, Reyes et al. (2000) tracked eighth-grade students from urban, minority, low-income backgrounds beginning in their final year of elementary/middle school (K-8) through their transition to high school and up until their expected time of high school completion. They found that the minority students who eventually graduated from high school and the minority students who dropped out of high school both showed a decrease in grade point average following the middle-to-high school transition. In addition, the students who dropped out of school showed a sharper decline in grades and attendance in the ninth grade.

In a study of 22 African American high- and low-performing ninth-grade students, Newman et al. (2000) found that post-transition high performers had greater notions of what was needed for them to be successful in high school and had more friends who were supportive of academics when compared with low performers. Family support and adjusting to a new school also were noted as important variables to the high-performing and low-performing students' achievement in ninth grade. Likewise, the students reported that adjusting to a new school with "more difficult" work, organization of classes, length of class periods, and interaction with new people were important aspects of whether or not they were successful in school. The low-performing students seemed to tall into three distinct categories: (a) students who were struggling with the fact that ninth grade was harder, (b) students who were distracted by the social aspects of the new environment, and (c) students who were showing a disconnection from school altogether (e.g., low attendance, not completing schoolwork).

These dramatic changes in school performance as minority students move to high school suggest that declines in engagement in school may not simply be a process of adolescence but may be shaped by the experiences and academic and social environments that African American students encounter in high schools. The next sections will address five unique challenges that may influence the transitioning of African American adolescents: stereotyping, scarcity of positive role models, lack of culturally competent schools, ethnic identity development, and emotional/behavioral reactions to discrimination.

Stereotyping

In addition to navigating the developmental milestones of adolescence, African American students typically are exposed to both blatant and subtle stereotyping based on their race (Kao, 2000). Solomon (1989) investigated the impact of racial stereotyping upon African American students' high school experiences. He argued that schools foster the belief that African Americans are "sportsmen" and not academics. This inherently sends the message that African American students are not expected to academically excel, according to Solomon. In a similar manner, Hurst (1992) argued that students of different races receive systematically different treatment by their teachers based on stereotypes. He used the concept of the "self-fulfilling prophecy" to argue that stereotypes of different racial groups shape the ways in which teachers interact with their students, which in turn cause their expectations to become manifested in their students' behavior. Consequently, Hurst posited that stereotyping leads to the increased use of tracking in high schools and tracking makes it more likely that African American students will be placed in classrooms that further increase academic and opportunity gaps between student groups.

The stereotyping of African American males in school settings has been heavily cited in the literature (e.g., Lee, 1996). These stereotypes include believing that African American males are hostile, volatile, academically inferior, and emotionally disturbed. As a result of these stereotyped beliefs, African American males are disproportionately affected by the increased emphasis on discipline in many schools. Simmons et al. (1991) found that African American males showed the greatest increase in the incidence of suspensions after the transition to middle school. Also, the trend in schools toward get-tough policies has disproportionately affected African American males. Thus, high schools are too often environments in which African American males are stereotyped and consequently marginalized and unsupported.

Negative stereotypes also can become internalized, which in turn undermines African American students' motivation to achieve (Swanson, Cunningham, & Spencer, 2003). The internalization of stereotypes places African American students in a vulnerable position and creates what Steele (1999) has called "stereotype threat." Stereotype threat is essentially the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm a negative stereotype. This phenomenon, according to Steele, either can paralyze an African American student from achieving or can create such extreme anxiety that he or she is incapable of performing. The influence of stereotype threat on African American students during the transition process is unknown.

Scarcity of Positive Role Models

The salience of ethnicity in the shaping of behavior through modeling recently has been investigated and positive modeling has been determined as a significant factor in African American student achievement (e.g., Spencer & Markstrom-Adams, 1990). Nevertheless, the media is replete with negative images and models for African American adolescents. Often these images include African Americans suffering from substance abuse, delinquency, incarceration, homicide, low academic achievement, unemployment, and poverty. In addition to the lack of positive role models in the media, many African American communities are lacking appropriate role models as well. According to Ascher (1992), the flight of middle-class African Americans from inner-city neighborhoods and the high incidence of unemployment among the African Americans who remain have resulted in a lack of appropriate mainstream role models in many African American urban communities. In addition, Ascher called attention to the fact that only 1.2 percent of all teachers are African American men. High schools, therefore, are in need of acquiring more "positive" role models for young African American students, particularly African American males.

Assibey-Mensah (1997) conducted a national survey of 4,500 African American males, ranging from ages 10 to 18, in order to determine whom African American boys perceive as their role models. A major finding of his study was the overwhelming choice of athletes or sports figures as role models by all age groups, ranging from 85% for the 10-year-olds to 98% for the 18-year-olds. Assibey-Mensah suggested that the lack of interest in choosing educators as role models could be explained by the students' lack of exposure to African Americans in their schools. Hence, interaction between African American students and positive African American role models in schools is critical to the success of these students.

Lack of Culturally Competent Schools

A school's cultural insensitivity or lack of cultural congruence with minority students and their families also can influence the transition process. Researchers have argued that schools perform a social disservice by creating self-doubt in their African American students, by perpetuating existing social inequalities between Whites and African Americans, and by their depreciation of African American culture and accomplishment. African American students' cultural characteristics have been found to alter their experiences of school in that there tends to be a language and cultural schism between schools and students (Fordham, 1996). Fordham contends that schools invert African American culture by asking students to endorse such values as individual competition and autonomy. Such values, she contends, stand in opposition to African American values of kinship and group orientation.

Furthermore, much of the literature on African American student achievement has focused on the distrust between African American parents and school personnel. Many studies have indicated that African American parents feel as if their parenting skills and values are questioned or criticized by school personnel. Cultural or socioeconomic differences in verbal and nonverbal language may be contributing factors to these negative perceptions of African American parents. Kalyanpur and Rao (1991) found that low-income African American mothers of children with disabilities felt demeaned in meetings with professionals who considered themselves as "experts." The authors also reported that the mothers felt empowered when their input was valued.

In a study focused on the alienation of urban high school students, Fine (1991) found that schools alienated unsuccessful students (many of whom were African American) by silencing their cultures, norms, and practices. She concluded that low-performing minority students hear two opposing messages--one from their families of hope and mobility, and another from their school of deficiency and helplessness. In other words, minority students know the importance of education but feel humiliated by those who educate them.

Ethnic Identity Development

Ethnic identity development can have a major impact on transitioning to high school for African American students. In middle school, many students are beginning to explore their identity by considering who they are and what makes them unique individuals (Vernon, 1993). They become more aware of their own capacity to make decisions and choices. They begin to focus in new ways on questions of identity, development, such as "Who am I?" "What am I good at?" and "What affiliations and activities make me feel valued and competent?" Adolescents begin to look around them, to their status among their peers, to clues they receive from adults, and even to the larger society and media, for messages about who they are and what they could become. For adolescents who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups, this task is particularly complicated given the complex and confusing messages they receive about their identity.

In a study of 297 African American adolescents, McCreary, Slavin, and Berry (1996) found that high racial identity was a significant factor in the successful handling of stress, as well as in the lower rate of participation in problem behaviors. The process of ethnic identity development is important to the overall development of African American youth because it has been shown to be associated with the psychological adjustment of adolescents, including the development of their positive self-image and their sense of belonging (Phinney, 1989). For example, McMahon and Watts (2002) studied the relative influences of ethnic identity and global self worth on aggression, coping, and adjustment among 209 urban African American students in grades 5 through 8. They found that a greater sense of ethnic identity was significantly related to higher levels of cognitive decision-making, direct problem solving, seeking understanding, and positive cognitive restructuring in African American adolescents. Further, African American students may feel a disconnect between their sense of ethnic identity and expectations for their achievement (Oyserman, Harrison, & Bybee, 2001). For instance, Kao (2000) found that high academic achievement was equated with "acting White" rather than "acting Black" among African American high school students.

Emotional Adjustment to Discrimination

African American students' transition to high school also might be influenced by their emotional adjustment to discrimination. African American adolescents' poor academic performance and tenuous emotional adjustment have been documented extensively in the literature (Bailey & Paisley, 2004; Lee, 1996). Depression (Hammack, Robinson, Crawford, & Li, 2004), psychological distress (Paxton, Robinson, Shah, & Schoeny, 2004), family dysfunction (Cunningham, Swanson, Spencer, & Dupree, 2003), and community distress (Noguera, 2003) all have been cited as possible variables in the lack of academic and social progress of African American students. Some researchers have even found that school-related stress is experienced more by African American students than White students (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986). Munsch and Wampler (1993) suggested that school-related stress precipitates a particularly damaging process among African American early adolescents that disconnects them from the school environment and leads to additional problematic behaviors and a greater likelihood of eventually dropping out.

Other research has focused on racial socialization or how African American students cope with community and personal obstacles such as poverty, substandard housing, and inferior schools (Sayfer, 1994). Peters (1985) defined racial socialization as the "tasks Black parents share with all parents--providing for and raising children ... but include the responsibility of raising physically and emotionally healthy children who are Black in a society in which being Black has negative connotations" (p. 161). Spencer and Markstrom-Adams (1990) pointed out that if African American parents don't socialize their children rcgarding racial issues and prejudice, they leave their children vulnerable to racial stress. In other words, racial socialization can act as a buffer against a hostile and discriminatory environment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS

In response to the need for African American students to meet the academic demands and challenges of high school, it is important for counselors to provide the needed academic support for African American students entering high school. Clearly, tutoring programs and academic support activities would be advantageous for African American students who are having academic difficulties. Because few schools have classes on how to study, counselors might want to provide study skills courses for ninth-grade students, particularly African American students. Many African American students lack study skills and need to be taught how to study. Their parents, likewise, may need to attend courses that explain how to structure routine study times and schedules for their children. These study skills courses should be organized with the input of African American students and parents in order to meet their specific needs. For instance, African American parents might be more receptive to having a local African American agency or church supply tutors for their children; or students might prefer having study groups at a local community center on Saturday mornings as opposed to after school. In other words, the academic support activities should be developed in conjunction with feedback from African American parents and students.

As mentioned previously, given the lack of positive African American role models in many schools and communities, mentoring programs specifically designed for African American students provide an invaluable support for these students. Mentoring programs may focus on academic and personal/ social issues that are relevant to African American students. For instance, Utsey, Howard, and Williams (2003) developed a group mentoring model for African American at-risk male adolescents that increased their sense of self-concept and lessened their behavioral problems in school. According to Tucker (1999), mentoring can play a major role in providing consistent help and encouragement for African American students. However, she admits that finding African American adults who have the time to be mentors and who meet many of the traditional standards of mentoring programs can be problematic.

Counselors who work with eighth- and ninth-grade students also might want to hold orientation meetings with small groups of students before they leave middle school and during the beginning of their ninth-grade year. Ongoing support groups that emphasize ethnic identity issues as well as transition issues should be made available to ninth-grade African American students. In addition to support groups, counselors might initiate peer-mentoring programs for ninth-grade African American students. Matching ninth-grade African American students with African American students who have successfully transitioned to high school would enable the ninth-grade student to have a support system beyond the adults at the school.

Many African American students, especially those who do not transition successfully to high school, lack definitive goals or short-term school goals. Goals are important for self-motivation and they promote behaviors such as studying and doing homework (Tucker, 1999). Counselors should provide opportunities for African American students in middle and high school to think about what they want to achieve in school and in future careers. African American students will frequently be unaware of the connection between what they want to do and the time and energy that they expend. It is, therefore, important for counselors, teachers, and African American students/families to work together to provide opportunities for students to identify short- and long-term goals.

Research indicates that African American adolescents' perceptions of the quality of their school environment and the quality of their relationships with peers and teachers decline markedly as they move into secondary schools (Reyes et al., 1994). Teachers' reliance on stereotypes and prior expectations causes African American students to be at a disadvantage. School counselors can improve the transition of African American students by challenging their colleagues' stereotypes of African American students. One way to challenge colleagues is by utilizing data to highlight disparities between African American ninth-grade students and their White peers. These data might include grades, test scores, attendance records, discipline records, and extracurricular memberships. By monitoring and keeping track of data, school counselors are able to initiate discussions on teacher expectations, the influence of stereotypes on instruction and school culture, and how staff can challenge "myths" about student ethnic groups. In addition, literature on topics such as the effects of teacher perceptions on African American students' achievement and the transition of African American students to high school might be distributed to staff before professional development activities. In essence, the goal would be to emphasize the role that teachers play in the academic achievement and transition of African American students.

Research also indicates that adolescents whose parents maintain high involvement and support during high school do significantly better and are more likely to adopt positive coping strategies in response to academic difficulty and stress (Newman et al., 2000). Thus, it is crucial for counselors to educate parents and community members on the issues and challenges experienced by African American students. African American parents of middle school students should be invited and strongly encouraged to participate in informational meetings about high school policies. At these meetings, counselors, teachers, administrators, and school staff from high schools should share important information about the culture of high school and important policies that are different from the middle school. Information such as scheduling procedures, teacher expectations, class sizes, security issues, and attendance policies should be discussed with parents. Current African American high school students also should be invited to share their experiences and recommendations. In addition, information for parents on how to manage adolescent behavior and the influence of ethnicity on adolescent development should be shared. Counselors may want to invite experts on African American child development to speak at parent meetings. It is critical, however, that counselors invite African American parents to share their "success stories" at these meetings and gatherings. Having parents share their expertise and knowledge is essential for developing equitable partnerships and collaborative relationships.

Managing the stress and demands of transitions requires that students have coping resources that provide both motivation and strategies for working through problems associated with stereotyping and discrimination. Constantine, Donnelly, and Myers (2002) examined the relationships between dimensions of collective self-esteem and Africultural coping styles in a sample of African American adolescents. They found that adolescents with higher public collective self-esteem (i.e., the belief that others feel positively about their cultural group) reported greater use of spiritual-centered Africultural coping styles to deal with stressful situations. Their results also revealed that higher importance given to identity collective self-esteem (i.e., the belief that their cultural group is an important part of their self-concept) was related to greater use of collective coping strategies. Clearly, counselors must facilitate African American students' coping efficacy by promoting their public and identity collective self-esteem.

Counseling strategies that promote effective coping strategies might include (a) school-wide cultural/racial appreciation activities, (b) stress management and problem-solving training specifically tailored to African American students, (c) anger management activities, (d) sharing among African American students about strategies that they have found to be effective for coping with stress and feelings of incompetence, and (e) motivational discussions between African American ninth graders and African American students who have transitioned successfully.

Finally, negative stereotypes of African Americans and low teacher expectations lead to African American students feeling less competent and less efficacious in shaping their school performance, and with negative coping reactions (Steele, 1999). Although many African American youth are clear about the negative payoffs of dropping out, the lack of clear payoffs to persistence and of well-defined pathways to success makes it difficult to invest in the future (Oyserman, Gant, & Ager, 1997). School counselors must assist African American students to see a clear payoff to education by collaborating with African Americans in the community who are willing to mentor and guide young African American youth. Also, counselors can assist African American students by promoting the identification and recognition of their strengths and talents in their schools. School-wide initiatives in high schools in which African American students are consistently recognized for their strengths and accomplishments are needed in order to promote their self-worth and self-efficacy. By focusing on African American students' strengths rather than their deficits, their coping with a new environment will be less difficult.

CONCLUSIONS

It is paramount that schools, particularly secondary schools, create school environments that give African American students the best opportunities possible and that are not places in which only the resilient can be successful. There are many academic, personal, and social changes that adolescents undergo as they transition to high school. This article has highlighted the unique challenges of African American students who are transitioning to high school and has outlined counseling interventions that might be used for this population. The practice implications in this area are vast and warrant the immediate attention of school counseling professionals. Considering the widening achievement and opportunity gaps between African American and White students, it is critical that counselors address the issues and strategies raised in this article (e.g., stereotyping of African American students, low teacher expectations, peer mentoring). Clearly, if school counselors are aware of and act on these issues, African American students' transition from middle to high school will be more of a seamless process.

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Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy is an associate professor, Department of Counseling and Personnel Services, University of Maryland at College Park. E-mail: [e-mail]