Urban Minority Adolescents' Perceptions of Classroom Climate / Cynthia Hudley.

Too many ethnic minority students enrolled in urban schools are not achieving to their full potential, and this problem is particularly acute for African-American males. One strategy to enhance achievement has been separate educational settings for African-American males, a relatively new and highly controversial innovation in public education. This research compared perceptions of classroom environment for middle school students enrolled in two classrooms for African-American males at two different schools and similar students enrolled in the general education program at each school. All participants (n=92) completed the Classroom Enrollment Scale (R. Moos and E. Trickett, 1987). Scores were analyzed as a function of school type and classroom type. Ratings were similar for the two African-American male classrooms but differed substantially for the comparison groups. Results are interpreted within a goodness of fit framework. The strong positive relationships among affiliation, teacher support, involvement, classroom order, and task orientation are consistent with previous findings that African-American male classrooms have positive effects on relationships between students and their teacher as well as on students' attitudes toward academic activities and their own academic abilities. This effect seems to be somewhat stronger in the middle school than the K-8 school. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure, and 11 references.) (SLD)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.