Latino Students' Transition to Middle School: Role of Bilingual Education and School Ethnic Context.
Participants were 204 academically at-risk Latino students recruited into a study when in first grade and followed for 9 years. Using piecewise latent growth curve analyses, we investigated trajectories of teacher-rated behavioral engagement and student-reported school belonging during elementary school and middle school and the association between trajectories and enrollment in bilingual education classes in elementary school and a change in school ethnic congruence across the transition to middle school. Overall, students experienced a drop in school belonging and behavioral engagement across the transition. A moderating effect of ethnic congruence on bilingual enrollment was found. A decline in ethnic congruence was associated with more positive trajectories for students previously enrolled in bilingual classes but more negative trajectories for non-bilingual students.
Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, Box 4225, College Station, Texas 77843-4225.
Jan N
JN
Hughes
Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, Box 4225, College Station, Texas 77843-4225.
MyungHee
M
Im
Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, Box 4225, College Station, Texas, 77843-4225.
Oi-Man
OM
Kwok
Department of Psychology, Box 1104; Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
Heining
H
Cham
Box 1104; Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
Stephen G
SG
West
Latino students; engagement; growth curve modeling; school belonging; transition to middle school