Cross-Cultural Educational Experiences and Academic Achievement of Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Urban Public Schools
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Keywords
Black African immigrant youth, Ghanaian-born, cross-cultural experiences, academic achievement, multicultural education, urban education
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124516643764
Abstract
The past two decades have witnessed a rapid increase of immigrant population in U.S. schools. Little is known, however, about factors that promote cross-cultural experiences, academic achievement, and/or challenges of Black African immigrant youth, which is particularly significant today in the midst of the current social and political discourse over the influence of immigration in U.S. schools. Sixty Ghanaian-born immigrant students were recruited and interviewed. Analyses, which draw from in-depth interviews and observations, revealed that resilience to succeed, teacher and parent support, positive school environment, past histories including educational experiences, and challenging factors of racism, classism, xenophobia, acculturative stress, changes in curriculum, language, and cultural discrimination emerged as the major factors that largely influenced academic achievement of these learners. This article discusses the implications of these findings for educators who are tasked to render better educational settings for Black African immigrant students to succeed in U.S. schools.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Education and Urban Society, v. 49, issue 4, p. 434-455
Scholar Commons Citation
Kumi-Yeboah, Alex and Smith, Patriann, "Cross-Cultural Educational Experiences and Academic Achievement of Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Urban Public Schools" (2016). Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications. 237.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tal_facpub/237
