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. 2020 Dec;90(12):1019-1029.
doi: 10.1111/josh.12967.

Buffering Effects of Racial Discrimination on School Engagement: The Role of Culturally Responsive Teachers and Caring School Police

Jessika H Bottiani  1 , Heather L McDaniel  2 , Lora Henderson  3 , Jasmin E Castillo  4 , Catherine P Bradshaw  5
Affiliations

Buffering Effects of Racial Discrimination on School Engagement: The Role of Culturally Responsive Teachers and Caring School Police

Jessika H Bottiani et al. J Sch Health. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Urban black adolescents' wellbeing in the early high school years can be negatively impacted by exposure to racial discrimination. These impacts may be buffered by supportive relationships with adults at school. We considered both the protective and promotive effects of culturally responsive teachers and caring school police on school engagement for students exposed to racial discrimination across settings.

Method: This study leveraged baseline student report from a sample of urban, predominantly black high school students with elevated teacher-rated levels of aggressive behavior (N = 397 9th graders; 91.2% black; 50.4% male; J = 10 schools). Using a path model with full-information maximum likelihood estimation, we examined the associations of racial discrimination, teacher cultural responsiveness, and school police caring in relation to school engagement and school disconnection, adjusting for covariates, including family racial socialization.

Results: Frequency of racial discrimination was significantly associated with lower school engagement and greater school disconnection. Teacher cultural responsiveness was significantly, favorably associated with all outcomes. Police caring had no significant direct associations; however, there were moderation effects. When police caring was below average, increased racial discrimination was associated with significantly poorer attitudes toward school.

Conclusions: Findings suggested that students' perceptions of school police caring may buffer links between racial discrimination experiences and school disconnection. Moreover, students who perceive that their teachers are culturally responsive may feel more engaged at school. Interventions to promote teachers' and school police officers' cultural responsiveness and caring may improve engagement among at-risk urban youth who experience racial discrimination.

Keywords: cultural responsiveness; family racial socialization; school aggression; school engagement; school police; school resource officers.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors of this article declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Path Diagram for Moderation of Culturally Responsive Teacher Practices and Caring School Police Officer
Figure 2
Figure 2
Johnson‐Neyman Plot of the Relationship between Frequency of Discrimination and Attitudes toward School across Levels of Caring School Police Officer
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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