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This study examined the relationship of academic achievement to time perspective (future, present) and school membership (belonging, acceptance, rejection) among 232 low-income, urban African American adolescents. Findings indicated positive, significant relationships among academic achievement, future time perspective, school belonging, and school acceptance. A negative, significant relationship was found between academic achievement and present time perspective. Based on multiple regression analysis, the ability of time perspective and school membership to predict academic achievement differed across gender. Whereas present time perspective was predictive of academic achievement among males, school acceptance and future time perspective emerged as significant predictors of academic achievement among females. Present time perspective contributed negatively to academic achievement among males, while school acceptance and future time perspective contributed positively to academic achievement among females.
The number of studies that examine African American adolescents has grown steadily over the past two decades. Educators and researchers are slowly moving from cross-ethnic comparative studies of African American adolescents to studies that enhance our understanding of how gender, style of living (urban, rural, suburban) and socioeconomic status shape African American adolescents within the context of ethnicity (Brown & Jones, 2004; Davis, 1994; Rouse & Austin, 2002; ScottJones & Clark, 1986). At the heart of these studies is growing concern among educators to address gender differences in academic achievement among African American adolescents (Ferguson, 2003; Hubbard, 2005; Oyserman, Bybee, & Terry, 2003; Roderick, 2003; Rouse & Austin, 2002; Saunders, Davis, Williams, & Williams, 2004). Studies show that African American males, when compared to African American females, are disproportionately represented on negative indices of academic achievement (Frederick Patterson Research Institute, 1997; Hubbard, 2005; Roderick, 2003; Saunders, Davis, Williams, & Williams, 2004; Williams, Davis, Cribbs, Saunders, & Williams, 2002). African American males are less likely to graduate high school and tend to report fewer academic aspirations than do African American females. Discrepancies in academic achievement among African American adolescents suggest a need to further study what some researchers speculate is a gendered racial culture among these youths (Hubbard, 2005; Oyserman, Bybee, & Terry, 2003; Scott-Jones & Clark, 1986). Researchers suggest that African American adolescents function in a climate of expectation predicated on gender where teachers view African American females more favorably than males, perhaps contributing to the gap in their...