Cross-cultural Educational Experiences and Academic Achievement of Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Urban Public Schools

Patriann Smith, Alex Kumi-Yeboah

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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 crosscultural
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.
Original languageAmerican English
JournalEducation and Urban Society
StatePublished - 2016

Keywords

  • education
  • immigration
  • race
  • language
  • Ghanaian
  • Ghana
  • urban education
  • cross-cultural
  • Africa

Disciplines

  • Education
  • Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
  • International and Comparative Education
  • Secondary Education
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • International and Area Studies
  • African Studies
  • Other International and Area Studies
  • Linguistics
  • Sociology
  • Social Justice

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