Philip R. Newman

Experiences of Urban Youth Navigating the Transition to Ninth Grade

The study describes perceptions of the transition to ninth grade for low-income, urban, minority adolescents. Students who had a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in middle school were interviewed about their school transition. Results focus on perceptions of the transition, major challenges, sources of support, and coping strategies. Students who continued to perform well in ninth grade were differentiated from those who had academic difficulties. Students described the transition to high school as including new academic challenges, a more complex environment, new social demands, and new interactions with teachers. High performers mentioned fewer challenges than low performers. High performers received more support from their immediate family, and many had friends who supported their academic goals. Students described three kinds of coping strategies: individual (be dedicated, stay focused), academic (study, keep up with homework), and social (hang with the right people). Implications focus on supporting academic success for urban youth.

Group Identity and Alienation: Giving the We Its Due.

The purpose of this paper is to argue for greater understanding and valuing of group affiliation and the formation of allegiances to groups during early adolescence. An overemphasis on themes of individual identity, self-reliance, and autonomy as the developmental trajectory of adolescence leads to a lack of attention to the positive, normative mechanisms that permit young adolescents to achieve a sense of belonging and connection. We propose developmental processes which underlie the capacity for reflection about groups, 4 basic components of group identity, and 6 propositions about new capacities that emerge as young adolescents struggle with the dialectic between group identity and alienation. The final section suggests opportunities that can emerge through a more appropriate emphasis on group identity as a valued, normative aspect of development during the early adolescent years.