2. Research Question:
How do different ethnic backgrounds in the
United States affect a child’s level of academic
achievement?
3. Cultural Behavior
Background Information
-Different culture behaviors can affect how well
a child is able to perform in a typical Western
school setting and how far they are able to go.
4. Many ethnic groups have different cultural beliefs for the
best way to raise a successful child:
● White Americans believe in authoritative parenting
○ Two key behaviors:
■ Support: hugging and praising
■ Control: setting clear expectations and moderate limits
● Chinese Americans often believe in authoritarian parenting
o Low support (very strict)
o High Control ( tightly monitor, less extracurricular activities)
5. Many ethnic groups have different cultural beliefs for the
best way to raise a successful child:
● Hispanic American
o Taught to respect authority
Eye contact with authoritative figures is seen as disrespectful
● This can cause issues in Western schools because they are thought to not be
paying attention in class
● Because of this they are sometimes put into lower level classes as children and
are therefore behind in school from the start
6. Example of a Chinese American mother’s
parenting techniques:
● Amy Chau, a mother of two, wrote the book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger
Mother”
○ Believes in strict discipline in order to assure the success of her two
daughters
○ Admitted in the book that she called a daughter “garbage” for being
rude; and making a daughter remake a birthday card for her because
her daughter didn’t make it the best she could
○ Video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShYDKsjDElA (5:30-6:27)
Amy (middle)
and her two
daughters
7. Racial/Ethnic Differences In Secondary School
Students
● Study conducted on approximately 1 million
7th-11th graders in California.
● Consisted of 8 different ethnic groups.
● Goal of the study was to find what the
achievement gap was between different
ethnic groups and what other factors
contribute to this gap.
9. Structural-Functional Theory
● Society is structured to maintain stability &
social order
● When different ethnic groups enter a new
society, their presence is disruptive to the
social balance
o Ex. Integration into new schools creates a gap
● Leads to inequality and disorganization
10. Conflict Theory
● Race & ethnicity are linked to inequality
o Tracking in schools based off of their ethnicity
● Schools that represent middle-class
viewpoints leave minority families to feel
devalued
o Ex. Spanish-speaking children have a harder time
learning at a school that speaks primarily one
language
11. Why study this
sociologically?
● By better understanding the cultural
differences between ethnic groups, society
can work on ways to bring the academic gap
together.
o Factors in the classroom and also home life both
contribute to this gap.
12. Ways to Improve Academic Gap
● Improving awareness of cultural differences
● Improving school systems by making them
more engaging, safe and fostering a more
supportive environment for all ethnicities.
13. Works Cited
Chua, Amy. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. New York: Penguin, 2011. Print.
Mcclelland, Frances. "Cultural Differences in Parenting Practices: What Asian American Families Can Teach Us."Research
Link. Frances Mcclelland Institute. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://mcclellandinstitute.arizona.edu/sites/mcclellandinstitute
McGee, Karen. "How Cultural Differences May Affect Student Performance." How Cultural Differences May Affect Student
Performance. Great Schools Inc, 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/
support/704-cultural-differences-student-performance.gs>.
"Racial/Ethnic Differences in School Performance, Engagement, Safety, and Supports." West Ed (n.d.): n. pag. California Healthy
Kids Survey. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
"Status and Trend in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups." National Center for Educational Statistics. N.p., July 2010. Web.
1 Dec. 2014. <http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015.pdf>.
"The Concepts Of Race And Ethnicity." The Concepts Of Race And Ethnicity. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.elearnportal.com/courses/sociology/race-and-ethnicity/race-and-ethnicity-concepts-of-race-and-ethnicity>.
