Race, Parents, and Schools: Understanding How Parental Racial Socialization Operates within Schools as Racialized Organizations

This study explores how parental racial socialization (PRSOC) operates in schools as racialized organizations. To do this, I merged three datasets together. Child-level data comes from the Maryland Adolescent Development In Context Study (MADICS; Eccles 1997), while school-level data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Office for Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). First, using ordinary least squares (OLS) and ordinal logistic regression modeling, I evaluate the extent to which engagement in PRSOC affects academic outcomes and educational experiences of Black and White students within public middle schools. I find a significant difference in engagement in PRSOC between racial groups, whereby Black students, on average, engage in significantly higher levels of PRSOC than White students. While engagement in PRSOC only has a positive impact on Black students’ GPA, it has mixed effects on both White and Black students’ affect toward school. Second, I evaluate the impact of the racialized school context and find a significant negative impact on academic outcomes and educational experiences for both White and Black students. Further, I find a significant interaction between engagement in PRSOC and the racialized school context for Black students, highlighting the mediating impact of PRSOC on Black students’ GPA. Lastly, the study finds variation in the content and purpose of White and Black PRSOC. These differences may have repercussions on students’ educational experiences as Black PRSOC largely serves to protect students from racism, while White PRSOC ultimately maintains and exacerbates racial inequality in schools.