Niobe Way

Research
Center for Research on Development, Culture, and Education (Catherine Tamis-Lemonda, Hiro Yoshikawa, Joshua Aronson, Diane Hughes, co-PIs)
	Niobe Way is a Principal Investigator on a newly funded Center for Research on Development, Culture, and Education. The aim of the Center is to understand the ways in which families, peers, schools, and the Media, influence the academic engagement and performance of New York City children and adolescents. Furthermore, the center aims to examine how these processes vary by culture (i.e., ethnicity, social class, gender, and immigrant status). The research that is being conducted as part of the center involves two cohorts who will be followed over a three year period. The first cohort will involve 18 month old infants who will be followed until they enter school at 4 years of age. The second cohort will involve 6th graders who will be followed through middle school. The methods use to assess the research questions will include standardized measures, indepth interviews, and observations. Children and their parents, as well as teachers and administrators in the schools, will be asked to provide their perspectives on these issues. The Center is funded for five years by the National Science Foundation.
Friendships among Urban Adolescents from Low-Income Families
	Niobe Way is Principal Investigator on two studies of adolescent friendships. One study focuses on high school students and the other focuses on middle school students. Both studies are longitudinal and aim to understand friendship development among urban, African American, Latino, and Asian American adolescents from low-income families.The specific aim of both studies is to understand how adolescents experience their friendships as they go through adolescence, how these friendships change over time, and how contextual influences (e.g., family relationships, school cultures, neighborhood environments) shape the development of adolescent friendships. The studies use both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative methods involve standardized questionnaires, and the qualitative methods involve indepth interviews and participant observations. The high school study (The Connections Project) involves over 150 youth who are being followed over a period of four years. The middle school study (The R.E.A.L. Project) involves approximately 120 youth who are being followed over a period of three years. The studies are funded by The National Science Foundation and The William T. Grant Foundation.
The Predictors, Consequences, and Experiences of Perceived School Climate among Middle School Children (Jean Rhodes, co-PI, Spencer Foundation)
	In collaboration with Dr. Ranjini Reddy and Dr. Peter Mulhall, we are exploring the effects of various aspects of school climate on middle school students’ adjustment. Within this context, we have tested conceptual models of the predictors and multiple effects of teacher support, perceived school climate, and health behavior on self-esteem, depression, and academic outcomes. Additional analyses are underway to determine whether different pathways and trajectories emerge as a function of school ecology and students’ gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The study makes use of data from a three-year longitudinal study of early adolescents from 90 middle schools across Illinois. The students were all attending sixth through eighth grade middle schools. Data were collected at multiple levels including student reports, teacher reports, standardized test scores, and school characteristics.
Parental Socialization of Academic Achievement, Ethnicity and Race, and Peer Relations in African American, Dominican, and Chinese American families
Dr. Niobe Way and Dr. Diane Hughes are collaborating on a grant funded by the William T. Grant foundation. The purpose of this multi-method study is to describe African American, Dominican, and Chinese American parents’ socialization beliefs and goals as these pertain to adolescents’ (a) academic achievement, (b) ethnic and racial experiences and attitudes, and (c) peer relations. The study uses ethnography, in-depth interviewing, and surveys to explore parents’ beliefs and goals and how these beliefs and goals change over time. Approximately 250 parents will be followed over a three-year period as their adolescent children progress through middle school (6th through 8th grade). The adolescent children will be a part of another study (see the description of the CRCDE above.)
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