Journal Article Summary

Summary of Cross-Class Friendship and Academic Achievement in Middle School

In the middle school years, there are differences in academic achievements that are based on the parental education given to the child. Parental education is very important for the success or failure of the student when it comes to academics. This can be attributed by readily providing the necessary academic resources or social capital which is a very important attribute to the success of the student in school. These resources are directly linked to the success of a child in the elementary school (Lessard & Juvonen, 2019). Early adolescent usually acts as a window that can either boost the academic achievement of the child before everything starts to fall apart and others start leaving school because they think it is not a good place to be. However, very little is known about the factors available that might make it possible to moderate the differences that exist pertaining to parental education at the time when their child is at middle school. Comment by Microsoft Office User: This could be put more clearly. Parental education is a marker of socioeconomic status and a correlate of academic achievement.

One of the basic factors that lead to academic achievements disparities during the early stages of adolescent is the choice of friends that these young people keep. At this period there is high independence on parents and high dependence on friends. Friendship that exists between students who come from different family backgrounds which can be categorized as cross-class friendship may make it possible for the students to equalize their academic opportunities and thus replicate the same in their academic performance.

As much as the socioeconomic status of the parent, their occupation, their monthly income and education are related to the way a student performs in school, parental education given to student is the cornerstone of good or poor academic performance in school. For instance in a situation where a student has high school educated parents, 13% of them will work hard and in the end obtain a bachelor’s degree. This is compared to 49% of students who have parents with a bachelor’s degree. When an adolescent has a mother who attained a college degree, there are more than 230% chances that the child will complete his or her college studies. (Wohn et al., 2013). It is clear that all parents with different education levels value the level of education that their children can achieve but parents with high school education level find it very difficult to trace relevant resources that can help their children go through the process of education smoothly. Developmental scholars have been able to recognize that peer interactions have a great impact on learning and cognitive development. Comment by Microsoft Office User: It’s not “given to” the student. It’s just the parent’s level of education. Comment by Microsoft Office User: ?

When adolescents from different parental levels of education come together, their exposure seems to be unique and very different. The different interactions and encounter within the groups formed by the peers make it possible for the adolescents to grow cognitively and in the course come up with new insights on how to deal with issues. The adolescents are able to positively challenge each other’s beliefs and way of conduct through emotional bonding and in the end they are able to come up with a common way of doing things, thus better academic achievement.

Having an interaction with peers who are dissimilar in socioeconomic backgrounds make it possible to attain better academic results among the learners. For instance when students across different ethnic groups are brought together and assigned some work to do together, all students strive to show their academic gains. Most students who are in cross-ethnic friendships find it very easy to be more dedicated and engaged in their academics, motivated to learn new things in their journey of life and are more likely to attend college compared to those who come from the same ethnic friendship.

Most friendships during the adolescent stage are likely to be shaped by the socioeconomic status of the team members. The cross-class friendships just like other social relationships can be a source of social capital. This means that it is possible for youths who come from different family backgrounds to gain access to new and very different knowledge and resources that make it easier for them to achieve academic excellence. When children are in the middle school, this is the time that they are still trying to get an understanding of the parental occupation prestige. However, little is known about how the youths came to discover about the academic level of their parents. Comment by Microsoft Office User: Here, the idea isn’t to have children specifically seek out cross-class friendships. It’s just looking at those students who happen to have cross-class friendships, and seeing whether the relationship between parental education and academic achievement is weaker in these students.

There seems to be a socioeconomic disparity in the United States. This means that cross-class friendship is one of the important mechanisms for mobility in education as long as schools are in a position to provide families with different educational backgrounds. The benefits in academic performance associated to cross-class friendship are not in any way related to the achievement of those students whose parents were able to attain college degrees. If efforts within the school are not able to support cross-class friendships then they will be limited and even die out. In a school setting, teachers, administrators and coaches play a very vital responsibility in supporting the cross-class ties which are very important for academic success of the learners at middle school. Comment by Microsoft Office User: You seem to have covered the introduction and discussion of the paper. However, it is a research study, and I want you to describe the methods and the results of the study. So, you can talk less about the importance of parental education and the potential for cross-class friendships to mitigate the relationship between parental education and student achievement, and more about how that question was investigated in this particular study and what they found. In addition, your grade will be better if you: Organize the paper into subheadings Clearly identify the study design (is it correlational or experimental?) and the developmental design (is it longitudinal, cross-sectional, or a combination?). Discuss the measures used in the study, including the evidence provided that they are reliable and valid measures of the variables of interest. Tie the findings to one of the purposes of studying development. Does this study give insight into human nature? Does it help with child rearing? Does it inform public policy? I look forward to seeing your revised paper.

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