A new study led by Natasha Cabrera, an associate professor in the department of human development and quantitative methodology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland in College Park, challenges accepted stereotypes of the educational prospects of minority children.
The study found that minority children are very strong in three areas of development: social competence, language, and ethnic identity. The authors state that many low-income minority children exceed their peers in self-regulation, the ability to manage behavior, emotions, and attention. These strengths impact social skills and academic success.
The study found that African American children command oral narrative skills which may uniquely help them read, and they produce narratives of higher quality and possess greater narrative comprehension than their white peers.
The study, “Positive Development of Minority Children,” appears in Social Policy Report, a publication of the Society for Research in Child Development. The report can be downloaded by clicking here.
