An Exploration of Mothers’ Beliefs, Expectations, and Behaviors Regarding Young African American Children’s Early School Experiences and Success

We explored mothers’ beliefs, expectations, and behaviors as these relate to early academic success, their roles as parents to young children, and the influence of other ecological factors. Eleven African American mothers of children in kindergarten through third grades were interviewed twice with daily journaling for 2 weeks. Utilizing both Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Spencer’s phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory as our primary theoretical underpinnings, results were interpreted emphasizing contextual, cultural, and personal characteristics that may serve as protective or risk contributors during children’s education. As mothers defined their contributions to the early academic success of their children, related themes emerged from the data including the significance of parent involvement, family routine and cohesiveness, the availability of resources, and racial issues. Findings provide a contextualized cultural understanding of African American mothers’ beliefs and their potential influence on their children’s early school experiences and how these beliefs are enacted in structured and intentional ways.