Journal 5

            The article I looked at is titled, “Family Functioning and School Success in At-Risk, Inner-City Adolescents.” In this article the author states that two of the most powerful family predictors are family cohesion and parental monitoring. It goes on to say that there are two important factors for academic success, family routine and school engagement (even when looking at gender, grade level, cognitive function, and maternal education). The article also states that girls have an advantage in overall school success. However the relation between gender and academic success are not as clear, and further studies suggest that there are few gender differences. The article concludes that within at-risk African American families, support from families, parental monitoring, and cohesive families increases academic success.

            I see this article responding well to my other articles, especially article #4. I see it responding well because article 4 talked about race and it’s affect on academic success and this article also talks about race but also brings up the idea of socioeconomics and family contribution. I think it would also respond well because article 4 said that the most influential factor was race and this article says one of the most influential factors is family cohesion.

            This article has led me to focus on what demographic affects academic success most. I feel that looking at which one affects most vs. just looking at demographics and their affects will help me to gain an argumentative stance on the issue thus bettering my chance at writing an effective exploratory essay. At this point I think that family factors more heavily affect student success than race because they have a greater impact on life in general. While race may have a large social impact on a student’s life, family factors impact life at home, ability to pay for school, and support for achieving good grades and GPAs, which gives them a greater influence on a student’s academic success.

            For further research I think I need to look into another demographic and it’s affect on academic success and compare it to the thoughts discussed in the previous articles. From there I can determine what demographic affects academic success most. Another article I could look into is an article that not only talks about one demographic but compares multiple ones which would make comparing demographics between articles easier, and would give me more effective articles to write a successful exploratory paper.