Published: March 1, 1998

Failing But Feeling Fine

Most research suggests that children's self-esteem is closely related to how well they do in school. Kids who get good grades tend to feel pretty good about themselves and vice versa.

Although this connection between self-esteem and academic performance weakens in all children as they grow older, a new study has sparked concern that the link weakens most among African American boys. Their school achievement may slide, but their self-esteem remains largely unaffected. What this means, the study concludes, is that black males become far more alienated from academics than other groups of students as they move through high school.

Published in the December Journal of Educational Psychology , the study compares the degree to which white, Hispanic, and black adolescents nationwide base their self-esteem on academic performance. Such "identification" with schooling is seen by psychologists as an important factor in student motivation...