Black Virgin Island high schoolers' school mattering

Abstract

Black Virgin Island high schoolers matter but may find themselves questioning if they matter to their schools since the 2017 hurricanes. The current complementarity mixed methods study examined how Black Virgin Island high schoolers in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands perceived school mattering was associated with school practices (i.e., school discipline, teacher relationship, and culturally sustaining pedagogy). The study also explored how Black Virgin Island high schoolers experienced school mattering during academic disruption (a concept developed in the study), their engagement in street life, and get off the Island mentality. The final quantitative sample consisted of 120 participants completing a survey measure. The univariate linear regression and the multivariable linear regression revealed that only teacher relationship had a statistically significant association with school mattering (β= .449 p= <0.001). The qualitative results reveal that academic disruption causes stress and can negatively impact the student-teacher relationship. The qualitative data also revealed that students in street life most likely do no matter to their school, and that mattering to their school did not make a difference in whether a student desired to leave the Island after high school or not. Recommendations for stakeholders to give ear to the importance of the student perspective are given.