Achievement, Behaviour Disorder and Social Circumstances in West Indian Children and Other Ethnic Groups

Abstract

Although there is evidence that some children of West Indian parents are underachieving, and are also seen by their teachers as manifesting problems of behaviour in the classroom (Little, 1975; Varlaam, 1974; Bagley, 1975b) it is by no means clear what social factors if any underlie this apparently deviant performance. Nor is it clear the extent to which social and behavioural factors connected with the educational performance of young West Indian children have an enduring effect into adolescence and young adulthood. As Phillips (1979) in reviewing these problems has observed, all evidence, even that from surveys carried out in the 1960s, is valuable because it may help to establish the extent and direction of change over time, which is an issue of central importance.