摘要：Objectives. We examined the extent to which within-school segregation, as measured by unevenness in the distribution of Black and White adolescents across levels of the English curriculum (advanced placement–international baccalaureate–honors, general, remedial, or no English), was associated with smoking, drinking, and educational aspirations, which previous studies found are related to school racial/ethnic composition. Methods. We analyzed data from wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, restricting our sample to non-Hispanic Blacks (n = 2731) and Whites (n = 4158) who from 1994 to 1995 attended high schools that enrolled Black and White students. Results. White female students had higher predicted probabilities of smoking or drinking than did Black female students; the largest differences were in schools with high levels of within-school segregation. Black male students had higher predicted probabilities of high educational aspirations than did White male students in schools with low levels of within-school segregation; this association was attenuated for Black males attending schools with moderate or high levels of within-school segregation. Conclusions. Our results provide evidence that within-school segregation may influence both students' aspirations and their behaviors. The role of segregation in maintaining and perpetuating racial health disparities is receiving increased attention in public health research. 1 – 7 The vast majority of these studies, however, have focused on residential segregation, with few investigating the impact of school segregation on health or health behaviors. Yet schools wield considerable influence on individuals' social and economic trajectories. Because the distribution of school resources often falls along racial and class lines, schools are 1 of the prime institutions that engage in the reproduction and perpetuation of social 8 and racial 9 inequities in the United States. For example, Black students today are more likely to attend predominately minority schools than they were in the 1990s 10 – 12 ; in 1991 to 1992, 66% of Black students attended a school where 50% to 100% of the student body was non-White; 77% attended such schools in 2003 to 2004. 12 Predominately minority schools are less able than majority-White schools to provide the full array of educational opportunities. 11 , 13 – 15 Black students who attend racially mixed and predominately White schools are more likely than Whites to be assigned to less academically rigorous coursework, even when Black students' abilities are equivalent to those of the White students. 15 – 18 This process is often referred to as tracking. Academic tracks correspond to the sequences of courses within subject domains (e.g., English, math, science) that differ in content, rigor, and instruction. 18 In theory, the process of tracking should be based on student ability, previous academic achievement, and course availability. In reality, however, other factors often influence track assignment, including pressure placed on school decision makers by parents, as well as students' race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender. 18 Academic tracking by race has been termed second-generation segregation and often occurs in racially mixed and predominately White schools in an attempt to recreate middle-class White privilege under the guise of meritocracy and ability. 19 – 21 Many have argued that racial segregation within schools (hereafter “within-school segregation”) affects the educational opportunities of racial minorities at least as much as does racial segregation between schools. 16 , 17 , 22 , 23 Recent studies suggest that inequalities across and within the education system affect the health and health behaviors of individuals in the short term and long term. 24 – 28 In the short term, the racial composition of schools appears to influence adolescents' smoking and drinking behaviors. For example, Kandel et al. found that as the percentage of minority students at a school increased, the odds of smoking initiation among all students decreased. 24 Johnson and Hoffmann found lower rates of smoking initiation among Black students, but not White students, attending predominately minority schools. 28 Hoffmann also found lower odds of drinking in predominately minority schools, but only for female students. 27 Schools may also have long-term effects on health. Walsemann et al. found that the accumulation of educational advantages (e.g., college preparatory coursework, expectations to attend college, attending high-SES schools) decreased the odds of reporting a health limitation in early adulthood and slowed the rate of increase in the odds of health limitations up to middle age, independent of educational attainment. 26 In another study, respondents who reported being in the general academic track, who had taken remedial coursework, or who did not expect to attend college experienced consistently higher levels of depressive symptoms in early and mid-adulthood, independent of family background and adult SES. 25 These studies help elucidate the role that the education system plays in population health, but we know of no studies that have examined how within-school segregation affects adolescent health. Within-school segregation may influence the health and health behaviors of adolescents through multiple pathways. Segregating students into different levels of course curriculum on the basis of race is discriminatory. Previous research has suggested that perceived discrimination increases the odds of smoking and drinking among Black individuals. 29 – 35 It is therefore possible that attending schools with high levels of within-school segregation may lead Black students to engage in riskier health behaviors as a means of coping with the chronic stress of marginalization. Another possibility is that schools with high levels of within-school segregation may create an environment in which stereotypes about group differences are magnified 36 and Black students are marginalized by teachers and peers. 37 In response to such an environment, Black students may seek out same-race friendships and safe places where they feel a sense of belonging and identity. 37 This, in turn, may confer a level of protection against some risky behaviors (e.g., smoking, drinking) by insulating Black students from the riskier behaviors of White students. 24 , 38 – 40 Students are often aware of tracking in their school, even if classes are not marked as high or low ability. 41 Because of the interplay between social, cultural, and political processes involved in tracking decisions at the school level, tracking often results in the conflation of ability with race, 9 which in turn may socialize students to accept their positions in their schools' social hierarchy. 17 Even in schools that provide some opportunity for track mobility, students who have a history of being tracked often do not enroll in high-ability courses because they have internalized the labels and status attached to them by their peers, teachers, and administrators. 37 Thus, another pathway through which within-school segregation may affect health is demoralization. 42 – 44 Repeated failures and grade retentions, for example, increase the likelihood of dropping out. 15 Dropping out of high school decreases access to economic and social resources in adulthood that have been linked to better physical and mental health. 45 – 47 In addition, students who are tracked into low-ability courses are less likely to attend or complete college because they do not have the prerequisite coursework to apply to college 18 or do not have access to important postsecondary informational networks. 20 We examined the extent to which within-school segregation, as measured by racial segregation across levels of the English curriculum, was associated with smoking, drinking, and the educational aspirations of Black and White adolescents.
