Grace W

How does Scarsdale High School impact academic expectations in the Scarsdale community?

Started Feb. 26, 2024

Abstract or project description

During this research project, I will be investigating how Scarsdale High School impacts academic expectations in Scarsdale, New York. Scarsdale High School is renowned for producing successful students and having an overall competitive and intelligent environment. Students are expected to achieve high grades, participate in many extracurriculars, and attend prestigious colleges following their graduation. I will be questioning students, teachers, and counselors about their perceptions regarding success, what influences their attitude towards education, and how it shapes their view about academics. This includes teachers from the town's middle school, as they play a crucial role in shaping an incoming high school student's preconceptions of the school and its environment. Additionally, I believe ethnicity plays a significant role in a person’s ideas about success, as certain cultures put an extreme emphasis on academic success and thus have higher expectations regarding school, as 32% of the community is non-white. I plan to ask what influences people of different races in the community’s ideas on success, and how that motivates or demotivates them in their work.