Examining Black adolescents’ perceptions of in-school racial discrimination: The role of teacher support on academic outcomes

•In-school racial discrimination from teachers and peers were negatively associated with academic persistence.•In-school racial discrimination from teachers and peers were unrelated to self-reported grades.•Teacher support was related to higher academic persistence and self-reported grades.•Teacher support was related to higher academic persistence at lower levels of in-school racial discrimination from teachers. In-school racial discrimination is a risk factor for Black adolescents, as it is negatively associated with their academic outcomes, including grades and persistence. Scholars have sought to identify protective factors that lessen the harmful effects of such discrimination. Protective factors consider personal, family and environmental contexts. This paper is guided by risk and resilience frameworks, which propose that protective factors help individuals achieve positive outcomes, even in the presence of risk. The present study investigates whether teacher support, an environmental protective factor, buffers the harmful effects of in-school racial discrimination on adolescents’ grades and academic persistence. This study used cross-sectional methodology in a sample of 364 Black seventh grade students (49% female, mean age = 12.5 years old, SD = 0.6) from three schools located in the suburbs of a Midwestern state. Findings indicated that there was a positive and direct association between teacher support and grades, and teacher support and academic persistence. In-school racial discrimination from teachers and peers were both negatively associated with academic persistence, but were unrelated to grades. These results also indicated that teacher support moderated the association between in-school racial discrimination from teachers and adolescents’ academic persistence. The current findings support previous research suggesting the importance of teacher support for academic success. Implications for social work practice, school interventions, and school policy are discussed.