Beyond School-to-Prison Pipeline and Toward an Educational and Penal Realism

Much scholarly attention has been paid to the school-to-prison pipeline and the sanitized discourse of “death by education,” called the achievement gap. Additionally, there exists a longstanding discourse surrounding the alleged crisis of educational failure. This article offers no solutions to the crisis and suggests instead that the system is functioning as it was intended—to disenfranchise many (predominately people of color) for the benefit of some (mostly white), based on economic principals of the free market. We begin by tracing the economic interests of prisons and the prison industrial complex, juxtaposing considerations of what we call the “educational reform industrial complex.” With a baseline in the economic interests of school failure and prison proliferation, we draw on the critical race theory concept of racial realism, to work toward a theory of educational and penal realism. Specifically, we outline seven working tenets of educational and penal realism that provide promise in redirecting the discourse about schools and prisons empowering those interested in critically engaging issues of racism that permeate U.S. orientations to education and justice

Clinical and Metabolic Characterization of Adults With Type 2 Diabetes by Age in the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE) Cohort

OBJECTIVE Differences in type 2 diabetes phenotype by age are described, but it is not known whether these differences are seen in a more uniformly defined adult population at a common early stage of care. We sought to characterize age-related clinical and metabolic characteristics of adults with type 2 diabetes on metformin monotherapy, prior to treatment intensification. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE), participants were enrolled who had type 2 diabetes duration &amp;lt;10 years, had HbA1c 6.8–8.5%, and were on metformin monotherapy. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four additional glucose-lowering medications. We compared baseline clinical and metabolic characteristics across age categories (&amp;lt;45, 45 to &amp;lt;55, 55 to &amp;lt;65, and ≥65 years) using ANOVA and Pearson χ2 tests. RESULTS Within the GRADE cohort (n = 5,047), we observed significant differences by age, with younger adults having greater racial diversity, fewer medications for common comorbidities, lower prevalence of CVD, higher weight and BMI, and more pronounced hyperglycemia and diabetic dyslipidemia and with metabolic profile indicating lower insulin sensitivity (inverse fasting insulin [1/(fasting insulin)], HOMA of steady-state insulin sensitivity, Matsuda index) and inadequate β-cell response (oral disposition index) (P &amp;lt; 0.05 across age categories). CONCLUSIONS Clinical and metabolic characteristics of type 2 diabetes differ by age within the GRADE cohort. Younger adults exhibit more prominent obesity-related characteristics, including higher obesity levels and lower insulin sensitivity and β-cell compensation. Given the increasing burden of type 2 diabetes and complications, particularly among younger populations, these age-related distinctions may inform risk factor management approaches and treatment priorities. Further study will determine whether age-related differences impact response to therapy. </jats:sec