Your Tracks are Showing: Understanding the Experiences of Black Girls in a Middle School with Racialized Tracking

Despite overwhelming research about the negative effects of tracking on minority students, tracking is used to group students in more than 80% of middle schools in the United States. In racially diverse schools, school officials disproportionately place students of color in lower tracks and place an unjustifiable number of White students in the higher tracks, resulting in segregated classrooms. Using tracking to create segregated classes within racially diverse schools is called racialized tracking (Tyson, 2011). In this qualitative study, I explored the educational experiences of six Black girls who attended a middle school with racialized tracking. This study was grounded in Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2015) to acknowledge the distinct social positioning of Black girls and the importance of their lived experiences. I drew upon Critical Race Theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017) to understand how racialized tracking preserved educational inequalities in the girls’ school. I analyzed the data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2013), using the conceptual framework of intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2016) to understand how girls’ experiences were shaped by domains of power. Findings showed that all six girls 1) viewed tracking as an unfair hierarchy, 2) experienced othering and marginalization, 3) valued safe spaces and community, and 4) shaped their identities in resistance to negative stereotypes. The implications of this study call for schools and school districts to end tracking systems and create spaces that promote community and belonging for Black girls. Additionally, this study indicates the need for more diverse, inclusive, and comprehensive instruction of Black history and culture in middle schools. An important implication for all stakeholders is the need for antiracist training to adequately address the systemic and individual racism that Black girls face in school

Optical Transmission-Based Water Turbidity Measurement System

Turbidity is one of the important parameter for the determination of water quality. The current existing method of measuring turbidity of water could come in bulky size or small portable turbidity meter. The ability to handle many samples and implementation of on-line monitoring is limited for such devices while some do not support this feature. Taking measurements would be laborious and time consuming especially when the sources of samples are located in remote places which are difficult to be accessed by human. In this research, an alternative turbidity measurement system called the “Optical Transmission-Based Water Turbidity Measurement System” is designed and its performance is analysed and compared to the measurement from a standard turbidity meter. The concept of the proposed measurement system is to make the turbidity measurement remote, easy to handle and more flexible. The use of fibre optic as the element of carrying light enables measurement taken at the source of sample but could be remotely controlled from other place by the user. The design for the fibre optic set-up, transmitter circuit, receiver circuit and signal conditioning circuit were covered. The assembly program for Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC) was also created

Assessment of Factors Influencing Food Security in Wenje Division, Tana River County – Kenya

Access to food is recognized as a right as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). However, food security is still not universally treated as a basic human right. Despite the various progressive measures adopted by the Government of Kenya and Non-governmental organizations, the status of food security in Tana River County is appalling. This study was designed to assess the factors influencing food security in Wenje Division in Tana River County. The main purpose of the study was to assess the extent to which, climate change, governance, access to markets and land use affected food security. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Stratified random sampling was employed to select 390 (10%) out of a total population of 3,908 households. Data was collected using a questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions. Descriptive statistics and regression modeling were used to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative data was presented in narrative form. The key results from the study show that climate change (p=0.001) and land use (p=0.001) had a significant effect on food security. These factors were also found to have a negative influence on food security in the area. Further, statistical findings show a significant relationship between access to markets and food security, while governance was not found to have a significant influence on food security perhaps due to the solitary nature of the farming households. The study concluded that climate change, market access and land use have a significant influence on food security in Wenje Division, while governance was found not to have a significant influence on food security in the area. The study recommended that the government in partnership with other stakeholders should develop strategies to reduce reliance on rain fed agriculture to mitigate the effects of climate change on food security. The study also recommended land use training and planning to empower farmers with skills in the area to enhance food production. Finally, deliberate efforts should be made by the government and other development actors to enhance market access as this was also found to significantly influence food security in the area

A new species of \u3cem\u3eIsometrus\u3c/em\u3e Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from southeastern plains of Tamil Nadu, India

We here describe a new species of Isometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 from the southeastern plains of Tamil Nadu, India, which is known only from its type locality, Chengalpattu. The new species was recovered as sister to Isometrus nakshatra based on a molecular phylogeny inferred from COI and 16S mitochondrial genes. Sequence divergence between the new species and all the Indian congeners was 12.6–15.7 % for COI and 12.2–14.4 % for 16S. The new species can also be differentiated from all the Indian congeners based on the following set of characters: surface of carapace with mixed (coarse and fine) and dense granulation; telson vesicle length to depth ratio in males 3.5–3.7; chela length to width ratio in males 5.0–5.4; metasomal length to carapace length ratio in males 8.2–8.9; coarse granulation on mesosomal tergites V and VI along the margins; lateral supramedian and ventral lateral carinae on metasomal segments II–IV moderately to weakly granular; ventral median carina of telson vesicle weakly granular; spiniform granules of promedian carina of the pedipalp patella strongly developed. This is the ninth species of Isometrus described from India and the first species from southeastern peninsular India. This discovery highlights the need for more surveys from the eastern peninsular region

Two new cryptic species of \u3cem\u3eIsometrus\u3c/em\u3e (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from the northern Western Ghats, India

Integrated taxonomic approach is used to describe two new cryptic species of the genus Isometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from the northern Western Ghats of India. Isometrus tamhini sp. n. and I. amboli sp. n. are closely related to each other and differ from two other Indian species of the genus, I. thurstoni and I. maculatus, by the morphological features and a raw genetic divergence of over 10%