Far From the Dream : Exploring the Gap in Educational Opportunities for Black Americans

Substantial evidence demonstrates the inequity in educational opportunity that currently exists for Black students in U.S. schools. Combatting this inequity requires an understanding of what educational opportunity looks like in practice and insight into the various mechanisms that maintain and reproduce inequity. This dissertation explores the topic of educational opportunity through the lens of race with the aim of identifying the ways in which schools and policies can ensure all students receive the necessary support to be successful both in and out of school. In essence, this dissertation aims to capture what makes an education freeing and equitable. To address the research aims, this dissertation employed a qualitatively driven, multi-method research design that consisted of four interrelated studies. The research approach and methods used for each of the four studies differed, but in combination, the studies sought to fulfill the overarching project aims. The multi-method design enabled a complex examination of racial inequity and educational opportunity from multiple perspectives and at four different levels: conceptual, policy, school, and individual. The first study was a conversion mixed methods integrative review that focused on educational opportunity at the conceptual level. The study resulted in the development of an educational opportunity framework that has implications for both practice and theory. The framework can be adapted in different contexts to guide schools and researchers in evaluating or improving equity in educational opportunities. Study II adopted an embedded mixed methods case study approach to examine the racial status quo within a majority-White high school (school level) and Black students’ experiences within that school (individual level). The analysis resulted in the development of a figure depicting the cycle of inequity within the racial status quo and how this impacted students’ experiences. The figure can be used as a model for schools to examine their own status quo, and improve practices and curriculum to ensure all students are provided equitable opportunities. The third study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to more closely examine the same set of data as Study II by focusing on the qualitative data collected from the five Black girl participants (individual level). The study provides insight into school practices that result in feelings of entrapment, as well as more supportive structures and practices that give students a sense of freedom. Based on these results, suggestions are made for how schools can be more autonomy-supportive and inclusive. The suggestions do not just apply to Black girls, but could lead to a more freeing education for the broader student population. The final study was a convergent mixed methods critical policy analysis that explored how racial/ethnic equity was promoted or inhibited in 61 educational policies that were introduced and enacted between 2020 and 2022. Though the majority of policies were found to promote equity, a critical evaluation of the policies revealed that those promoting equity presented more symbolic rather than meaningful action. In addition, they failed to address many of the structural issues that reproduce racial inequity. These findings necessitate education policies that move beyond race neutrality and explicitly target systemic racism. The results of these studies taken together demonstrate the ways that racial inequity occurs through school practices and policies, and what this inequity means for Black students’ school experiences. By centering Black students’ experiences in a majority-White school, this dissertation points to the more subtle mechanisms that exist within schools that create inequity in accessing opportunities and having positive school experiences. Moreover, this dissertation examines educational opportunity at multiple levels enabling a more complex understanding of the interconnected factors that contribute to inequity. In sum, this dissertation contributes to both theory and practice by offering practical solutions to improving racial equity and presenting new frameworks for evaluating and conceptualizing educational opportunity.Forskning visar att svarta elever i USA:s skolor för närvarande inte har lika stora möjligheter till utbildning. För att motarbeta denna ojämlikhet krävs en förståelse för hur utbildningsmöjligheterna ser ut i praktiken och en insikt i de olika mekanismer som upprätthåller och reproducerar orättvisa. Denna avhandling utforskar temat utbildningsmöjligheter via ras som lins med målet att identifiera hur skolor och politik kan säkerställa att alla elever får det stöd som krävs för att lyckas både i och utanför skolan. I huvudsak syftar avhandlingen till att fånga upp vad som gör en utbildning emancipatorisk och rättvis. I avhandlingen tillämpas en kvalitativt driven forskningsdesign med flera metoder i fyra sammanhängande studier. Forskningsansatsen och metoderna för de fyra studierna är olika men besvarar sammantaget de övergripande forskningsfrågorna. Designen med flera metoder möjliggör en komplex undersökning av ojämlikhet som baserar sig på ras och utbildningsmöjligheter ur flera olika perspektiv och på fyra olika nivåer: konceptuell, politisk, institutionell (skola) och individuell. Den första studien är en studie där kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder med ett mixed methods upplägg fokuserar på utbildningsmöjligheter på konceptuell nivå. Som resultat av studien har utvecklats ett ramverk för utbildningsmöjligheter med konsekvenser för både teori och praktik. Ramverket kan anpassas till olika sammanhang för att vägleda skolor och forskare när det gäller att utvärdera eller förbättra jämlika utbildningsmöjligheter. I den andra studien används en fallstudie med mixed methods för att undersöka status quo gällande ras inom en gymnasieskola med vit majoritet (skolnivå) och fem svarta elevers erfarenheter av skolan (individnivå). Analysen resulterade i en cirkelmodell som synliggör ojämlikhet i fråga om status quo enligt ras och hur detta påverkar elevernas erfarenheter. Cirkelmodellen kan användas av skolor för att undersöka egen status quo och förbättra praxis och undervisningsinnehåll för att se till att alla elever får jämlika möjligheter. I den tredje studien används tolkande fenomenologisk analys för att närmare undersöka samma uppsättning data som i den andra studien genom att fokusera på de kvalitativa data som samlades in från fem svarta flickor som deltog (individuell nivå). Studien ger en inblick i skolpraktiker som leder till en känsla av att vara fångad (entrapment), men också mer stödjande strukturer och praktiker som ger eleverna en känsla av frihet. Utifrån dessa resultat ges förslag på hur skolor kan vara mer autonomistödjande och inkluderande. Förslagen gäller inte bara svarta flickor, utan kan leda till en mer emancipatorisk utbildning för en bredare elevpopulation. Den sista studien är en kritisk policyanalys där konvergent mixed methods används i syfte att undersöka hur rasmässig/etnisk jämlikhet främjades eller förhindrades i 61 utbildningspolitiska policyer som infördes och antogs mellan 2020 och 2022. Även om majoriteten av policyområdena visade sig främja jämlikhet, visade en kritisk utvärdering av områdena att de som främjade jämlikhet snarare var symboliska än meningsfulla. Dessutom misslyckades policyerna med att ta itu med många av de strukturella frågor som reproducerar rasrelaterad ojämlikhet. Dessa resultat kräver en utbildningspolitik som går bortom rasneutralitet och uttryckligen riktar sig mot systemisk rasism. Resultaten av dessa studier visar sammantaget hur rasmässig ojämlikhet uppstår genom skolpraktik och skolpolicyer och vad denna ojämlikhet innebär för svarta elevers skolgång. Genom att fokusera på svarta elevers erfarenheter i en skola med vit majoritet pekar den här avhandlingen på de mer subtila mekanismer som finns i skolorna och som skapar ojämlikhet när det gäller att få tillgång till möjligheter och positiva skolupplevelser. Dessutom undersöker avhandlingen utbildningsmöjligheter på flera olika nivåer, vilket möjliggör en mer komplex förståelse av de sammankopplade faktorer som bidrar till ojämlikhet. Sammanfattningsvis bidrar denna avhandling till både teori och praktik genom att erbjuda praktiska lösningar för att förbättra jämlikheten mellan raser samtidigt som den presenterar nya ramar för att utvärdera och konceptualisera utbildningsmöjligheter

Benthic oxygen exchange in a live coralline algal bed and an adjacent sandy habitat: an eddy covariance study

Coralline algal (maerl) beds are widespread, slow-growing, structurally complex perennial habitats that support high biodiversity, yet are significantly understudied compared to seagrass beds or kelp forests. We present the first eddy covariance (EC) study on a live maerl bed, assessing the community benthic gross primary productivity (GPP), respiration (R), and net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) derived from diel EC time series collected during 5 seasonal measurement campaigns in temperate Loch Sween, Scotland. Measurements were also carried out at an adjacent (~20 m distant) permeable sandy habitat. The O2 exchange rate was highly dynamic, driven by light availability and the ambient tidally-driven flow velocity. Linear relationships between the EC O2 fluxes and available light indicate that the benthic phototrophic communities were lightlimited. Compensation irradiance (Ec) varied seasonally and was typically ~1.8-fold lower at the maerl bed compared to the sand. Substantial GPP was evident at both sites; however, the maerl bed and the sand habitat were net heterotrophic during each sampling campaign. Additional inputs of ~4 and ~7 mol m-2 yr-1 of carbon at the maerl bed and sand site, respectively, were required to sustain the benthic O2 demand. Thus, the 2 benthic habitats efficiently entrap organic carbon and are sinks of organic material in the coastal zone. Parallel deployment of 0.1 m2 benthic chambers during nighttime revealed O2 uptake rates that varied by up to ~8-fold between replicate chambers (from -0.4 to -3.0 mmol O2 m-2 h-1; n = 4). However, despite extensive O2 flux variability on meter horizontal scales, mean rates of O2 uptake as resolved in parallel by chambers and EC were typically within 20% of one another

Thermal leptogenesis in a 5D split fermion scenario with bulk neutrinos

We study the thermal leptogenesis in a hybrid model, which combines the so called split fermion model and the bulk neutrino model defined in five dimensional spacetime. This model predicts the existence of a heavy neutrino pair nearly degenerate in mass, whose decays might generate a CP violation large enough for creating the baryon asymmetry of the universe through leptogenesis. We investigate numerically the constraints this sets on the parameters of the model such as the size of the compactified fifth dimension.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure

Preparing for the expected: tropical cyclones in South East Queensland

Ask a Queenslander where tropical cyclones occur and the inevitable response will be, North Queensland. While most of the tropical cyclones have made landfall north of Bundaberg, the cascading and concurrent effects are felt much further afield. The major flooding following Tropical Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017 are 2 examples where impacts were felt across the state, and the damage to the banana plantation following Tropical Cyclone Larry (2006) was felt nationally. Acknowledging that climate is influencing the intensity and frequency of intense severe weather hazards, understanding how tropical cyclone hazard varies under future climate conditions is critical to risk-based planning in Queensland. With this climate influence, along with increasing population and more vulnerable building design in South East Queensland (relative to northern Queensland), there is an urgent need to assess the wind risk and set in place plans to reduce the effects of a potential tropical cyclone in South East Queensland

Provider perspectives on patient-provider communication for adjuvant endocrine therapy symptom management

Providers’ communication skills play a key role in encouraging breast cancer survivors to report symptoms and adhere to long-term treatments such as adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET). The purpose of this study was to examine provider perspectives on patient-provider communication regarding AET symptom management and to explore whether provider perspectives vary across the multi-disciplinary team of providers involved in survivorship care

Detecting the Companions and Ellipsoidal Variations of RS CVn Primaries: II. omicron Draconis, a Candidate for Recent Low-Mass Companion Ingestion

To measure the stellar and orbital properties of the metal-poor RS CVn binary o Draconis (o Dra), we directly detect the companion using interferometric observations obtained with the Michigan InfraRed Combiner at Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array. The H-band flux ratio between the primary and secondary stars is the highest confirmed flux ratio (370 +/- 40) observed with long-baseline optical interferometry. These detections are combined with radial velocity data of both the primary and secondary stars, including new data obtained with the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph on the Tillinghast Reflector at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the 2-m Tennessee State University Automated Spectroscopic Telescope at Fairborn Observatory. We determine an orbit from which we find model-independent masses and ages of the components (M_A = 1.35 +\- 0.05 M_Sun, M_B = 0.99 +\- 0.02 M_Sun, system age = 3.0 -\+ 0.5 Gyr). An average of a 23-year light curve of o Dra from the Tennessee State University Automated Photometric Telescope folded over the orbital period newly reveals eclipses and the quasi-sinusoidal signature of ellipsoidal variations. The modeled light curve for our system's stellar and orbital parameters confirm these ellipsoidal variations due to the primary star partially filling its Roche lobe potential, suggesting most of the photometric variations are not due to stellar activity (starspots). Measuring gravity darkening from the average light curve gives a best-fit of beta = 0.07 +\- 0.03, a value consistent with conventional theory for convective envelope stars. The primary star also exhibits an anomalously short rotation period, which, when taken with other system parameters, suggests the star likely engulfed a low-mass companion that had recently spun-up the star.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, Accepted to Ap

Detecting the Companions and Ellipsoidal Variations of RS CVn Primaries: I. sigma Geminorum

To measure the properties of both components of the RS CVn binary sigma Geminorum (sigma Gem), we directly detect the faint companion, measure the orbit, obtain model-independent masses and evolutionary histories, detect ellipsoidal variations of the primary caused by the gravity of the companion, and measure gravity darkening. We detect the companion with interferometric observations obtained with the Michigan InfraRed Combiner (MIRC) at Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array with a primary-to-secondary H-band flux ratio of 270+/-70. A radial velocity curve of the companion was obtained with spectra from the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph (TRES) on the 1.5-m Tillinghast Reflector at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO). We additionally use new observations from the Tennessee State University Automated Spectroscopic and Photometric Telescopes (AST and APT, respectively). From our orbit, we determine model-independent masses of the components (M_1 = 1.28 +/- 0.07 M_Sun, M_2 = 0.73 +/- 0.03 M_Sun), and estimate a system age of 5 -/+ 1 Gyr. An average of the 27-year APT light curve of sigma Gem folded over the orbital period (P = 19.6027 +/- 0.0005 days) reveals a quasi-sinusoidal signature, which has previously been attributed to active longitudes 180 deg apart on the surface of sigma Gem. With the component masses, diameters, and orbit, we find that the predicted light curve for ellipsoidal variations due to the primary star partially filling its Roche lobe potential matches well with the observed average light curve, offering a compelling alternative explanation to the active longitudes hypothesis. Measuring gravity darkening from the light curve gives beta < 0.1, a value slightly lower than that expected from recent theory.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 11 pages, 6 figures, 8 table

Preliminary Research on a COVID-19 Test Strategy to Guide Quarantine Interval in University Students

Following COVID-19 exposure, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends a 10–14-day quarantine for asymptomatic individuals and more recently a 7-day quarantine with a negative PCR test. A university-based prospective cohort study to determine if early polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negativity predicts day 14 negativity was performed. A total of 741 asymptomatic students in quarantine was screened and 101 enrolled. Nasopharyngeal swabs were tested on days 3 or 4, 5, 7, 10, and 14, and the proportion of concordant negative results for each day versus day 14 with a two-sided 95% exact binomial confidence interval was determined. Rates of concordant negative test results were as follows: day 5 vs. day 14 = 45/50 (90%, 95% CI: 78–97%); day 7 vs. day 14 = 47/52 (90%, 95% CI: 79–97%); day 10 vs. day 14 = 48/53 (91%, 95% CI:79–97%), with no evidence of different negative rates between earlier days and day 14 by McNemar’s test, p \u3e 0.05. Overall, 14 of 90 (16%, 95% CI: 9–25%) tested positive while in quarantine, with seven initial positive tests on day 3 or 4, 5 on day 5, 2 on day 7, and none on day 10 or 14. Based on concordance rates between day 7 and 14, we anticipate that 90% (range: 79–97%) of individuals who are negative on day 7 will remain negative on day 14, providing the first direct evidence that exposed asymptomatic students ages 18–44 years in a university setting are at low risk if released from quarantine at 7 days if they have a negative PCR test prior to release. In addition, the 16% positive rate supports the ongoing need to quarantine close contacts of COVID-19 cases

Emotional Labor in Mathematics: Reflections on Mathematical Communities, Mentoring Structures, and EDGE

Terms such as "affective labor" and "emotional labor" pepper feminist critiques of the workplace. Though there are theoretical nuances between the two phrases, both kinds of labor involve the management of emotions; some acts associated with these constructs involve caring, listening, comforting, reassuring, and smiling. In this article I explore the different ways academic mathematicians are called to provide emotional labor in the discipline, thereby illuminating a rarely visible component of a mathematical life in the academy. Underlying this work is my contention that a conceptualization of labor involved in managing emotions is of value to the project of understanding the character, values, and boundaries of such a life. In order to investigate the various dimensions of emotional labor in the context of academic mathematics, I extend the basic framework of Morris and Feldman [33] and then apply this extended framework to the mathematical sciences. Other researchers have mainly focused on the negative effects of emotional labor on a laborer's physical, emotional, and mental health, and several examples in this article align with this framing. However, at the end of the article, I argue that mathematical communities and mentoring structures such as EDGE help diminish some of the negative aspects of emotional labor while also accentuating the positives.Comment: Revised version to appear in the upcoming volume A Celebration of EDGE, edited by Sarah Bryant, Amy Buchmann, Susan D'Agostino, Michelle Craddock Guinn, and Leona Harri

Geographic Variations in Retention in Care among HIV-Infected Adults in the United States

ObjectiveTo understand geographic variations in clinical retention, a central component of the HIV care continuum and key to improving individual- and population-level HIV outcomes.DesignWe evaluated retention by US region in a retrospective observational study.MethodsAdults receiving care from 2000–2010 in 12 clinical cohorts of the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD) contributed data. Individuals were assigned to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-defined regions by residential data (10 cohorts) and clinic location as proxy (2 cohorts). Retention was ≥2 primary HIV outpatient visits within a calendar year, >90 days apart. Trends and regional differences were analyzed using modified Poisson regression with clustering, adjusting for time in care, age, sex, race/ethnicity, and HIV risk, and stratified by baseline CD4+ count.ResultsAmong 78,993 adults with 444,212 person-years of follow-up, median time in care was 7 years (Interquartile Range: 4–9). Retention increased from 2000 to 2010: from 73% (5,000/6,875) to 85% (7,189/8,462) in the Northeast, 75% (1,778/2,356) to 87% (1,630/1,880) in the Midwest, 68% (8,451/12,417) to 80% (9,892/12,304) in the South, and 68% (5,147/7,520) to 72% (6,401/8,895) in the West. In adjusted analyses, retention improved over time in all regions (p<0.01, trend), although the average percent retained lagged in the West and South vs. the Northeast (p<0.01).ConclusionsIn our population, retention improved, though regional differences persisted even after adjusting for demographic and HIV risk factors. These data demonstrate regional differences in the US which may affect patient care, despite national care recommendations