This case study investigated the phenomenon of the black white test score gap by seeking to determine if there was a difference in the academic performance of African American students and their White peers. The determination of student academic performance was made using scores from second semester Algebra II classes at two high schools in the Tucson Unified School District. The data covered three academic years and was analyzed via SPSS (independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and a pairwise analysis) and content analysis for qualitative analysis. Findings revealed that there was no variance in the scores of African Americans and their White peers attending an affluent school; however African Americans attending a low-income school scored lower than all groups that were compared in this study.

Thesis advisor: James R. Mahalik / Most stage models of gay identity development posit that gay men follow a distinct hierarchical blueprint wherein internal identity processes (e.g. dismantling internalized homonegativity) co-occur with increasing disclosure of their sexual orientation to others (i.e. greater outness). However, some scholars contend that linear stage models lack flexibility and do not account for the diversity of gay men's experience (Fassinger & Miller, 1996). Specifically, gay men's internal and public identity processes may advance by way of distinct, unparallel pathways and for that reason should be evaluated in conjunction and independently of one another. Extending Meyer's (1995; 2003) minority stress model, this study examined the role of childhood gender behavior, adult masculinity, social support and socioeconomic status in explaining gay men's identity status and degree of outness. Five hundred eighteen gay men recruited from online sources (e.g. listservs, Usenet groups) completed measures assessing stigma, anti-gay attack, recalled childhood gender behavior, masculinity, social support, and socioeconomic status. Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses supported several hypotheses reflected in the findings that stigma, anti-gay attack, masculinity, and social support were significantly associated with gay men's identity status and outness. In addition, socioeconomic status moderated the relationship between masculinity and outness, as well as between minority stress (anti-gay attack) and identity status. Altogether, each of the factors examined in this study appear to play a unique role in explaining gay men's identity development and outness, underscoring the complexity of the social context that may intensify or alleviate the stress of these processes. The theoretical implications, future research, limitations, and recommendations for counselors are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

<p></p><p> Compared to White and high socioeconomic (SES) patients, Black and low SES patients are less likely to receive adequate pain care, including receiving fewer analgesic medications. Providers may, inadvertently or not, contribute to these disparities in pain care via biased decision-making. Prior work suggests there is a complex relationship in which race and SES uniquely and interactively affect providers’ clinical decisions, but few studies have examined the influence of patient race and SES simultaneously on providers’ pain-related decisions. Furthermore, previous studies suggest that providers’ attitudes about race and SES influence their clinical decisions. The present study examined the influence of patient race and SES and providers’ implicit and explicit attitudes about race and SES on providers' pain-related decisions. Four hundred and seven medical residents and fellows made pain assessment (interference and distress) and treatment (opioids, opioid contracts, and workplace accommodations) decisions for 12 computer-simulated patients with chronic back pain that varied by race (Black/White) and SES (low/high). Subjects completed Implicit Association Tests to assess implicit attitudes and feeling thermometers to assess explicit attitudes about race and SES. Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that patient race and/or SES had main effects on all pain-related decisions and had interaction effects on providers’ ratings for interference, distress, and workplace accommodations. Providers’ implicit attitudes about race and explicit attitudes about race and SES predicted their pain-related decisions, but these effects were not consistent across all decisions. The current study highlights the need to examine the effects of patient race and SES together, along with providers’ implicit and explicit attitudes, in the context of pain care. Results inform future work that can lead to the development of evidence-based interventions to reduce disparities in pain care.</p><br><p></p>

Pesquisas que tratam do acesso e da permanência de estudantes provenientes das camadas populares na Educação Superior têm surgido, no Brasil, principalmente a partir da década de 1990. Tais estudos investigam os processos que permitem a esses estudantes o ingresso no ensino superior, através, sobretudo, da discussão sobre as práticas familiares de escolarização. Partindo das contribuições desses trabalhos, o objetivo da presente pesquisa é analisar a trajetória escolar e a experiência universitária de estudantes de cursos superiores de alta seletividade provenientes das camadas populares, bem como discutir os sentidos, atribuídos por eles próprios, do ingresso e da permanência no Ensino Superior público. Para isso, foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade, que versaram sobre a vida escolar dos estudantes, com cinco alunos dos cursos mais concorridos de um dos campi da Universidade de São Paulo localizado no interior do Estado. Os relatos dos estudantes permitem compreender que, se por um lado, suas trajetórias são marcadas por esforço, solidão e situações de desenraizamento e humilhação, por outro, a entrada na universidade pública traz possibilidades que transformam inteiramente suas perspectivas de vida, não sendo o sofrimento a tônica de seus discursos. Além disso, destaca-se a forte presença do trabalho em suas trajetórias de vida, bem como suas percepções sobre a contribuição da escola para seus percursos. / Studies looking at ingress and completion of college courses by students from low-income classes in Brazil have emerged, mainly from the 1990s on. Such studies have investigated the processes that allow those students enter a higher education institution largely by discussing familiar schooling practices. Based on contributions by those studies, this research aimed to assess the educational paths and experiences of students from low-income classes enrolled in highly selective schools as well as discuss the significance attributed by themselves to their ingress and completion of higher education in Public Universities. In order to reach the studys goal, in depth interviews that focused school convivial life were carried out with five students in the most wanted careers of one of the campi of the University of São Paulo. The students reports show that their pathways have been marked by hard work, loneliness, and uprooting events and humiliation. On the other hand, entering a public university led to opportunities that completely changed their lifers prospects, with suffering not as part of their discourse. Furthermore, hard work outstood in their lifes pathways as well as their perceptions on schools contribution to their trajectories.

Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-05-11T17:19:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoSilva.pdf: 1534368 bytes, checksum: 7c9b884aebd1e19aef49b96cb13c3cc4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-11T17:19:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoSilva.pdf: 1534368 bytes, checksum: 7c9b884aebd1e19aef49b96cb13c3cc4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-20 / Cardiovascular risk factors contribute to increased morbidity and mortality and should be prevented. Socioeconomic status and social mobility that occurred in our country in recent decades have contributed to a new reality from the point of view of health care. There have been a possibility of improve in risk factors due to epidemiological transition as occurred in developed countries where there were improvements in them. Thus it aimed to assess how the behavior of these risk factors in a cohort started at birth in 1978/79 and reviewed in 2002/04 in the state Ribeirão Preto to 23/24 years of age for a total of 2069 individuals. Socio-demographic characteristics were used, and cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic syndrome, lipid profile, blood pressure, physical activity, alcohol use and smoking. There was the income classification relating the minimum wage at birth and in early adulthood. Logistic regression models were used. The results were improvement in obesity, HDLCholesterol, physical activity, insulin resistance in high-income women and physical activity and HDL-Cholesterol in high-income men; there was worse of alcohol consumption in both groups. We concluded that high-income adults especially women presented cardiovascular risk factors profiles similar to those in high-income countries. / Os fatores de risco cardiovascular contribuem para o aumento da morbidade e mortalidade e devem ser prevenidos. A situação socioeconômica e a mobilidade social ocorrida no nosso país nas últimas décadas contribuíram para uma nova realidade sob o ponto de vista de cuidados de saúde. Há possibilidade de ter iniciado alterações nos fatores de risco com a chamada transição nutricional como a ocorrida nos países desenvolvidos nos quais houve melhoras nos mesmos. Dessa forma objetivou-se avaliar qual o comportamento desses fatores de risco em uma coorte iniciada ao nascimento em 1978/79 e reavaliada em 2002/04 na cidade paulista de Ribeirão Preto aos 23/24 anos de idade num total de 2069 indivíduos. Foram utilizadas as características sócio-demográficas, e fatores de risco cardiovasculares incluindo diabetes, resistência insulínica, obesidade, lipidograma, hipertensão arterial, atividade física, uso de álcool e hábito de fumar. Houve a classificação da renda relacionando ao salário mínimo no nascimento e na idade adulta jovem. Modelos de regressão logística foram utilizados. Os resultados evidenciaram melhorias na obesidade, atividade física, resistência insulínica, HDL-Colesterol, síndrome metabólica nas mulheres de maior renda. Nos homens de maior renda houve melhorias no HDL-Colesterol e atividade física; houve piora no consumo de álcool em ambos. Concluímos que os indivíduos pertencentes à classe com maior renda em especial as mulheres apresentaram perfis de fatores de risco cardiovascular semelhantes aos países com maior renda.

Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) can result in cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and structural brain changes such as decreased cortical volume, brain atrophy and cerebral infarcts which are major causes of stroke and dementia. CVD is also associated with increased depression and depressive symptoms in later life. Midlife vascular disease and adult socioeconomic status (SES) are well established risk factors but less is known about the effect of factors from earlier in life on CVD and depressive symptoms in later life. A series of systematic reviews of current literature examining early life factors and stroke, cSVD and depression following stroke are presented at the beginning of this thesis. These reviews found that childhood IQ, education and childhood SES were associated with stroke and cSVD in later life. The reviews also found that education level was associated with depression following stroke. However few of the studies adjusted for vascular risk factors and adult SES. Therefore this thesis aimed to investigate associations between birth and childhood factors and cerebrovascular disease and depressive symptoms, after adjustment for vascular risk factors and adult SES, in four community dwelling cohorts: the Stratifying Resilience & Depression Longitudinally (STRADL) cohort (n=280, 45% male, mean age= 62.1 (SD=4.1) years), the Dutch Famine Birth cohort (n= 151, 44% male, mean age 67.6 (SD=0.9) years), the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC 1936, n= 865, 50% male, mean age 72.7 (SD=0.7) years), and the Simpson cohort (n=130, 31% male, mean age 78.5, (SD=1.5) years). This Thesis first examined associations between (i) cSVD burden (ii) total and regional brain volumes and (iii) self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking behaviour, adult SES and cognition. Neither cSVD nor brain volumes were associated with symptoms of anxiety. Higher white matter hyperintensity volumes, having one or more cerebral infarct and increased cerebral atrophy were associated with increased depressive symptoms independent of vascular risk factors and adult SES. Secondly, this thesis examined associations between birth and childhood factors and cSVD burden and total and regional brain volumes. Each cohort was analysed individually and then all available data meta-analysed. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking behaviour, adult SES and other early life factors. Meta-analysis found that increasing birth weight was associated with decreased risk of lacunes across all cohorts. Placental weight, which was only available for the Simpson cohort, was associated with decreased risk total cSVD, WMH severity and volume and cerebral infarcts. In the LBC 1936 and Simpson cohort increasing childhood and premorbid IQ and more years of education were associated with fewer cortical infarcts. The association between premorbid and childhood IQ and infarcts was independent of education level. Across three cohorts low education level was associated with more microbleeds. These findings suggest that factors other than traditional vascular risk factors may contribute to cSVD and structural brain changes in later life. Thirdly, this thesis examined associations between birth and childhood factors and self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS-16). All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking behaviour, adult SES and cognition In the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort people born before the famine had lower scores of depression and anxiety on the HADS compared to those exposed to famine in early gestation and those conceived after the famine. In the LBC 1936 increasing ponderal index was associated with lower depressive symptoms, increasing childhood and premorbid IQ were associated with lower symptoms of anxiety and depression. Lower educational attainment and some indicators of childhood SES were associated with higher symptoms of depression and anxiety. Overall results suggest that early life factors, particularly childhood IQ, may contribute to structural brain changes and symptoms of depression and anxiety in later life, independent of vascular risk factors and other early life factors. Efforts to understand factors which may contribute to late life health, from the earliest stages of life, are important and may be used to inform changes in social policy. The effect sizes and potential impact of these findings suggest that larger sample sizes with more vascular disease and more depression are needed to robustly test these associations.

Schools that implement a school uniform policy are on the rise (Musu-Gillette, Zhang, Wang, Zhang & Oudekerk, 2017). About 74% of these schools have a high population of low socioeconomic status students (Musu-Gillette et al., 2017) with about 75% or more qualifying for free or reduced lunch. The purpose of this study was to examine any relationships between students' perceptions of the effects of school uniforms and student socioeconomic status. In a charter school, a survey was completed by students to gather perception information and a separate survey by parents to gather socioeconomic status information. Hypotheses were tested using descriptive statistics and multiple regression models. Data were gathered from 184 students in grades 3 through 8. Examining individual survey items revealed older students were more likely to report that school uniforms help to reduce bullying and teasing. Another statistically significant difference was that some students of high socioeconomic status reported that uniforms help reduce arguments with parents about clothing (t(182) = 2.66, p<.01). Student responses on 10 survey items were grouped into one factor called School Climate, reflecting student perceptions on how uniforms affect the school's climate. Analyses revealed no significant relationships between the School Climate factor and socioeconomic status. However, Hispanic students reported a significantly more positive response overall than non-Hispanic students. These findings suggest students of various socioeconomic status perceive school uniforms similarly, but older students could be more likely to associate uniforms with a reduction in bullying. More research needs to be done in charter schools as little research has been done on school uniforms in charter schools, and among Hispanic students because the participation of Hispanic students was relatively low.

In the era of accountability in our nation‘s public schools, high-stakes standardized testing is the primary methodology for determining academic achievement; results from end-of-grade standardized testing are published annually in state and national report cards that are used as an instrument for determining school and teacher quality. What standardized tests do not take into consideration, however, are external environmental factors that have an impact on academic achievement; this research project focuses upon the effects of socioeconomic status on academic achievement on the middle grade student in North Carolina in 2012 and 2013. These years were chosen to comparatively analyze student achievement during the transition from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study to the Common Core curriculum. Only public schools configured in grades 6-8 that operate on a traditional school calendar were considered for this study. One way analyses of variance and paired samples t tests were performed to determine whether significant differences exist between student achievement in each grade level, academic year, and tested subject area (mathematics and reading) based on various levels of socioeconomic status levels within the school. Socioeconomic status levels were determined by the percentage of student population within the middle school that received free or reduced cost lunch during that school year. Significant differences existed between every socioeconomic level, subject area, and grade level, and significant differences also existed between each academic year as well as the number of economically disadvantaged students passing both the reading and mathematics assessments in each academic year. Schools with higher poverty levels scored significantly lower on both subject areas in both academic years than their wealthier counterparts. Test scores were also significantly lower in 2013 than in 2012, and fewer economically disadvantaged students passed both reading and mathematics in 2013 than in 2012. Further research is suggested to determine whether the trend of higher poverty schools performing significantly lower on standardized assessments than wealthier schools will continue with the ongoing implementation of the Common Core curriculum.

Obesity among children is a public health concern. Preschool-­‐aged children, especially those from low-­‐income families, are no exception to the obesity epidemic. During the RD Parent Empowerment Program, parents of Head Start children in Johnson City, TN completed a structured education program over the course of 4 workshops related to healthy habits of families. The goal was to empower parents to shop smart, cook healthy, and eat right. The Family Nutrition and Physical Activity (FNPA) screening tool was used as an assessment tool to evaluate behavior change over the course of the program. Improvement in overall FNPA score was seen at the conclusion of the program. Individual assessment of breakfast consumption, family meal patterns, fruit and vegetable intake, beverage choices, and restriction occurred. Participation in the RD Parent Empowerment Program resulted in maintaining healthy behaviors or improved behaviors for many participants. A larger sample may provide more conclusive results.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between a student’s reading/language arts TCAP scale score and his or her lunch status for students in grades three, four, & five within two school systems in Tennessee. The population consisted of 2,442 students who were in grades three, four, and five during the 2014-2015 school year in a city school system in east Tennessee and a county school system in middle Tennessee. The Kruskal-Wallis H, a non-parametric test, was used to identify statistically significant differences in the medians of the reading/language arts TCAP scores across the three types of lunch payment status. The independent variable was the type of student lunch status (free, reduced, and full pay). The dependent variable was the reading/language arts TCAP scale score of students in grade three, four, and five. The quantitative findings revealed the relationship between student lunch status group and reading/language arts TCAP scale score was significant for all four research questions. In all analyses, the difference in the reading/language arts TCAP scale scores of students in the free lunch status group and the full pay lunch status group was significant. When the data from both school systems were combined, there was a significant difference in the scale scores between the free and full pay lunch status groups, the free and reduced lunch status groups, and the reduced and full pay lunch status groups.