Race-Discordant School Attendance and Cognitive Function in Later Life

Early schooling plays an important role in shaping cognitive development, both due to the level of academic rigor and the social environment of primary and secondary schools. This is reflected in current racial disparities in cognitive function in later life. Older minorities who attended predominantly White schools with more resources experienced significant cognitive benefits. This study explores whether there are benefits to cognitive functioning in later life from having attended socially diverse schools in early life. We examine the effects of having attended schools composed primarily of different race peers—race discordant schools (RDS)—among Black, Hispanic, and White older adults. Using retrospective and prospective data from the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the association between RDS exposure and four measures of cognitive function (working memory, episodic memory, mental status, overall cognitive function). We assess function at age 55 and 70, and examine change in functioning between age 55 and 70. We find that RDS exposed Blacks and Hispanics experience significant benefits in cognitive function at age 55, but only Blacks experience benefits at age 70. RDS exposed Whites reported higher overall working memory at age 70 relative to Whites in non-RDS schools, suggesting a cognitive benefit from diversity. Results suggest that exposure to more racially diverse school environments have potentially beneficial effects on cognitive function over the life course. Our findings suggest that the cultivation of diversity in schools could be an important long-term public health investment.

Latina/os and a Federal Right to Education

In this chapter, Kevin R. Johnson argues that Latina/os would benefit from a federal right to education as a means to supplement an array of litigation strategies that have failed to ensure equal educational opportunity for Latina/os. He argues the growth in the Latina/o population has been accompanied by widespread segregation of Latina/o students in schools across the country. Heavily Latina/o schools on the average are funded at significantly lower levels than predominantly white schools are, and educational outcomes for Latina/os on the average lag behind those of all other racial groups. Johnson contends that Latina/os, suffering from stark educational inequalities, need new legal mechanisms to secure equal education and concludes that Latina/os would benefit from a federal right to education.

"There's Something About HER"

In this article I examine my lived experience as a Black girl in a white settler state using an autoethnographic approach within the framework of critical race and feminist theory to unpack the deleteriousness of existing as a Black female in a white educational settler state. Drawing on my doctoral research, I conclude that greater attention, in terms of theory and praxis as well as compassion, needs to be applied to the educational journeys of Black girls in white settler states, particularly in predominantly white schools.

“Putting Blinders on”: Ethnic Minority Female PE Teachers’ Identity Struggles Negotiating Racialized Discourses

Background: Ethnic minority physical education teachers who work in predominantly White schools may face multiple forms of marginalization due to racialized discourses of White normativity. In addition, the intersection of whiteness and hegemonic masculinity embedded within physical education may result in an “othering” of teachers who are located outside the accepted norms of their schools.Purpose: The authors examined the embodied identities of ethnic minority female physical education teachers who work in predominantly White schools to identify how whiteness informs their sense of self.Methods: This study utilized narrative-based semistructured and conversational interviews and photo elicitation as the methods for visual narrative inquiry.Results: Participants not only enacted color-blind discourses to make their racialized identities invisible, but also experienced identity struggles in their effort to negotiate hypervisibility as minorities within their schools.Discussion: The identity struggle of racialized self-representations in White schools represents how multiple marginalizing factors prevent ethnic minorities from overtly expressing their authentic selves.

‘The kind of things we’ve heard keep people in the district’: White racial exclusion and the evolution of school choice policies in Portland Public Schools

This policy history traces the evolution of Portland Public Schools’ school choice programme from the early 1970s until 2010 and examines its impacts on the historically black Albina neighbourhood. The purpose of this research is to identify the ideologies and assumptions that led to the establishment of the initial school choice programme and continued to influence decision makers as the programme evolved into a more neoliberal marketplace of schools. The district originally embraced controlled choice as a means to manage integration so it would not significantly tip the racial balance in predominantly white schools. By opting to make integration voluntary for students in predominantly white schools, the board legitimised white parents’ preferences for racially exclusionary school settings. In Portland Public Schools, white racial exclusion laid the foundation that shaped the technologies of the school choice programme as it developed into a more neoliberal iteration.

LIVING WITHIN THE VEIL:

Using data from a mixed methods study with suburban Detroit, middle-class mothers as participants, we explore the relationship between racial microaggressions and the racial battle fatigue experienced by Black mothers with young daughters attending predominantly White schools. We find that Black mothers are regularly subjected to racial microaggressions by the White teachers, administrators, and parents with whom they interact. When experiencing slights, insults, and indignities, mothers report taking direct action—borne from African American motherwork—to combat the racial microaggressions. In the context of predominantly White schools, Black mothers enact aesthetic presence, maintain a visible presence, and are strategic in their interactions with school personnel. Racial battle fatigue is evident as they experience and combat racial microaggressions. To extend understanding of racial microaggressions, we apply the sociological concept of the Du Boisian Veil to our analysis. We discuss how the Veil—a barrier which protects the Black psyche by grounding the racialized self while simultaneously precluding racial equality by sustaining racial oppression—can induce the racial battle fatigue that is manifested when one is deluged by racial microaggressions.

Reach and Implementation of Physical Activity Breaks and Active Lessons in Elementary School Classrooms

The integration of physical activity into elementary school classrooms, through brief activity breaks (ABs) and lessons that incorporate movement into instruction as active lessons (ALs), are key parts of school physical activity programming and can improve children’s health and academic outcomes. With nationally representative survey data from 640 public elementary schools in the United States, we examined the use of these practices and the extent of implementation within classrooms. ALs were used in 71.7% of schools, and ABs were used in 75.6% of schools. In multivariate models, ALs were significantly less likely to be used in majority-Latino schools (adjusted odds ratio = 0.48, 95% confidence interval [0.25, 0.93], p < .05) than in predominantly White schools. ABs were significantly less likely to be used in lower socioeconomic schools (adjusted odds ratio = 0.57, 95% confidence interval [0.34, 0.95], p < .05) than in higher socioeconomic schools. At schools where ABs were ever used, they were used by 45.6% of teachers, but fewer teachers used them at larger schools (β = −.08, p < .01) and at lower socioeconomic schools (β = −.09, p < .05). The reach of ALs and ABs is modest and classroom-level implementation is quite low. Additional dissemination and support is warranted to improve the reach and implementation of these strategies in elementary schools. Such efforts could improve the school-day experience in ways that benefit millions of young children.