Focusing on my topic of community and education, I am writing about the article “Youth Development Through Mentorship: A Los Angeles School-Based Mentorship Program Among Latino Children” by Coller and Kuo (2014). This article can be found in the Journal of Community Health, vol. 39. This research evaluates the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), a school-based mentoring program, among Latino students in Los Angeles. The main reason for this article was Coller and Kuo wanted to test the feasibility of applying a previously validated relationship quality assessment tool a YEP directed toward urban Latino youth. In order to test this, the researchers asked the question: what are the outcomes of a successful mentor-mentee pairing relationship and YEP look like for low-income Latino elementary school children in LA? Coller and Kuo tested the quality of the relationships formed between the mentors, undergraduate students at UCLA, and the mentees, 4th and 5th graders at a Title I elementary school. The type of data needed to answer the question was organizational data and reports of acts, behaviors and events. The organizational data was used to describe the statistics about the elementary school and students. The study used Stoner Avenue Elementary School to collect their data, stating it was a Title I funded school of 376 students, with a 91% Latino student body, 55% classified as English language learners, and the entire student body receives free and reduced lunch (Coller & Kuo, 2014). This was most likely collected through public records. The reports of acts, behaviors, and events analyzed: “relationship length, degree of youth centeredness, emotional engagement and youth satisfaction” (Coller & Kuo, 2014). This data was collected through teacher-administered surveys students, ages 9-10, took. The students rated the statements on a scale from 1-4, which is ordinal data. The survey was a testing rank-order, there is no fixed interval. The YEP directed toward urban Latino youth was highly successful.  The outcomes of this program showed, of YEP’s pairs, 95% lasted at least a year, each year it of it existing demonstrating a higher percentage of relationships lasting at least 2 years. Using the previously validated relationship quality assessment tool was successful in evaluating school-based mentoring directed toward urban Latino youth (Coller & Kuo, 2014).

Coller, J. J., & Kuo, A. A. (2013). Youth development through mentorship: A los angeles school-based mentorship program among latino children. Journal of Community Health, 39, 316-321.

Graves, Scott L, and Ye, Fei Fei. “Are Special Education Labels Accurate for Black Children? Racial Differences in Academic Trajectories of Youth Diagnosed With Specific Learning and Intellectual Disabilities.” Journal of Black Psychology 43, no. 2 (March 2017).

This article explored the impacts of special education designation on the academic trajectories of Black students. They assessed variation in the academic achievement of children who were diagnosed with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. This article sought to answer the following research questions: “Do the math achievement trajectories of youth differ by classification (Intellectual Disability and Learning Disability) and racial background? Do the reading achievement trajectories of youth differ by classification (Intellectual Disability and Learning Disability) and racial background?” Demographic data was necessary to conduct this research. The research looked at race, gender, socioeconomic status, and education level of the head of the household, which are all demographic data. The research was conducted nationally. They used existing data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study. While this original study, which spanned 2000-2007, used in-depth interviews, surveys, and direct student assessments, this research article showed the results from taking a random sample of 14,000 children from this longitudinal study. The article explains that the data analysis method used was a “growth curve model” which involves “grouping data from the same individuals across time” (Graves & Ye 2017).

This article talks a lot about the history of discrimination against Black students through special education and also the discrimination of IQ testing and other psychological testing on Black students. The authors, Scott L. Graves and Fei Fei Ye do a thorough job of providing historical context, analyzing existing data, and then conducting their own research to deepen the research on this topic. They noticed the gap in research on longitudinal academic outcomes. This study was able to show significant variety in achievement of children diagnosed with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. Graves and Ye found that, across time, the academic achievement growth was typically positive. As students got older, the growth plateaued. Black students displayed lowered rates of growth in two of four achievement tests when compared to their White and Hispanic peers. Another finding showed that Black students did not show as clear distinctions between diagnoses of learning disabilities and mild intellectual disabilities, when compared to their White and Hispanic peers. They demonstrated the need for further research on this topic and also demonstrated the importance of assessing the interaction of factors of race and diagnosis on long term academic growth.

The article that I found this week from a scholarly journal, “Medical Care,” titled, “Street Outreach for Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness Is It Effective?” The contributing authors to this piece are Julie Lam and Robert Rosenheck.

Lam, Julie A., and Robert Rosenheck. “Street Outreach for Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness Is It Effective?” Medical Care 37, no. 9 (1999): 894-907. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.redlands.edu/stable/3767420.

This article focused on the mentally ill homeless who were contacted through street outreach compared to those contacted in shelters and other service agencies. The reason for this study is because the street homeless, especially the mentally ill, are typically the hardest ones to engage in services. There is evidence that if they engaged in the programs it would benefit them, but the problem is the first step – actually getting them to engage. This specific group needs a lot more time and care because they are so vulnerable, which is why street outreach is important since they will take the time to see what services they need. The research question being asked in this study is, “Is it effective for Street Outreach to engage with the homeless suffering with serious mental illness?” There are several types of data that could be used to answer this question. All types vary from acts, behaviors, events, to deep opinions and attitudes, personal feelings, and personal and psychological traits. The data gathering method used took 3 years to gather information from clients – from when the program was first contacted, to the enrollment, to 3 months after enrollment. Those on the street expressed less interest in the course, but those who did end up enrolling did show improvement in the end. I would say this research study was done well because they took time to get proper results. They also took the time to truly help patients to see if that is what they needed – time. For the criteria of this study the client had to have severe mental illness, not currently in treatment, and homeless. There are always several definitions of the word “homeless,” but the definition of “homeless” in this study meant that from the first contact they had to have spent at least 7 out of the past 14 nights in a shelter, outdoors, or a public or abandon building.

It was much easier to find articles that related to my topic when I did the search online. Although I found it easier to read the printed journals, I was thrilled to finally be able to explore my topic more specifically. I found an article in the Infant Mental Health Journal titled “Birth and Motherhood: Childbirth Experience and Mothers’ Perceptions of themselves and their Babies” by Samantha Reisz, Deborah Jacobvitz, and Carol George. The topic that the article covered was childbirth experience, and the question the study hoped to answer was whether or not the childbirth experience had an influence on mothers’ descriptions of their children and their confidence in raising them.

The type of data that was needed for the study was shallow opinions and attitudes, which were gathered from surveys. The researchers asked mothers what kind of delivery they had (cesarean or vaginal), and if it was a good or bad experience. Mothers were then asked to describe their children and to say how confident they feel about how they are raising their child. In order to analyze the data, the researchers used Mplus and looked for correlations in the data from the questionnaires. The study is secondary literature, as the researchers used other studies to help create their methods. The study concluded that vaginal birth leads to a more positive description of the child and that the delivery mode did not have any impact on mothering confidence but the childbirth experience did. 

I think this was a good article and it conduced good research that was presented straightforwardly. There were lots of factors to take into account when performing the study like potential bias women may have about childbirth, or different class issues that may come up. It seems as though these variables were considered when conducting the research because they are described in the study. It would be interesting to now do a study about the different factors that could change the results.

Citation:

Reisz, S., Jacobvitz, D. and George, C. (2015), “Birth and Motherhood: Childbirth Experience and Mothers’ Perceptions of Themselves and their Babies”. Infant Mental Health Journal, 36: 167–178. doi:10.1002/imhj.21500

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.redlands.edu/doi/10.1002/imhj.21500/full

This article, “Islamist Challenges to the ‘Liberal Peace’ Discourse: The Case of Hamas and the Israel-Palestine ‘Peace Process’” was written by Corina Mullin in 2010. It is cited as: Mullin, Corinna. 2010. “Islamist Challenges to the ‘Liberal Peace’ Discourse: The Case of Hamas and the Israel-Palestine ‘Peace Process’.” Millenium: Journal of International Studies 39 (2): 525-46. Mullin analyzes the reasons why Hamas is not used in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Hamas is an organization that focuses on the use of violence in protesting, using Islam as their basis for argument. The dispute between Israel and Palestine has been, on Israel’s side, somewhat apartheid, Palestinian Muslim’s use of suicide bombing and weapons against the state of Israel has been globally unaccepted as an anti-apartheid tactic. The article involves several frameworks including how Hamas is marginalized, how peace processes are normally executed, and the framework of the Islamist movement. Mullin’s research uses reports of acts, behaviors, and events and expert knowledge as her types of data. She also collects data by looking at other documents written about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Qualitative analysis is her method of data analysis because she analyzes people’s behavior. I think this research was very interesting and well put together, mostly because I focus on peaceful protests and its benefits in the Middle East. By looking at Mullin’s analyzation of a violent form of protest, Hamas, I was able to understand other viewpoints. I enjoy studying more peaceful ways to combat apartheidism in Israel, but I know that many Westerners only see the conflict as violent. My classmates might think this would be interesting because it somewhat validates many opinions about why Hamas is a pessimistic global view.

While looking for articles in the library for my topic on music, I wasn’t able to find a lot. Their were articles of the history of music but nothing dealing with stress or coping with it. However, I found an article called Journal of sport and Exercise Psychology by Robert C. Eklund, and one of the journals discusses Pyschophysical and Ergogenic effects of synchronous music during treadmill walking by Costas Karageorghis, Denis Mouzourides, David-Lee Priest, Tariq Sasso, Daley Morrish, and Carolyn Walley. This article wanted to figure out what effects do motivational synchronous music and oudeterous synchronous music have on the body when on the treadmill. Even when people sit motionless with no music the body still tends to move, tap the feet, fingers moving etc. They broke down the method to different stages: stage 1 was the music selection, they took samples from 100 volunteers that gave consent. Stage 2 was the Experimental Investigation, members were to walk on a treadmill at a high rate while listening to music and were required to follow identical patterns of activity and diet. Were also not allowed to eat 2 hrs before the experiment. In one of the figures they had motivational, oudeterous, and no music while testing the endurance, and people who listen to motivational music tend to have more endurance on the treadmill. It seemed like the data they were using was acts, behaviors, or events because they were trying to see how much endurance  the particpants can go and they did this with a controlled study possibly using focus groups.

Eklund PhD, Robert C. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 1st ed., vol. 31, Human Kinetics., 2009.

1.) Anderson, A. (2001). Race, Poverty & the Environment. Gentrification , 30.
This article describes the effects of gentrification in the bay area. Specifically in the bay area, people in poverty have been massively hit by the countering effects. The article shows the percentages of how many businesses and residents have been displaced. However, the article was a useful tool, as it guides the reader to a better conclusive result that confronts their questions and concerns about gentrification.

2.) Goetz, E. (2011). Urban studies. Gentrification in black and white: the racial impact of public housing demolition in American cities, 48(8), 1581-1604.
‘The gentrification that has transformed high-poverty neighbourhoods in US cities since the mid 1990s has been characterised by high levels of state reinvestment. Prominent among public-sector interventions has been the demolition of public housing and in some cases multimillion dollar redevelopment efforts. In this paper, the racial dimension of state-supported gentrification in large US cities is examined by looking at the direct and indirect displacement induced by public housing transformation.’

3.)Watson, R. (2017). This side of home. New York: Bloomsbury.
This book is relatable, giving the reader a brief view into what its like to be a victim of gentrification, whether you are the rich person moving into the up and coming neighborhood or the displaced resident. ‘Twins Nikki and Maya Younger always agreed on most things, but as they head into their senior year they react differently to the gentrification of their Portland, Oregon, neighborhood and the new–white–family that moves in after their best friend and her mother are evicted– (Source of description not identified).’

Teens, technology, and literacy; or why bad grammar isn’t always bad

I began looking for more information about technology in the classroom and how it might effect student learning outcomes. Literacy and language seem to play an important role in the development of ideas and through the use of technology language is being changed. In this book  I was able to find information on my subject of technology in the classroom and how it effects learning capabilities among students. The use of technology has grown exponentially in recent years and it has only made the workload for students easier. It is more efficient to communicate with other classmates online and share ideas and thoughts through online profiles or through the use of cell-phones. Technology has had a positive impact on the lives of students and their ability to learn and adapt to more work. Computers offer new ways to display information and are a wealth of knowledge that can be used to effectively show results from studies. Braun remarks the wonders that computers and various technologies are capable of which include collaborative research and methods to utilize the production of research. These technologies help to increase the learning capabilities of students and are proven to get results in the classroom. This study was also focused on literacy and how students are adapting slang and different styles of language to fit their needs. By taking in information and then using it to text in slang, there is more knowledge and understanding that is being grasped in the process. This study seeks to find the answers to how technology is prohibiting study and is keeping students off-task. This is an interesting study where acts, reports, and events of behavioral analysis are used,  which is also aimed to answer questions about technological capabilities.

Braun, Linda  W. (2007). Teens, technology, and literacy; or, why bad grammar isn’t always bad. The Booklist, 103(19), 134.

Hess, Edward D. “Smart Growth-Creating Real Long-Term value.” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, May 14, 2010, 74-83.

The article Smart Growth-Creating Real Long-Term Value reflects the business side of my research question. Business strategy and organization determines the success of a business. Mr. Hess explains how businesses get so caught up with the “Grow or die” mentality, that they lose focus of their longevity. Instead, they should focus on “smart growth.” Smart growth is when inspired leaders and employees come together to focus their efforts on short term growth that will continuously improve the success of a business.

For this experiment, Mr. Hess decided to examine whether there was empirical support for the U.S. Growth Model. He looked into the disciplines of economics, finance, strategy, and organizational behavior and design. After researching several companies, he concluded that continuous linear growth is not viable.

Mr. Hass took a look at 22 high growth companies and studied their secret to success. He concluded that most of the high growth companies lacked several characteristics he though they would have. For instance, most companies did not sell unique products or services, did not have the best talent, did not have visionary or charismatic leaders, and did not have innovation leaders. What gave these companies a competitive advantage was that they had built over time an internal enabling Growth System. Thus meaning that employees were treated with loyalty, so worked hard and gave forth their best effort. These companies had productive chemistry, like a championship caliber sports team who is filled with average players but win it all because they play well together. Best Buy Co. was used by Mr. Hass for an example of a successful business. In 2005 Best Buy Co. needed a change so they undertook a major redesign of its business model in an effort to change from a centralized, top-down, product-centric organization to a decentralized, customer-centric organization. In this new culture they identified their customers as “Kings and Queens,” their employees as “royalty,” and their management as “servants.”

Acts, Behavior, or Events and economic data were the types of data used during this experiment. Meanwhile, ethnography is an example of a data collection method because the researcher observed patterns of how the business was running.

Blumrodt, Jens, and Nell C. Huang-Horowitz. “Managing brand identity strategy: how professional football wins the game .” Journal of Business Strategy 38, no. 6 (2017): 31-38.

I chose the article “Managing brand identity strategy: how professional football wins the game,” written by Jens Blumrodt and Nell C.Huang-Horowitz. It is found in the Journal of Business Strategy and it explores the financial success of 20 French professional Football (soccer) clubs. The research question was conducted using a mix-methods approach which consisted of website analysis and personal interviews with fans. Each clubs individual website was studied and the results came back as expected. The richer clubs had more in depth websites that were frequently updated and consisted of more detail and information about the team, while the smaller budget clubs struggled to keep their website up to date. Additionally, every club had running social media sites which allows fans from all over the world to stay connected to their favorite club. Clubs that experience the most success on the field tend to produce the most revenue off the field. That being said, it was proven that a high level of involvement from diehard fans ensures that clubs survive years of poor performance without losing their fan base. Acts, behavior, or events, as well as economic data were used during this experiment. Fans go to games, purchase merchandise and tickets, and support their favorite club online which is an act and behavior. Meanwhile, revenue is earned through these purchases and accounts for the economic data. In depth interviews was one of the methods used during this experiment. 244 fans were individually interviewed for 45-60 minutes each and were asked questions along the lines of how they perceived the club overall, the coach, and the management. This experiment consists of both qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data being the number of fans interviewed, and the qualitative being the responses of the fans. The involvement and support for these clubs on a global scale is something that my classmates and other readers will be interested in learning more about.