Institute on Race and Ethnicity- Facutly Diversity Research Awards

Mary Beltran, UW-Madison
Elizabeth Drame, UW-Milwaukee
Robert Hayashi, UW-Oshkosh
Regina Smith, UW-Milwaukee

Mary Beltran, Department of Communication Arts and Chican@ Studies, UW-Madison - "Lessons in Hollywood Latinidad: Latino/a Stardom and the Evolution of U.S. Racial Borders."
Beltran's book explores the role media stardom has played in social and cultural construction of Latino/a ethnicity since the 1920s. In addition to documenting the importance of a handful of stars to U.S. film and television history, this study focuses on transitional moments in the construction of "Hollywood Latinidad," or Latino/a representation as imagined by the American media. In U.S. media history, such turning points include the transition from silent to sound film in the 1920s, the era of "socially relevant" comedy on network television in the 1970s, and the period when the first Latino-directed feature films reached national audiences in the 1980s. In addition, sociopolitical developments had an equally influential impact, including the Great Depression and the rise of Chicano media activism. Such developments offered new, although not necessarily "better," opportunities for Latino/a entertainment media representation. To illustrate the dynamics and implications of these liminal moments in Latino/a representation, a critical analysis by Beltran is made of the careers and public images of a small number of Latino/a stars, each of whom rose to stardom within the context of one of these eras. The careers of selected individuals provide illuminating case studies of the ways in which Latino/a casting, promotion, and stardom have contributed to the evolution of U.S. racial borders. These case studies include: (i) Dolores Del Rio - Mexican actress; (ii) Desi Arnaz - Cuban musician/actor/television executive; (iii) Rita Moreno - Puerto Rican performer; (iv) Freddie Prinze - Puerto Rican-Hungarian comedian; (v) Edward James Olmos - Mexican American actor and producer; and (vi) Jennifer Lopez - Nuyorican actress, singer. Delores Del Rio's film career (1925 through the early 1940s) spanned the transition from silent to sound film, while Desi Arnaz, after appearing in "Good Neighbor" films in the 1940s, became a highly popular television actor and successful producer of the 1950's hit seres I Love Lucy. Rita Moreno's film and theater career in the 1950s and 1960s witnessed the breakdown of the studio system and the rise of civil rights activism, and, later, Freddie Prinze rose to quick stardom in the title role of Chico and the Man (1974-1978), but not without intense controversy and complaints from Chicano media activists and other viewers. In the 1980s, Edward James Olmos became a symbol of Latino/a filmmaking; and Jennifer Lopez has risen to mainstream stardom amidst the growth of Latino/a production and the news media's discursive construction of "crossover" stardom in the late 1990s.
In the epilogue, Beltran will address shifting American racial identities by analyzing the rise of contemporary Latino/a stars that are of mixed racial and ethnic heritage and the implications of that rise. The book will bridge several disparate fields of scholarship, most notably the field of film and media studies, Latino/a studies, ethnic studies, and American studies.
A number of methodological approaches will be used in the research: archival research; critical analysis of publicity materials, films, and other media texts; industrial analysis; and the study of critical and popular receptions as evidenced in film reviews, critical commentary, audience and fan letters, and box office figures. Interviews will be conducted with Latino/a film and media professionals regarding the climate in the industry toward Latinos at various junctures. Conclusions and their significance will be buttressed with findings of social science research that examines the difficulties that Latino/a members of the Screen Actors Guild have in obtaining lead roles in Hollywood media productions. Finally, as implied by her focus on the implications of stardom in relation to the actual social status of Latinos, Beltran will also take a historically contextualized analytical approach, studying these texts and activities in relation to the sociopolitical and industrial history in which they are embedded.
Frances Aparicio, Latin American and Latino Studies Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, will serve as mentor.

Elizabeth Drame, Department of Exceptional Education, UW-Milwaukee - "Implications of Federal Definitions of Teacher Quality for the Preparation of Secondary Special Education Teachers in Diverse, Urban Districts."
The quality of PreK-12 teachers is of critical concern as evidenced by research overwhelmingly supporting the impact of teacher quality variables on student achievement. A comprehensive review of the impact of various teacher quality variables on student achievement found that teaching experience, quality of teacher preparation, teacher exposure to a combination of content and pedagogical coursework, and teachers' literacy and verbal abilities significantly influenced student achievement. In particular, evidence supported the importance of subject matter preparation at the secondary level. Finally, teachers' level of literacy and strong academic credentials from selective undergraduate college alma maters were significant predictors of higher student achievement, particularly in low-income, minority students.
Students are less likely to achieve when they have underqualified, inexperienced teachers. Because of the tremendous impact that teacher quality has on student achievement, it is particularly problematic that students in high-poverty districts, many of whom are minority students, are taught at significantly higher rates by teachers with emergency or provisional licenses rather than full licensure. In 2002-2003, the percentage of classroom teachers on a waiver across all districts was 5.6% compared to 7.8% in high-poverty and high-minority districts (Education Week, 2006). The poorest children have, on average, a higher percentage of underprepared teachers.
The situation worsens when teacher quality is examined within the context of special education, where African American students are significantly overrepresented, particularly in the categories of mental retardation and emotional disturbance. This overrepresentation is more prevalent in urban areas whose school environments have higher concentrations of poor, minority children who exhibit a number of risk factors that in combination increase the risk for referral to special education. These risk factors include: limited resources; less highly qualified and experienced regular education teachers; high teacher turnover; and high student mobility. An even greater percentage of underqualified, inexperienced teachers are educating students with the greatest needs.
As a result of the staggering number of underqualified teachers educating a majority of low-income, minority students, particularly those with special needs, two recent federal mandates included explicit requirement for states to ensure that all students are being taught by highly qualified teachers, They were the 2002 Elementary and Secondary Education Act No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the reauthorized 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These mandates provide states with broad parameters for what should be included in their definitions of a highly qualified teacher. In particular, states were given the discretion to develop evaluation systems to document the quality of subject matter or content knowledge possessed by veteran teachers (Blank, 2003). States were charged with the duty of identifying how many teachers did not meet the highly qualified standard, particularly in poor, high minority districts, and with developing plans to provide professional development necessary to increase teacher quality (Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2005).
Despite the current focus on improving the quality of teachers for all students, tremendous variation exists in the interpretation of federal definitions of teacher quality leading to differing levels of rigor in state definitions of teacher quality. This has spurred organizations to encourage the U.S. Department of Education to provide clearer guidance and ongoing monitoring of the development and implementation of teacher quality processes to prevent states from creating loopholes allowing veteran and some new teachers from meeting the standard for strong core academic subject matter competency. This is imperative for secondary special education teachers, since over 45% of high school students with special needs are being taught multiple subjects by special education teachers with minimal expertise in high school academic subjects (Office of Postsecondary Education, 2004).
The lack of clarity in the definition of a 'highly qualified teacher' creates difficulties for school districts who are working towards the provision of highly qualified special education teachers in high schools. In addition, this conundrum presents difficulties for teacher education institutions who are attempting to reshape their teacher certification programs in order to provide districts with special education teachers who can deliver effective instruction for all the subjects they are required to teach. In order to close the significant achievement gap for high school students with special needs so they may successfully transition into the workforce, special education teachers must be qualified to deliver content-rich learning experiences based on academic standards to their students. The purpose of this study will be to inform state certification offices and teacher education institutions of rigorous and valid definitions of teacher quality. This clear definition will lead to the preparation of secondary special education teachers whose instruction results in successful postsecondary outcomes for students with special needs.
The study will address the following questions: (i) How are states defining 'highly qualified' secondary special education teachers?; (ii) Is there a difference between the level of rigor of state definitions of teacher quality for secondary special education and regular education teachers?; and (iii) How prevalent are research-based characteristics of highly effective urban teachers in state definitions of teacher quality for secondary special education teachers?
Marleen Pugach, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, UW-Milwaukee, will serve as mentor.

Robert Hayashi, Department of English, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh - "Polish Falcons to Franco's Italian Army: Sports, Ethnicity, and Narrating Pittsburgh History."
The Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of several new museums built in the city since the collapse of the region's iconographic industrial-based economy during the last decades of the twentieth century. The museum narrates the region's passion for both amateur and professional sports and celebrates its rich sporting tradition. In addition, several exhibits display how ethnic groups in the region have used sports to preserve and signify ethnic identities, a suggestion of how strongly locals still embrace their specific ethnicities. Pittsburgh has long been noted for its persistent ethnic communities, and the new museum represents a more inclusive approach than prior public history projects of the city, including prominent exhibits on the area's two legendary, but long-ignored, Negro League baseball teams: the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords.
This research will examine something less clear from the museum's design - how amateur and professional sports in this region have also been a means to publicly define, cross, police, and increasingly now, erase boundaries of race that have so prominently defined the area's social and geographic spaces. The region's most prominent image is that of the male industrial worker, and Hayashi will trace, through public art and photography, how images of white laborers promoted a civic identity. It is an identity that has become increasingly symbolic, however, due to the collapse of the area's industrial base, the resulting diaspora of its blue-collar workers and their families, and the erasure of industrial worksites from its landscape. This research will detail how ethnic identity, too, and it's connection to sports has become increasingly symbolic for Pittsburgh residents and those who identify with the city and its sports history. The influence of ethnic-based groups associated with sports has waned; sports, like soccer, that were once ethnic "enclaves" have become common American sports, and barriers to sports participation have also lessened. Hayashi argues that the region's contemporary identity, now that white ethnic identity is less salient and industrial labor less significant, is transmitted increasingly through communal affiliation with sports teams that narrate its imagined past. Professional sports teams, in particular, provide disparate ethnic groups with vehicles to promote this regional identity of white class immigrant roots and an industrial past, while erasing the region's troubling race history.
The prominent public representation of this regional identity in recent decades is Pittsburgh's professional football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team literally derives its identity from the steel industry, embodied in its team name and logo, and it has espoused a blue-collar ethos in its style of play. He will show how local pro teams have long been sites of the expression of white ethnic identity. This has been true although the region's most popular professional teams have prominently featured African American men, who have variously embraced and rejected this image. He will illustrate how this communal identity, signified by a regional working-class ethos of hard work and physical toughness, has been transmitted through media, material, and popular culture and how it influences racial identity and racial awareness. He asserts that in the public space of the sports arena, non-white sports figures become extensions of the local blue-collar identity of the city by exemplifying its defining ethos. Black players, such as former Steelers running back Franco Harris, can appear to surpass boundaries of race when they exemplify these traits, but only on the playing field. Harris's fan club made the mixed-race player a symbol of Italian American ethnic pride during the 1970s, despite complaints from some in the city's African American community who insisted on the primacy of Harris's black identity. Hayashi argues that shapers of public history, such as the new Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, do include and celebrate prominent African American athletes, but avoid critical dialogue about the region's racial history: its legacy of housing segregation and discrimination on its playing fields and in its steel mills.
Scholars have written about how individuals and groups utilize sports allegiances to define communities, especially in relation to national identity. However, the majority of this work focuses on non-American contexts and the sports of soccer and cricket. Studies of white ethnic identity in Pittsburgh focus mainly on the immigrant and second generation, and leave unanswered how ethnicity is experienced and expressed in the postindustrial era and later generations. There exists significant research on the role of ethnicity and sports - how it functions as a tool of assimilation, an expression of native cultural identity, a form of social mobility, and a platform of protest. Hayashi will discuss these processes in relation to western Pennsylvania's ethnic communities, their sports traditions and activities. Much has been written about the history of racial discrimination and minority social mobility in American sporting life, including some work on Pittsburgh, but the latter focuses mainly on the city's Negro League baseball teams. Hayashi will simultaneously analyze some of these uninvestigated lines of inquiry to explore the increasingly symbolic role of sports and ethnic identity in a postindustrial American region, but with critical attention to how racial identities and racial consciousness have been transmitted and conveyed through sports and public history projects.
David Glassberg, Department of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst, will serve as mentor.

Regina Smith, Department of Administrative Leadership, UW-Milwaukee - "A Group-as-a-Whole Perspective of Students' Experiences Working with Difference in Online Heterogeneous Collaborative Groups."
Fostering collaborative learning is widely recognized as an important dimension of a rapidly expanding field of online education. Although an inherently social experience, online collaborative learning has largely been studied from the perspective of individual students' learning outcomes and satisfaction with such learning experiences. The purpose of this study is to augment the individual focus of online collaborative learning by concentrating on the emotional issues and dynamics of the group-as-a whole. How do students characterize their experiences of encountering and learning to work across differences in heterogeneous online collaborative groups?
In online education, collaborative strategies are often advocated as a means of addressing the potentially alienating effects of teaching and learning in virtual environments (Bullen, 1998). An important element of effective collaborative groups is their diversity and heterogeneity (Bruffee, 1999). Yet, few studies have addressed the potential difficulties involved in attempting to foster collaborative learning among individual group members who often present sharply different racial, gender, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, educational experiences, intellectual and developmental levels, age, and learning styles. How individuals and groups learn to work across this myriad of differences represents one of the most important areas for research in online learning.
Smith's previous research (e.g., Dirkx & Smith, 2004; Smith, 2003; Smith, 2005) also focused on individual student experiences working across difference in these online heterogeneous collaborative groups. The results revealed that students had a love/hate relationship with the small groups. They loved being a part of the diverse group because they could hear many different perspectives; however, when it was time to reach decisions about the issues in the problem, a strategy to resolve the problem, or to write the paper, the students cited high levels of emotional conflict about the differences in opinions and worldviews. Rather than exploring the difference, the students used various strategies to avoid the conflicting voices. These strategies included older members who dominated the group and limited the contributions of younger members, students of color, and international students. In addition, early task starters (students who liked to begin work tasks early) blamed their peers who liked to work closer to deadlines for procrastinating. To this end, the students felt they learned a lot about the course content and about themselves as learners. Yet, younger members of the group, students of color, female learners and international students perceived that they learned less because their peers overly criticized their contributions, failed to include their ideas, and assigned them less important group tasks. Anecdotal evidence from conversations with peers suggest that faculty are often unaware when these issues arise in the online group and are also unaware of how to address them without destroying the group.
Although Smith's research adds to the body of literature of students' experiences in online collaborative learning groups, this body of literature largely focuses on individual student retrospective accounts of their different experiences and ignores the social learning that occurs in the small group. Other studies have examined the small group as a unit by using a group development model. This research, however, ignores the highly emotional nature of the group culture and the ways in which the group-as-a-whole influences individual behavior. Furthermore, the body of literature on online collaborative groups provides little assistance to faculty who must facilitate these groups.
Smith's research will address these important gaps in the literature. It seeks to augment the individual focus on online collaborative learning by focusing on the emotional issues and dynamics of the group-as-a whole that characterize the students' experiences of encountering and learning to work across differences in heterogeneous online collaborative groups. The group-as-a-whole refers to what happens at the group-level in any kind of social organizational setting (Wells 1985). In addition to an understanding of what is taking place in the group as a social unit (Boyd, 1991), a group-as-a-whole perspective can provide an understanding of race, age, gender, ability, ethnicity, etc., issues as they manifest in the group (Winter, 1974). Smith and Berg (1987) indicate that these issues are often societal issues that members bring into the group that detract from the work task. The group-as-a-whole phenomenon has been examined in therapy, work groups, self-analytical, and experiential educational groups (Ringer, 2002), but is rarely applied to collaborative groups, which face the same emotional dynamics. Failure to examine the emotionality of the group from this perspective continues to make students who are already marginalized in education and society vulnerable to further marginalization, and inadequately prepares faculty to facilitate these groups. Smith's previous results, which focused on student interviews and personal journals, revealed that many of these issues are documented in the students' personal journals, which are unavailable to the instructor until the course is over. In face-to-face groups, these issues are seen in individual body language and group emotional energy, as well as a content analysis of the recorded transcripts of group meetings. The online environment can mask the body language and emotional energy that is seen in face-to-face groups, thus these issues may remain hidden from the instructor without a fuller understanding of how to trace them within the course transcripts. Thus, this study will conduct a content analysis of the transcripts to better understand the students' experiences from a group-as-a-whole perspective. This analysis should reveal the ways these issues were manifested in the group and how the group addressed them. Furthermore, the results should lead to more specific and practical recommendations to faculty so that they can recognize these emotional diversity and group dynamics issues and help the collaborative groups better work across their differences.
John Dirkx, Department of Educational Administration, Michigan State University, will serve as mentor.