Institute on Race and Ethnicity- Category A (Research)

Michael Axelrod, UW-Eau Claire
Rachel Ida Buff, UW-Milwaukee
Ann Herda-Rapp and Jim McClusky, UW-Marathon County
Loretta Mason-Williams, UW-Oshkosh
Jennifer Mueller, UW-Milwaukee
Arijit Sen, UW-Milwaukee
Julie Washington, UW-Madison
Erin Winkler, UW-Milwaukee

Michael Axelrod, Human Development Center/Psychology Department, UW-Eau Claire - "Investigating Changes in Pre-Service Student Perceptions of Diversity Issues and Culturally Competent Practice Based on Exposure to a Brief Multicultural Service Learning Program"
Research on multicultural service learning supports its use at the university level and with pre-service teacher education students. However, research is sparse with regard to investigating multicultural service learning for pre-service students from other fields or with pre-service graduate students. Furthermore, investigations on the impact of multicultural service learning programs have primarily involved certain populations (e.g., African American) and the programs themselves have been intensive or required a high degree of direct contact between students and individuals within these diverse communities. This study attempts to fill gaps in the literature by evaluating the impact of a brief multicultural service learning experience on graduate students completing hours at an American Indian reservation.

Rachel Ida Buff, Department of History/Comparative Ethnic Studies, UW-Milwaukee - "Deportation Policy and the Transnational Politics of Community"
This research will compare the experiences of immigrant Korean activists and the Mexican American community in Los Angeles with deportation policy in the early 1950s. Deportation evolved as a component of immigration policy in this period, affecting transnational Asian American and Latino/a communities. This grant will fund travel to complete the research for one chapter of a book in progress on deportation as policy and social experience, 1924 to the present. The book integrates historical analysis of public policy with ethnographic and archival research into the transnational experiences of deportees.

Ann Herda-Rapp, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, and Jim McClusky, Department of Geography and Geology, UW-Marathon County - "Poverty, Social Mobility, and Economic Change in Marathon County: A Comparison of Hmong, White, and Other Households"
While the Hmong are a prominent Wisconsin ethnic group, they are also among the least researched. Understanding the Hmong experience could be instructive for understanding assimilation and social mobility in predominantly white communities and the interplay between the larger social structure and place. In Marathon County, with a large Hmong population but once nearly all-white, intriguing change has occurred: with high poverty rates for two decades, the poverty rate for Asians dropped by nearly half between 2000 and 2007, a change not duplicated nationally. Herda-Rapp and McCluskey will use Census data, an original survey of Marathon County residents, and geographic information to: (i) compare Hmong, white and other households; and (ii) better understand experiences with poverty/near poverty, social mobility, economic change and place dynamics.

Loretta Mason-Williams, Department of Special Education, UW-Oshkosh - "Distributing Quality Special Education Teachers: Improving Equity in Schools with High Proportions of Racial and Ethnic Diversity"
Meeting the demand for quality teachers poses a significant challenge to American schools. The problem is especially pervasive in schools with high proportions of poor, minority, and non-English speaking children. Furthermore, difficulty retaining special educators complicates the possibility of schools providing a quality teacher to students with disabilities. Utilizing the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey, this study investigates the supply of special education teachers and the extent to which qualifications varied among public schools according to the racial and ethnic diversity within a school.

Jennifer Mueller, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, UW-Milwaukee - "Effectively Preparing Teachers for Equity and Diversity in Urban Schools"
Institute funds will support the analysis of data collected from two qualitative examinations previously undertaken by the Early Childhood Education teacher preparation faculty at UW-Milwaukee. The two projects were designed to examine how teachers and teacher candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to engage in effective and equitable teaching practices that work to ameliorate educational achievement gaps between low-income, minority students and their white middle-class peers. The analysis of this data will provide a knowledge base to assist the ECE faculty in program evaluation and revision.

Arijit Sen, Department of Architecture, UW-Milwaukee - "Creative Dissonance: The Politics of Immigrant World Making"
This project examines the social construction of immigrant identity by analyzing their spatial practices - the politics of inhabiting, constructing, and transforming space. It explores how the physical configurations and everyday use of immigrant cultural sites in San Francisco (1906-1920) were informed by the divisive racial logic of the time. The research will not only illuminate the architectural history of important historical landmarks, but also help explore how these architectural sites served as contact zones for different racial and gender constituencies.

Julie Washington, Department of Communicative Disorders, UW-Madison - "Identifying Promising African-American Students during the Elementary Years"
Identification and assessment practices for educational placement may contribute to the under-representation of African American students in gifted education programs. This study seeks to determine the utility of oral narration as a culturally-fair index of linguistic intelligence in language use in young low-income African American children. Videotaped clips of stories told by African-American English speaking children will be rated by laypersons and school professionals and compared to their performance on a language and cognitive assessment battery and to student perceptions of linguistic intelligence. Results will inform current assessments, improving the ability to identify students who show promise for future educational attainment.

Erin Winkler, Department of Africology, UW-Milwaukee - "Racism as a Threshold Topic: Assessing Student Learning Outcomes in a University 'Diversity Requirement' Course"
This study uses written coursework by students in a university 'diversity requirement' course to assess learning outcomes on the topic of racism. Racism is posited as a "threshold concept," or concept that is difficult and often troubling for students, but ultimately essential to higher learning in the field. Data will be coded and analyzed according to a "racism comprehension rubic" developed by Winkler. Data analysis will reveal students' learning processes and outcomes, variance across demographic groups, and which learning strategies are most successful.