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Objective: College students play a major role in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the viral agent responsible for COVID-19. We aim to understand risk perceptions, self-efficacy, and adoption of prevention behaviors in this population to inform prevention strategies. Participants: Undergraduate students attending a large public university. Methods: A convenience sample of students were surveyed (April-June 2020). Participants self-reported risk perceptions, perceived risk of contracting COVID-19, self-efficacy, and prevention behavior engagement. Results: A total of 1,449 students were included in the analysis. The majority were women (71.2%) and aged 18-24 (86.6%). Freshmen had the lowest risk and threat perceptions, as did men; men also had lower self-efficacy. Women engaged significantly more in prevention behaviors compared to men. Conclusions: Perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 was low, but overall adoption of prevention behaviors was high due to local mandates. Freshmen men were identified as having the greatest need for changing perceptions and behaviors.

Undergraduate institutions serve as stepping stones to students' careers. Teaching and learning in science classrooms require quality and integrated teaching-research learning experiences that prepare students to advance their careers. Using publicly available data sets and open-access data analyses software can be impactful for engaging students in meaningful research experiences while keeping institutional expenses associated with implementing and supporting research opportunities low. In this article, we share two examples of student-led data research that utilized open data and software to analyze microbial sequence data. As part of this process, we also recognized the need for discipline-specific databases that can hold a record of publicly available data. Such a setup will support undergraduate educators and students in accessing data relevant to their requirements, thereby narrowing the gap between data availability and accessibility. Finally, both examples illustrate the benefits of using open resources in supporting student learning, with the possibility of using such resources to develop course-based undergraduate research experiences as part of course curricula.

This article highlights learning lessons and best practices from the California Campus Catalyst Fund (CCCF), a unique three-year, $14M grant and technical assistance initiative, which supports programs for undocumented students at 32 campuses within each of the public higher education segments in California (University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges). The article focuses on three essential components of substantive changes for undocumented students attending CCCF campuses: (1) access to financial aid; (2) knowledge about income generation through entrepreneurship; and (3) student leadership development. Recommendations stemming from best practices and implementation of the CCCF are provided for multiple audiences, including postsecondary educators, policymakers, and the philanthropic sector, focused on increasing access and success of undocumented students.

The current context of standards-based reform has positioned regional service centers (RSCs), intermediary governmental agencies that support state policy implementation in local districts, as a critical source of professional development (PD). In this article, we ask how a governing body that districts often interact with during challenging reform processes manages maintain strong relationships with district and school staff, and thus maintain their image as trustworthy experts on standards implementation. We explore these questions using data from 108 interviews of state, district, and regional administrators in education agencies in Ohio, Texas, and California over a three-year period. We illustrate that by providing districts with (a) differentiated support specific to their unique needs, (b) materials and tools consistent with state content standards, and (c) expertise in supporting students with disabilities and English learners in standards-based environments, RSC staff become, in the words of one state leader, the state's trusted "boots on the ground." [This article was published in "Education Policy Analysis Archives" (EJ1322296).]

Scholarship on the intersection between immigration, legal status, and education has grown over the past decade. Given that schools are intended to be purveyors of democratic values, schools represent an ideal context to examine how immigration and legal status are considered in a community that aims to support the academic and social success of all students This study investigates how members of an urban, K-12 school community in California addressed immigration issues over nearly a decade-long period. The study details three ways in which the school addressed immigration status issues across time. They include college-going supports, addressing newcomer/unaccompanied students' needs, and delivery of legal services. The study's implications highlight how K-12 schools can address immigration issues in intentional, ethical, and supportive ways.

Research shows that Early College high schools have a significant impact on high school and college outcomes for students from low income and racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, but how similar opportunities extend to English learners (ELs) remains unknown. We examine a program that offers Early College opportunities in high schools serving large EL populations in California. Leveraging an exogenous policy change and rich administrative records, we look at the outcomes of pre- and postprogram cohorts of ELs (N = 15,090) in treated and untreated high schools. We find large, significant estimated effects on college credits earned in 12th grade but no effect on immediate college attendance after high school. The probability of attending a 4-year college decreased.

This article analyzes how guns emerged as both urgent topics of dialogue and common features of everyday life for 228 students and their teachers in six communities across the United States who participated in the Digital Democratic Dialogue (3D) Project, a year long social design-based experiment aimed at foregrounding youth voice and fostering connection across lines of geographic and ideological difference. We trace the myriad ways that guns literally and discursively shaped the multiple ecological contexts of the 3D Project in order to detail youth sociopolitical learning and extend traditional models of civic education. We propose a paradigm of speculative civic literacies that privileges a collaborative push toward democratic interrogation and innovation over integration into existing civic and political structures.

Scholars and legal practitioners of voting rights are concerned with estimating individual-level voting behavior from aggregate-level data. The most commonly used technique, King's ecological inference (EI), has been questioned for inflexibility in multiethnic settings or with multiple candidates. One method for estimating vote support for multiple candidates in the same election is called ecological inference: row by columns (R×C). While some simulations suggest that R×C may produce more precise estimates than the iterative EI technique, there has not been a comprehensive side-by-side comparison of the two methods using real election data that analysts and legal practitioners often rely upon in courts. We fill this void by comparing iterative EI and R×C models with a new statistical package--eiCompare--in a variety of R×C combinations including 2 candidates and 2 groups, 3 candidates and 3 groups, and up to 12 candidates and three groups and multiple candidates and four groups. Additionally, we examine the two methods with 500 simulated data sets that differ in combinations of heterogeneity, polarization, and correlation. Finally, we introduce a new model congruence score to aid scholars and voting rights analysts in the substantive interpretation of the estimates. Across all of our analyses, we find that both methods produce substantively similar results. This suggests that iterative EI and R×C can be used interchangeably when assessing precinct-level voting patterns in Voting Rights Act cases and that neither method produces bias in favor or against finding racially polarized voting patterns.

Authored by a teacher-researcher design team, this manuscript explores the boundaries and processes of literacy research enacted across perilous timescales. Building from fieldnotes, reflections, and dialogue from a two and a half year social design-based experiment, this study extends scholarship focused on kinship and communities of practice. Through considering the boundaries of where and how critical research is enacted, this paper demonstrates the ethical imperatives for considering when collective research continues or ends. Considering a lineage of solidarity tied to new literacy studies, we examine the multiple activity systems occupied by our community members and explore the pedagogies of healing and reconstitution that emerged. These findings push for speculative approaches to design that center affect and analog interactions. [This article was written with the Digital Democratic Dialogue (3d) Teacher Community.]

This phenomenological study explored the ways women served as validating agents for Latino men who had transferred from a community college to a four-year institution. Informed by Rendón's theory of validation, participants expressed numerous ways in which women figures (e.g., mothers, sisters, significant others) were sources of validation across their pre and post transfer experience. Findings yielded the need for increased involvement of women in men of color initiatives, compensation for emotional labor performed by women, and engagement opportunities for women family members. The authors provide recommendations for research and practice.

This article focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on Latinx undergraduate students persistence to medical school. Guided by Chicana/Latina Feminist Epistemology (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016) and cultural assets from Latinx STEM Student Success Model (Rendón et al., 2019) this paper aims to take on an asset-based approach and center the voices and experiences of Latinx students in premedical studies as they persist towards medicine during a national pandemic. This study engaged 24 Latinx undergraduates during the summer of 2020, the height of the pandemic. Findings reveal the following themes on impact of COVID-19, (1) Navigating delays in medical school application timelines, (2) Navigating multiple stressors from home to health, (3) Navigating the online shift of clinical and volunteer experiences and (4) Motivations to address Latinx health disparities. Findings suggests Latinx students persisted in the face of a global pandemic and made connections to the larger structural issues that impact Latinx health outcomes.

For more than a century, scholars and policymakers have commented and debated on the purposes of higher education. These conversations reflect a combination of public and private goals, with an increasing emphasis on social mobility. The perspective of students, especially those currently enrolled and first-generation college goers for whom social mobility is likely salient, are often not part of these conversations. This study examines how first-generation and continuing generation students describe the purposes of higher education during college. Students note a strong emphasis on the private goals of higher education from society and parents. However, students' narratives reflect how they grapple with multiple purposes with some also recognizing a change in their views. Differences by generational status also emerged, emphasizing a continued need to balance public and private goals.

Almost two decades after Delgado Bernal's theorization of pedagogies of the home, this article examines pedagogies of the home of four Chicana/o college-educated families to understand the role of parent engagement not only in the college choice processes but also in college completion and graduate school enrollment. Using Chicana feminisms to inform educational oral histories, four Chicana/o parent-child dyads were interviewed. The findings suggest that among Chicana/o college-educated families the (re)making of home, (re)covering tensions, and (re)claiming and (re)learning of cultural knowledge were the pedagogies of the home that were embraced by two successive generations of college completers. Complexities, contradictions, and nuances among Chicana/o college-educated families add to the theorization of pedagogies of the home.

The effectiveness of a peer-mentoring program was examined at a university in California. Previous studies suggest university peer mentoring might increase students' feelings of engagement, which can contribute to their retention. Pretest and posttest data were collected from 304 freshmen (mentored and nonmentored) during the fall of 2012 in a quasi-experimental design. Results indicated mentored students felt significantly more integrated and connected to their university at the end of their first semester compared with nonmentored students. Mentees also provided qualitative responses about what they found beneficial and what they felt could be improved in the program. Results suggested peer mentoring helped the students feel more integrated and supported at college, which might reinforce their persistence toward graduating.

Immigration is a cornerstone of American growth and success. More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the United States each year, looking for opportunities to build a better life and become a part of their new communities. Facilitating immigrant integration is central to maintaining a cohesive social fabric and strong communities. Adult schools are a critical source of support and connection for new immigrants. In addition to improving English and employment skills, they offer a safe space to learn about local systems, understand the sociocultural context, and meet diverse community members. Adult schools present an ideal opportunity to help new immigrants engage meaningfully in their local community by increasing civic knowledge, strengthening leadership skills, and building social networks. This paper describes two successful models of how adult schools partnered with local government to train and support adult English as a second language (ESL) learners in becoming civic leaders. The award-winning Census 2020 Ambassador Training Program supported students in becoming outreach leaders and building lifelong skills in public communication, community engagement, and relationship building. The ESL City Government Academy gave students firsthand experience about how local government works and provided the opportunity to make connections with community leaders.

Over a period of nine years (2011-2019), I have had the opportunity to engage with -- and to contextualize through a decolonial and mental health lens -- the growing threats to and the policing of students at different Southern Californian community colleges. These interactions occurred with a non-White majority of students, mainly Xicanas/os, who were present in these community college classes in large numbers. In this paper, I write about a decolonizing teaching strategy that is both culturally sustaining and revitalizing, and conscious of race. Students of Mesoamerican ancestry, identified by the community colleges as Hispanic, benefit when teachers engage them through an Indigenous lens, affording to such students their rightful place as Native Americans to combat forms of trauma and violence. In addition, I outline the initial observations of the Mesoamerican Figurine Project of Rio Hondo College, where students materialized their own views of the human body and self through clay-work and reflective writing. Using the Borderlands lens and the Coatlicue State -- I posit "a teaching archaeology of the human body" that nurtures self-determination and births an Indigeneity grounded in land and cosmology.

Although there has been a great deal of debate about the effectiveness of charter schools in the research literature, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to English language learners (ELLs) in charter schools. Moreover, the charter school research has predominantly focused on whether or not charter schools are effective rather than "how" or "why" high-performing charter schools work, particularly for ELLs. We contend that researchers must expand their focus beyond access and achievement and begin to grapple with questions related to the quality of programs for ELLs in charter schools. To meet an emerging need in the field, we synthesize several strands of existing research--related to charter schools, school improvement, and ELLs in traditional public schools--to propose a five-component framework that describes essential elements of quality programs for ELLs in charter schools. We conclude with a discussion of implications of our framework for research, policy, and practice.

In 2016, California voters overturned a 1998 law that curtailed bilingual instruction throughout the state. After nearly 20 years of "English only" programs, what will it take to restore the schools' capacity to provide a broader range of services to English Learners, including dual language immersion and other forms of bilingual instruction?

This two-site randomized waitlist-control study (n = 96 mother-child dyads) examined the efficacy of a psychoeducation program as compared to usual care to empower Latina mothers and improve their confidence in and use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for their children with ASD. A secondary aim was to improve child outcomes. Compared to control group, we found significant positive changes in the treatment group in maternal confidence of and frequency in use of EBPs, child social communication and the number of EB services the child received. We found no significant differences for the treatment group in family empowerment or in child challenging behaviors. This RCT presents evidence of an efficacious intervention for Latino children with ASD and their mothers in California and Illinois.

In this essay, Nicole Mirra and Antero Garcia explore how young people from six demographically distinct communities across the United States understand the social and political issues affecting their lives, engage in storytelling and dialogue across differences, and collaboratively imagine humanizing and hopeful civic futures. Drawing from critical race perspectives on democracy and civic education, and with an expansive vision of the nature and purpose of literacy, Mirra and Garcia develop a speculative approach to civic literacy research and practice that centers the voices and concerns of young people, honors differences of identity and expression, and manifests ideological commitments to equity, empathy, and collective struggle to ward off civic disintegration. Findings from their social design-based experiment foreground counterstories in which youth challenge their positioning as not-yet-citizens, create opportunities to engage in civic life on their own terms, and leverage their repertoire of literacy practices to invent new possibilities for inclusive democratic community life.

Reading motivation may help explain some discrepancies in higher education attainment among Latinx adolescents. Using a person-centered approach to understand underlying reading motivation profiles among N = 254 Latinx adolescents, results identified four ordered classes of reading motivation including, (a) a "High" class characterized by high motivation across dimensions, (b) a "High-Practical" class characterized by moderate to high levels of motivation with particular emphasis on practical reasons for reading, (c) an "Apathetic" class with moderate to low motivation across dimensions, and (d) a "Low" class who consistently endorsed low levels of motivation across dimensions. Results also showed reading motivation class membership was significantly associated with demographic covariates (e.g., gender and parent education) and higher education aspirations, consistent with previous research. Practical implications are also discussed.

Other than being African American, little is known of Larry, the lead plaintiff in the legal case known as "Larry P. v. Riles" in 1971, which banned the use of standardized intelligence testing on African-American students in the State of California. As a result of such intelligence testing, Larry was diagnosed as being mildly mentally retarded and placed in a special education class for the educable mentally retarded. This placement was for students who were considered to not be on an academic track, but rather in classes to learn social and job skills. This case ultimately led to the current state of affairs in which it is impermissible to use any standardized intelligence tests in California schools for any purpose on African-American students. However, such intelligence tests can be used on "Lorenzo" (the Spanish word for Lawrence). "Lorenzo" may be the son of migrant farmworkers who don't speak a word of English, yet he can be tested with a standard intelligence test, and as a result of such testing be categorized as intellectually disabled (mentally retarded) or as having a specific learning disability. The California Department of Education (CDE) is currently in the process of reviewing activities and methods that might reduce instances of disproportionality in special education. One component of that process is the reconvening of the "Larry P." task force. The last time the "Larry P." task force met, in an effort to help protect Larry, it was recommended that IQ tests not be used for any educational purposes on African-American students. Perhaps this time the task force will also help protect Lorenzo. This articles discusses the following topics: (1) Overrepresentation of Minority Students in Special Education; (2) English Language Learners Overrepresentation in Special Education; (3) The Role of IQ Tests; (4) Bias in IQ Testing; (5) ELLs and Testing; and (6) Alternatives to IQ Tests.

Seven counseling and guidance students from California participated in a study abroad program in which they were placed in a high school in Auckland, New Zealand, for one month. Their comments on the experience in response to researchers' questions form the basis of this paper. They suggest that the participants benefited from being immersed in a culturally different context where they had to consider differences in school organization, counseling priorities, and students' cultural mores. This immersion required them to think about their own professional values and to engage in high level learning, appropriate to masters level field experience work. They commented especially on different approaches to cultural and racial issues in New Zealand and California and on experiencing a counseling profession that is more focused on addressing social issues than on college readiness.

Research focused on Latinas/os in higher education often examines patterns of failure, while neglecting factors that contribute to Latina/o generational familial success. This article focuses on intergenerational strategies taught within college-educated Puerto Rican households that assist in academic achievement and success in higher education. Delgado Bernal theorized pedagogies of the home to explain co-constructed cultural knowledge within Chicana/o households to challenge deficit perspectives. Through analysis of educational oral histories of four college-educated Puerto Rican families, pedagogies of the home are extended. The Puerto Rican college-educated children demonstrate "sin pelos en la lengua" (without mincing words), "contradictions among college completers," and "pa'lante siempre pa'lante" (always moving forward) as strategies employed in navigating higher education. In rearticulating, pedagogies of the home for the Puerto Rican community, institutions of higher education can better respond to the various experiences of Latinas/os.

A growing body of research focusing on male students of color has provided insights for educators to better understand the academic challenges that impact their success. However, minimal attention has centered on the essential needs that influence their daily experiences in college. This qualitative study explored the experiences of male students of color in community college. Findings revealed various environmental challenges experienced by these men, including food and housing insecurities. Implications for institutional responsibility are extended.

The nature and role of developmental education classes are under tremendous scrutiny across the nation today. Specifically, students are entering community college and four-year institutions of higher education unprepared to understand and apply much of the reading material presented to them in college-level classes. This article describes the effectiveness of using OUR READING TOOLBOX: The Reading-Thinking Connection as a thinking-centered approach in community college developmental reading classes. This faculty-created intervention consists of a set of twelve specially designed tools that are systematically used with highinterest readings to engage the students' minds in critical-thinking activities. The tools are designed to help students acquire and generalize the skills they need to understand readings that they encounter in college-level academic courses that are reading-intensive. Three strategies for teaching and learning that proved to be particularly essential to effectively carrying out lessons using OUR READING TOOLBOX will be presented. Preliminary research on results and benefits of using this thinking-centered intervention will be discussed.

University and secondary school educators recognize many high school students will undertake a post-secondary education but find themselves unprepared for the academic demands once they arrive on campus. Although many high school students appear to possess basic abilities in retrieving information, particularly when searching the Internet, they often lack the critical evaluation skills needed to succeed at the college level (Jackson & Hansen, 2006). Developing the necessary information literacy skills among high school students to support a successful transition to college is a unique undertaking for any institution. The authors provide a case study of an outreach effort between an academic library and an urban high school during challenging budgetary times. Lessons learned from the development of their information literacy instructional program and the instructional tools created will be discussed. Student outcomes within the collaboration which include the development of research and critical thinking skills necessary to succeed after high school will be addressed as well. This collaboration may serve as a model for other institutions developing similar programming. (Contains 2 figures.)

After decades of reform efforts in public school systems in the United States, there is minimal student achievement progress to measure. This article addresses the ongoing challenges and complexities of the sustainability of educational reform through a review of the literature and the proposal of a Sustainability Index as a metric to benchmark the sustainability status of a reform. Highlighting a 2-year study in an urban school system in California, this work analyzes the navigation of an educational reform initiative using a Sustainability Index as a tool for reform planning. The results of the study identify a number of potent implications for reformers, school leaders and university preparation programs. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

The Cultural Exchange Inventory (CEI) is a 15-item instrument designed to measure the process (7 items) and outcomes (8 items) of exchanges of knowledge, attitudes and practices between members of different organisations collaborating in implementing evidence-based practice. We conducted principal axis factor analyses and parallel analyses of data describing exchanges with intermediary organisations, treatment developers, other agencies in the same county, and agencies in other counties of 105 leaders of county youth-serving systems in California and Ohio participating in a randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of community development teams in scaling up the use of an evidence-based practice for treatment of youth in foster care. The CEI scale demonstrates strong internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity, and shows potential in understanding the role of cultural exchanges in evidence-based practice implementation.

This is an analysis of California history of the shifting of language policies from Spanish to English, as an Official Language The focus is English as an imposed language that from the beginning of schooling policies stifle a process of language acquisition for the majority of Spanish speakers. In 1849 the California Constitution stipulated that all laws, regulations, and provisions be published in English and Spanish. Soon after in 1855 the use of Spanish for institutional purposes was prohibited by law. By 1879 provisions for native language use were abolished. California became the first English Only State in the union. In spite of historical policies that impose English as an Official Language, which limits the use of other languages in institutional settings, the acquisition of native origin languages, in a dialectical fashion, meld into the fabric of culture and expression. Acquisition as a natural process of cognition is posited as the basis for English-Spanish bilingualism that continues to thrive in California.

Postsecondary level remediation has recently received a great deal of attention with the public questioning the efficacy of spending money on remedial classes, and scholars questioning whether such courses are effective in helping students graduate. The California State University (CSU) system has responded to the challenge of remediation by creating an Early Assessment Program (EAP). The authors discuss the EAP's strengths and weaknesses, questioning whether testing students is the best route to overcoming the problem of remediation. (Contains 1 table.)

This is an historical analysis of English Only programs in California and their impact on bilingualism as a natural acquisition process. Factors that propagate bilingualism such as a continual flow of Spanish speaking immigrants, and social, economic and ethnic isolation, are delineated for theorizing about key aspects of multilingualism, the persistence of Spanish/English bilingualism and cultural nuances of language behaviors as a foundation for cross-cultural understanding. Since the turn of the 20th century there has been a strong shift from Spanish as the official language of law and policy to English in the State of California. The most widely used language other than English has been Spanish. At the beginning of the 21st century it has been projected that Spanish speaking Latinos in the State of California will constitute 43% of the States' population by 2020. This analysis will posit a reconceptualizing of bilingualism for the States' Spanish language speakers and a redefinition of a multinational and global cultural identity that transcends boundaries of nationalistic constructs imposed historically.