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Identity shifting represents a common but complex social, behavioral, and cognitive phenomenon. However, some forms of identity shifting originate in response to structural, institutional, and interpersonal marginalization enacted on lower status groups, such as people of color in the United States. The current study investigated ways young adults from diverse ethnic/racial groups discussed shifting to fit in with White Americans (a dominant group) in the United States and their own ethnic/racial group (a minoritized group) and elucidated self-reported motivations for shifting. Participants consisted of 764 young adults (ages = 18-23) recruited from two large public universities in the Southeast and Southwest regions of the United States. The majority of participants identified as Black/African American (41%), Asian/Asian American (27%), or Hispanic/Latinx (22%). Analysis of participants' qualitative responses identified six types of shifts and two motivations for shifting. The shifts included: behavioral, linguistic, cognitive, physical, food, and affect. Motivations for shifting focused on avoiding risks and obtaining rewards. The discussion offers interpretation of the results and recommendations for future research on identity shifting.

More than half a century of educational efforts have focused on eliminating the Black--White achievement gap. Yet, racial disparities persist. In this article, we describe the issues with educational discourse focused on the achievement gap and the ways structural racism drives the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students. We include a discussion of Black children's developmental competencies and the ways educators may use culturally relevant pedagogy to capitalize upon these competencies and support higher achievement among Black students. We conclude with suggestions for specific actions to foster systemic change for Black students.

This article provides a grounded theory study of student experiences while participating in a multidisciplinary pre-service training. Pre-service students from social work and education participated in culturally affirming multidisciplinary training in social and emotional learning and implemented what they learned in the training in their internships. An in-person focus group (N = 4) was used to capture student experiences during training and implementing what they learned. Findings from this grounded theory study have important implications for engaging pre-service students in multidisciplinary collaborations, including challenging them to engage with colleagues outside of their disciplines to incorporate culturally affirming interventions.

In this piece, the authors unpack a heuristic developed by the Great First Eight curriculum for helping young children to recognize and act on injustice. First, they explain the rationale behind the heuristic, known as ReAD, and the inspiration behind its creation. They then detail a series of seven practical principles that can help to incorporate ReAD into the classroom, regardless of what curricular materials used.

Race is often ignored as a core component of social and emotional competency (SEC) and social and emotional learning (SEL). This study explored preservice school social worker and elementary teacher interns' participation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary SEL training curriculum that integrates race. Nine preservice trainees (majority White women) participated in the collaborative training. Qualitative methodology was utilized to examine and access the training. Content analysis revealed three themes from a study of the interns' participation in the training: function of color blindness, "I haven't noticed," and silencing of emotions. While interns acknowledged the importance of race, they were unclear on how students' racial identities were a key component of students' SEC. They also struggled to find ways to incorporate race in their implementation of SEL. Findings are discussed regarding the role of race and preservice training in SEL.

Knowledge of functional groups provides students with a language for organic chemistry. However, students in a health science chemistry course do not plan to be synthetic organic chemists and, therefore, need examples of how functional group chemistry is relevant to their vocational goals. We have developed a lab to demonstrate how simple functional group chemistry is used in laboratory testing, namely, the "pee test", or dipstick urinalysis. Dipstick urinalysis is frequently used to screen for various conditions and is used weekly in the last month of pregnancy. Our lab models the prenatal clinical environment. The laboratory allows for testing of chemical species that support a medical diagnosis: albumin testing for preeclampsia; leukocytes, nitrites, and pH for urinary tract infection; glucose, ketones, and pH to test for gestational diabetes, alcoholism, or other serious metabolic diseases. The related lessons are designed to support students in understanding the reactions involved in testing, biochemistry related to diagnosis, and general understandings of how tests are interpreted. In developing this experiment, we were confronted with disparities in prenatal care, namely, the absence of culturally competent care, inequitable access to care, and toxic stress due to racism that contribute to dramatically increased maternal death rates for women of color in the US. We identified resources to educate students on culturally competent care. These resources include reference to the way in which the "pee test" is administered. We have incorporated this resource into our lab with appropriate reflection questions, based on our newly devised cultural competence and social justice framework for chemistry students. Our findings indicated that student understandings of the chemistry and testing methods were adequate; on average, 77% of samples were properly diagnosed. With respect to social justice and cultural competence, we found that students predominantly discussed two elements of the cultural competence and social justice framework: reflection on privilege in society and agency to promote equity in healthcare.

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to refine and validate the Assessing Classroom Sociocultural Equity Scale (ACSES), an observation tool for measuring equitable sociocultural interactions in early childhood classrooms (pre-K to Grade 3) with racially minoritized learners (RMLs). Preliminary psychometric information from 142 observations across 52 teachers (average of 2 videos per teacher) provided internal consistency and validity information. Our analyses resulted in a significant and highly reliable 5-factor solution comprising 33 items. These five factors are: "Challenging Status Quo Knowledge," "Equitable Learning Opportunities for RMLs," "Equitable Discipline," "Connections to Home Life," and "Personalized Learning Opportunities." Concurrent and divergent validity between ACSES and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) indicated these factors are associated with distinct aspects of classroom interactions. Lastly, correlations between teacher socio-demographic (age and race/ethnicity) and professional (years teaching, education, and major) characteristics and ACSES factor scores were considered. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in relation to research contributions of the measure as well as pre-service education and in-service professional development for teachers.

This literature review synthesizes research on Black American adolescents' mental health published between 1990 and 2022 to identify prominent risk factors and highlight key protective factors for their mental health. Two research questions guided this review: (a) How did researchers examine mental health in Black American adolescents; and (b) What are the risk and protective factors that contribute to mental health outcomes among Black American adolescents? Across more than 30 years of investigation and over 300 published articles, researchers identified several prominent factors that pose risk to Black American adolescents' mental health, including neighborhood conditions, violence exposure and victimization, racism and racial discrimination, and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. However, research also elucidated factors that protect or directly promote Black American adolescents' mental health, including family, racial and ethnic socialization, racial and ethnic identity, out-of-school time activities, interpersonal relationships, coping, sleep, and social-cognition. The authors conclude with future directions for research and implications for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of social-emotional competence and implementation of social-emotional learning programs have increased substantially in schools; however, little is known about teachers' perceptions of such programs. This qualitative study explored early childhood (3 to 8 years old) teachers' perceptions of classroom-based social-emotional learning programs for young, urban-dwelling children. A focus of the study included learning what teachers believe were the critical components and challenges of such programs. Five themes emerged from the content analysis: responsibility, curricula/program design, contextual relevance, support, and barriers. The findings from this study are discussed with regard to educational policy implications about social-emotional learning curricula and programs, especially those implemented in urban schools.

Racial socialization is a multidimensional process that is critical to the social development of African American boys and men. Examining messages that may promote Black male racial socialization can provide insight into how race and gender identity development occur. This study explored how racial socialization is illustrated through recollected hair stories of African American men. A qualitative thematic analysis was utilized to examine the narrative data from 29 self-identified Black men. Three themes of racial socialization emerged: cultural socialization, negative messages, and self-worth messages, which were associated with experiences of barbershop traditions, "good hair" comments, and stories of hair autonomies, respectively. The findings support existing literature on gendered racial socialization and aim to identify hair messages as necessary variables in examining race and gender identity development in African American boys and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children learn social and emotional competence through socialization. Research has focused on the role of parents, however teachers also play an important part. This study examined the social and emotional competence of preschool African American children and the role teachers and mothers played in supporting these competencies. Teachers who labeled children's emotions as positive and were responsive to them created a positive emotional classroom climate where children engaged in more social competence behaviors. Mothers who provided positive behavioral strategies were also more likely to be emotionally responsive, but these behaviors were not related to their children's competence behaviors at school. The relative contribution of mothers' and teachers' behaviors to African American children's observed social and emotional competencies at school and the implications of this research are described.

Research Findings: This study examined 56 young (prekindergarten through 2nd grade) urban-dwelling African American children's understanding of the affective attributions and consequences of 3 types of sociomoral rule systems: prosocial, active, and inhibitive morality. It also tested the relationship of affective attributions and consequences to children's behavior. As expected, children's affective responses differed by sociomoral rule system and character role type, supporting the notion of a "happy victimizer" and a subtle attributional shift. Children provided affective attributions that attempted to resolve the dilemmas presented in the different sociomoral vignettes regardless of the affect associated with the vignette. The relationship of children's affective attributions and consequences to their behavior in school was partially supported. Children's affective attributions were significantly associated with their prosocial behavior. However, contrary to predictions, no other significant associations emerged between children's affective attributions and negative behavior or between children's affective consequences and behavior. Practice or Policy: Those working with young African American children should consider the reasoning behind children's emotional and behavioral reactions and not just focus on the correct or appropriate response to understand and promote children's positive development. There are implications for supporting African American children's competence development at school through a behavior promotion approach. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

Children's social and emotional competence abilities have been linked to successful social interactions and academic performance. This study examined the teacher and observer ratings of social and emotional competence for 89 young (3- to 5-year-old), African American children from economically stressed urban environments. There was a specific interest in understanding the convergence and divergence of the raters on these competence behaviors within the classroom. This study also examined the association among children's competence abilities and their overall functioning at school. There were significant associations between teacher and observer reports of children's competence. Children who were observed to be socially and emotionally competent were rated by their teachers as functioning well in school. However, there were differences among teacher and observer reports in terms of the specific behaviors that represented social and emotional competence. These findings provide support for the use of multi-method, multi-informant measures to assess competence among African American children. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examined the ways in which cultural orientation (communalism and material well-being) and empathy influence the moral reasoning of African American middle to late adolescents. Specifically, this study utilized path analysis to investigate Ward's (1995) hypothesis that a communal orientation would promote morality among African American adolescents, while a material well-being orientation would mitigate against it. In addition, it was hypothesized that empathy would mediate the relationship between cultural orientation and moral reasoning. Thirty-seven high school students and 35 college students participated in the study. Results revealed that communalism was a significant predictor of empathy. Despite prediction, communalism and material well-being were not predictors of moral reasoning. The findings did not yield support for empathy functioning as a mediator between communalism and moral reasoning. These findings are discussed in terms of previous findings, methodological limitations, and implications for future research.

Schools are the primary environment in which to conduct prevention programs for school-age children. Educators, policy makers, and psychologist argue that prevention efforts should begin as early as possible to maximize their effectiveness. Surprisingly, there are relatively few school-based prevention programs targeted for preschoolers. Given the evidence supporting earlier rather than later prevention efforts and the fact that many children in the United States attend preschool programs, more research on the feasibility and effectiveness of prevention programs administered in preschool environments is warranted. In this article, we review the existing literature on school-based prevention programs targeted for preschool children. We examine whether school-based prevention programs are theory driven, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and aimed specifically at symptom reduction or behavior promotion. Based on the findings of this review, our aim is to identify gaps in the prevention research literature regarding programs for preschoolers and propose research to address such gaps to create more effective school-based prevention programs for young children.

Examined how gender, grade level, empathy, and cultural orientation influenced fifth and eighth grade African American students' moral judgements. Students completed a variety of assessments. There was greater endorsement of communalism among girls than boys. Grade was a significant predictor of moral reasoning. The full complement of predictive relationships among communal orientation, empathy, and moral reasoning emerged only among boys. (SM)

Race is often ignored as a core component of social and emotional competency (SEC) and social and emotional learning (SEL). This study explored preservice school social worker and elementary teacher interns' participation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary SEL training curriculum that integrates race. Nine preservice trainees (majority White women) participated in the collaborative training. Qualitative methodology was utilized to examine and access the training. Content analysis revealed three themes from a study of the interns' participation in the training: function of color blindness, "I haven't noticed," and silencing of emotions. While interns acknowledged the importance of race, they were unclear on how students' racial identities were a key component of students' SEC. They also struggled to find ways to incorporate race in their implementation of SEL. Findings are discussed regarding the role of race and preservice training in SEL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to articles on challenges facing African-American students in school settings is presented, with topics such as the link between achievement and graduation rates for African American students and reality therapy for decreasing the achievement gap for African American students.