Browsing by Author "McCallops, Kathleen"
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Item Exploring the intergenerational schooling experiences and attitudes toward schooling among street-identified Black American girls and women through a critical race feminist lens: an explanatory sequential mixed methods study(University of Delaware, 2022) McCallops, KathleenThe purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the intergenerational lived schooling experiences and self-reported attitudes toward schooling among street-identified Black American girls and women in Wilmington, Delaware. This study was informed by Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and the Sites of Resilience Theory’s (SOR) framing of resilience and employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design using secondary data from the Street Participatory Action Research (PAR) Health Project. A sequential approach allowed for the examination of self-reported attitudes toward schooling and lived schooling experiences in separate methodological phases. Then, the findings from each phase were combined to understand how the lived schooling experiences of street-identified Black American girls and women helped explain their attitudes towards schooling. There were two primary rationales for implementing a mixed methods design which included: (1) expansion and (2) social justice. ☐ The first phase, a quantitative phase, included analyzing self-reported attitudes toward schooling mean scores across four age cohorts of street-identified Black American girls and women (N = 276). The primary measure used was the Attitudes Toward Education scale, and from which three subscales were developed and three critical items were identified using the theoretical frameworks and foundations of Street PAR. Data were analyzed by conducting a series of one-way analysis of variance tests. The results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in mean scores on the subscales and critical items across age cohorts. ☐ The second phase, a qualitative phase, involved analyzing interviews with two age cohorts of street-identified Black American girls and women about their lived schooling experiences in their own voices (N = 20). Directed content analysis was used to center principles of CRF and SOR’s framing of resilience during the coding and theme development process. Themes from the 25-34 year old age cohort included (1) Violence in School, (2) Teachers and School Officials, and (3) Home and Family Life. Themes from the 45-54 year old age cohort included (1) Violence in School, (2) Teachers and School Officials, and (3) Desegregated Schooling. The similarities and differences across age cohorts were examined to highlight differences in their schooling trajectories and to describe areas of similarity and nuances within those similarities. ☐ There was sufficient quantitative and qualitative data for two of the subscales and two of the critical items which suggested mixed methods integration was possible. Findings for two of the subscales demonstrated that the quantitative and qualitative findings were consistent with one another indicating an intergenerational trend that street-identified Black American girls and women experienced similar types of schooling conditions and interactions with teachers for generations. Findings from one of the critical items demonstrated complementary findings suggesting that street-identified Black American girls and women were attending schools in environments for generations where they witnessed fighting in high school and where they fought to protect themselves or a family member and as a form of resilience. Furthermore, findings from another critical item suggested complementary findings in that street-identified Black American girls and women cared about their grades in high school and that the women in the 25-34 year old age cohort also expressed that they cared about and valued furthering their education. ☐ The findings from this study have implications for future research that centers street-identified Black American girls and women in this process. Implications and recommendations related to research, practice, and policy include the need to better prepare pre-service teachers to educate and support Black girls and to create an awareness and understanding of the systems and structures that create and perpetuate inequitable conditions for Black families among human service providers. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of understanding family dynamics in schools and the impact of intergenerational schooling experiences on intergenerational wealth, mobility, health, and well-being. This study also has implications for social justice and action through partnerships in the Wilmington community to advocate for educational policies and practices to support street-identified Black American girls and women.Item USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Vendor Criteria: An Examination of US Administrative Agency Variations(International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021-03-29) Landry, Matthew J.; Phan, Kim; McGuirt, Jared T.; Ostrander, Alek; Ademu, Lilian; Seibold, Mia; McCallops, Kathleen; Tracy, Tara; Fleischhacker, Sheila E.; Karpyn, AllisonThe food retail environment has been directly linked to disparities in dietary behaviors and may in part explain racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related deaths. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, is associated with improved healthy food and beverage access due to its requirement for minimum stock of healthy foods and beverages in WIC-eligible stores. The selection and authorization criteria used to authorize WIC vendors varies widely from state to state with little known about the specific variations. This paper reviews and summarizes the differences across 16 of these criteria enacted by 89 WIC administrative agencies: the 50 states, the District of Columbia, five US Territories, and 33 Indian Tribal Organizations. Vendor selection and authorization criteria varied across WIC agencies without any consistent pattern. The wide variations in criteria and policies raise questions about the rational for inconsistency. Some of these variations, in combination, may result in reduced access to WIC-approved foods and beverages by WIC participants. For example, minimum square footage and/or number of cash register criteria may limit vendors to larger retail operations that are not typically located in high-risk, under-resourced communities where WIC vendors are most needed. Results highlight an opportunity to convene WIC stakeholders to review variations, their rationale, and implications thereof especially as this process could result in improved policies to ensure and improve healthy food and beverage access by WIC participants. More work remains to better understand the value of state WIC vendor authorization authority, particularly in states that have provided stronger monitoring requirements. This work might also examine if and how streamlining WIC vendor criteria (or at least certain components of them) across regional areas or across the country could provide an opportunity to advance interstate commerce and promote an equitable supply of food across the food system, while ensuring the protection for local, community-oriented WIC vendors.