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Nationally recognized social justice standards guide educators in developing social justice education. Absent from the guidance are tools to conduct initial formative assessment or to measure the impact of related instruction. To fill that gap, an academic researcher and 10th-grade teacher used a 3-phased, 9-step process to develop, pilot test, and evaluate a self-assessment tool called the Social Justice Educational Assessment Scale (SJEAS). In Phase 1, the team created the SJEAS items, aligning each with the Learning for Justice 9th–12th-grade social justice learning outcomes to ensure content validity. In Phase 2, they pretested the questions, revised the scale, and administered it to 322 student participants. Next, they conducted inter-item and total-item correlation tests and principal component analysis to ensure internal consistency. In Phase 3, they evaluated the SJEAS. Preliminary results indicate the SJEAS could provide educators and curriculum coordinators with a practical formative assessment and impact evaluation tool for social justice education aligned with nationally recognized learning outcomes. Complementary data, including classroom assignments and student discussions, would further enhance its value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching the components of health advocacy is straightforward, but fostering young people's self-efficacy to be health advocates for themselves, others, and their community is more complex. This complexity sometimes renders advocating for health, the basis of National Health Education Standard (NHES) #8, challenging to teach. We utilized a pedagogical approach called biblioguidance to teach this skill to 10th-grade students. The premise of biblioguidance, also called bibliotherapy, is that information, guidance, and even solace can be found through reading and vicariously living story events. To implement this approach, we consulted the literature and created a six-step framework to guide the design, development, and evaluation of a health advocacy curriculum, including young adult novels, guided reading prompts, electronic journals, and small group discussions. Our pre/post-assessment, rooted in NHES #8, evaluated the impact on students' (N = 168) self-efficacy to health advocate for themselves, others, and the community. Results revealed a significant change (p <.001), particularly in advocating for community health. Further, the teachers found that the curriculum facilitated the discussion of health-related topics in subsequent units. We will continue using the curriculum but expand it to include opportunities for authentic application and qualitative data evaluation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the role that emotion plays in understanding people's reactions to the presidential candidates during two of the three general election debates between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. To measure the impact of emotions on people's attitudes toward the candidates, we run studies at two large public universities. We are able to measure changes in attitudes and responses to the candidates after exposure to each debate. In addition, we explore real-time reaction to the candidates by employing facial expression software to assess people's emotional responses during the debate. We show that people who watched the first and third presidential debate are much more likely to change their evaluations of the presidential rivals, compared to people who did not view these debates. We also show that people's displays of emotion are related to their willingness to change their views of the candidates. For example, when people are displaying anger and joy, they are less likely to change their evaluations of the presidential candidates during the course of the debate. Furthermore, we find that when people show fear and sadness, their views of the candidates become less polarized over the length of the debates. These results show how different emotions influence the candidate evaluation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first presidential debate of 2016 was historic along a number of dimensions, including the first woman general election candidate and the first general election candidate in history with no political or military experience. Given the presence of the first woman nominee of a major party, along with dramatic gender differences in support for the candidates, we focus on the role of gender in shaping people's emotional responses to candidate messaging during the debate. Through the use of a controlled experiment, we measure changes in attitudes after exposure to the debate. In addition, we utilize facial expression software to explore real-time reaction to the candidates during the debate. Leveraging data generated during the debate by the facial expression software and as well as responses to pretest and post-test questionnaires, we find that men and women respond differently to candidates' messaging during the debate and these emotional responses influence post-debate evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, we place Black women's electoral challenges and opportunities in context. We situate this year of "Black Women Candidates" as an anomaly, but one that has been a long in the making. We also point to the appeal of Black women lawmakers among voters to mirror Alberder Gillespie's claims in this epigraph. We note that Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party and are willing to use their clout for their own political means. Furthermore, given the unique ways that Black women represent their constituents, an influx of Black women into governing bodies may have a substantial, lasting impact on policy-making. We conclude with insights from our own research and that of other scholars on Black women to demonstrate future avenues of scholarly research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental research has long indicated that minority candidates are perceived as being more liberal than Whites. These expectations may hinder the electoral prospects of minority candidates campaigning for office who need the support of independents to win. Drawing upon a unique dataset of 933 informants (party delegates) and survey data from the 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we investigate the accuracy and implications of these race-based stereotypes for voting in the U.S. House of Representatives. Our analysis indicates that ethnic and racial minority candidates for Congress are typically viewed by voters as being far more liberal than objective indicators would suggest. Moreover, we find that these misperceptions of ideological extremity may harm minorities’ electoral chances at the ballot box, limiting their support among White voters, particularly independents. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for candidates campaigning for office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often assumed that Latinos in the United States are deeply religious, and that this religious identity plays an important role in shaping their political beliefs and behaviors. A more controversial though unexplored proposition is that Latinos may not be as religious as is commonly believed and that forces beyond their religiosity play more prominent roles in shaping their political engagement. Relying on data from the 2006 Latino National Survey, we examine secularism — measured by church attendance — and civic engagement among Latinos. Our efforts are to analyze the social forces that shape levels of religiosity and find that generational status plays a significant role. Additionally, we further find that while church attendance declines among later generations, second and third generation Latinos have higher levels of civic engagement than their first generation peers, indicating that a decline in church participation does not depress political participation among later generations of Latinos. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective Central to current debates over immigration is the impact of transnational ties on immigrant political incorporation in the United States. Some researchers believe these ties hinder incorporation, while others have found a positive relationship between these variables, and yet other scholars have found that transnational connections exert no significant impact on immigrant behavior in the United States. We test these competing hypotheses in an attempt to resolve this scholarly debate. Methods We rely on data from the 2006 Latino National Survey and use logistic regression to test the impact of transnational ties on immigrant political incorporation (via naturalization). Results Transnational ties positively impact immigrants' orientations toward citizenship and eventual naturalization. Conclusions Immigrant political incorporation is not a unidirectional process where immigrant engagement in the United States increases with disengagement in the ancestral homeland. Rather, Latino immigrants with ties to their ancestral homelands are more likely to desire and seek out U.S. citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, Evangelical churches in the United States have expanded their outreach to Latino immigrants, seeking to incorporate these new Americans into their churches. We investigate the implications of this movement by examining the impact of church affiliation on Latino immigrants’ conceptions of what it means to be “fully American.” Relying on the 2006 Latino National Survey, we find that church affiliation significantly impacts immigrants’ beliefs about what it means to “be American” in the eyes of other Americans and the likelihood of identifying themselves as “American.” Specifically, Protestant Latinos (be they mainline or Evangelical) are more likely than Catholic Latinos (the majority of Latinos) to identify as American and to believe that Americans think being a Christian is a defining feature of American identity. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of gender and race politics have long drawn links between the media’s less than favorable treatment of women and minorities, and these candidates’ struggles to curry favor with voters. However, few have examined minority women’s coverage. This multimethodological study examines the nature and implications of the media’s treatment of Anglo, Latina, and African American congresswomen. The results indicate significant differences in the content of these women’s media coverage and its influence on voters’ attitudes. The implications of these findings for Anglo and minority women campaigning for and holding elective office are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The news media often serves as an intermediary between elected officials and constituents, informing voters of the ways in which they are being represented. While the media plays a critical role in allowing representatives to communicate with constituents, previous research indicates that coverage of women and minority members of Congress may be unfavorable. Contrary to previous research, I find that being either a woman or a minority alone does not negatively impact coverage. However, faced with the “double barrier” of race and gender, minority congresswomen often receive more negative and less frequent media coverage than all other representatives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous communication studies have noted the importance of descriptive representation for increasing elected officials' discussion of women's and minority issues. While increased attention to these issues is important for the symbolic representation of these politically marginalized groups, women's and minority issues often constitute a minor portion of representatives' agendas. Strategically, female, Latino, and African American U.S. House members may provide greater symbolic representation for women and minorities by including their interests and concerns in discussion of more general issues that commonly top the political agenda. Relying on a content analysis of 101 official congressional Web sites, the author examines the extent to which representatives address the needs of their female and minority constituents in their general issue discussion. Results demonstrate that female, Latino, and African American House members more frequently connect general issues to race, ethnicity, and gender compared with their Anglo and male counterparts. The implications of representatives piggybacking the interests of female and minority constituents on more politically salient issues are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study adds to our knowledge of the naturalization process by considering the impact of political orientations in shaping the pursuit of U.S. citizenship among contemporary Latino and Latina immigrants. Methods: We draw on data from the 1999 Harvard/Kaiser/Washington Post “Latino Political Survey” and use ordered logistic regression analyses to test the effects of political orientations on immigrant naturalization. Results: Political orientations exert a powerful influence on naturalization beyond the traditional sociodemographic determinants. Furthermore, the impact of political orientations on naturalization varies by gender. Conclusions: Naturalization can be induced by stressing the importance of voting and being interested in politics. In addition, Latinas are more likely to pursue naturalization than Latinos and the factors driving their decisions systematically differ from those of their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pedagogical approaches that support young people's well‐being and maximize their potential are among the Journal of School Health research priorities. A unique form of observational learning called biblioguidance could be a pedagogical approach. Methods: We, a team of researchers and teachers, implemented biblioguidance book clubs with 10th‐grade health education students. While the initial focus was health literacy skills, we also aimed to generate psychosocial benefits. Those benefits are the focus of the current descriptive phenomenological research. A final book club reflection captured the benefits students received and documented their transformation. We randomly selected 42 reflections from the sample pool (n = 168) and coded them via descriptive document analysis. Results: The results indicate that the book clubs provided psychosocial benefits. Students identified with the stories and characters, gained insight into others' perspectives, lived experiences, and "ways of the world," and were, in many ways, transformed. Some students even experienced catharsis, citing hope, validation, and feeling less alone. Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity: Biblioguidance book clubs could offer an innovative pedagogical approach to advance students' psychosocial well‐being and engage them as active participants in their own learning and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of gender and race have long acknowledged the importance that descriptive representation plays for marginalized groups, if not substantively than symbolically. Yet, as candidate pools diversify to better reflect the population, it becomes less clear which among intersecting and overlapping identities will matter and how. Employing data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we explore the association between minority voters' sense of linked fate and their beliefs about candidates who share (or do not share) their gender and racial identities. Using this timely and unique data, collected immediately after the 2016 election when race and gender were of particular salience, we examine whether shared racial and gender identity is associated with Black and Latina/o voters' beliefs about how well different candidates will represent their interests. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research for the changing face of American political candidates and voters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The struggle for the power to nominate candidates for office between party elites and rank-and-file partisans surfaced in the late 1700s. The battle endures today and superdelegates in the Democratic Party represent the contemporary political elites in the nomination process. Indeed, superdelegates played a decisive role in determining the outcome of the 2008 Democratic nomination campaign. In this paper, we examine the attitudes and decisions of superdelegates towards the candidates and their own role in the nomination process. We also examine the attitudes of rank-and-file Democrats towards the delegates and the nomination process. To study these two groups, we rely on survey data collected immediately following the 2008 primary season. Results from the surveys indicate that voters and superdelegates differ greatly in their perceptions of superdelegates, their roles and decisions, as well as the legitimacy of the nomination process in the Democratic Party. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We demonstrate that the news media's "spin" or analysis following the last presidential debate in 2004 influenced citizens' evaluations of the candidates. The media's "instant analyses" in the twenty-four hours following the debate was decidedly one-sided, favoring President Bush more than Senator Kerry. We show that the news media's spin persuaded potential voters to alter their attitudes regarding the competing candidates. We rely on a multimethodological approach, including an experiment with a quasi-experimental component, a public opinion survey, and a content analysis. To examine the media's spin, we conducted a content analysis of news coverage on television, on the Internet, and in newspapers for the twenty-four hours following the final 2004 presidential debate. Second, to examine how citizens reacted to the media's coverage, we relied on a representative public opinion survey conducted immediately following the debate. In addition, we conducted an experiment where certain individuals were exposed to the debate, while others were not, and we tracked these subjects over the course of a week to determine the stability of their attitudes in the midst of intense media coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presidential debates are much more than just 90-minute events. They are followed by media analysis and interpretation, including interviews with experts, the discussion of instant polls, the replaying of highlights, and the commentary of candidates' spokespeople. It is a complicated mix to say the least. We seek to examine these competing influences for the final 2004 presidential debate with a unique and powerful design: a controlled experiment, a public opinion survey, and a content analysis of the debate and the news media's “instant analysis” immediately following the debate. Our findings, for example, suggest that citizens were influenced by the arguments presented directly by the candidates during the debate as well as by the media's instant analyses of the candidates' debate performance. Because we are able to take a closer look at this complicated campaign event, we are able to tell a more compelling and nuanced story about the effects of debates than previously told. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents with limited English proficiency might rely on their adolescent children to interpret health information. We call this adolescent healthcare brokering. Using a mixed-methods, transformative research approach rooted in grounded theory, we sought to answer these questions: (a) 'What is happening? What are people doing?' and (b) 'What do these stories indicate? What might they suggest about social justice?' High school students from a community in which 53.4% speak another language at home were invited to participate in a survey and focus groups. Of 238 survey participants, 57.5% (n = 137) indicated they assisted with healthcare tasks. When doing so, 81.7% (n = 112) translated. Common tasks were reading prescriptions and talking to doctors. While some participants cited negative emotions associated with brokering, the net emotion was positive. Focus groups (n = 11) revealed that tasks varied broadly in complexity and type, emotional experiences were dichotomous, and access to interpreting services and other supports was inconsistent. This research adopts an advocacy lens and uses a mixed-methods, transformative research approach rooted in grounded theory to describe and call attention to a social justice phenomenon we call adolescent healthcare brokering. We define adolescent healthcare brokering as young people acting as linguistic interpreters in healthcare situations for themselves and for family members with limited English proficiency (LEP). In such situations, language acts as a barrier to health literacy and access to healthcare [17]. Despite this known barrier, there is a gap in the research regarding how to successfully address this situation (McKee, Paasche-Orlow, Journal of health communication 17(3):7-12, 2012). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Limited health literacy disproportionately affects those with limited English proficiency ( LEP). Parents with LEP might rely on their adolescent children to interpret health information. We call this adolescent healthcare brokering. This study uncovers the prevalence of brokering, kinds of tasks, emotional and academic impact, and desired support. METHODS We invited 165 students from health classes (in a community in which 29.8% are foreign-born and 53.4% speak another language at home) to complete a survey. We used IBM SPSS to calculate descriptive statistics. RESULTS Of the 159 who received parental consent and assented, 54.1% (N = 86) assist with healthcare tasks. When brokering, 80.2% (N = 69) translate. Most common tasks were talking to a doctor, reading prescriptions, and searching on the Internet. Participants were most confident reading prescriptions and talking to a doctor and least confident finding healthcare services. Among brokers, 29.1% (N = 24) missed school; 33.7% did not complete homework. They most wanted to learn about filling out insurance forms and talking to doctors. CONCLUSIONS Despite assurances that children are not permitted to interpret, adolescents are acting as healthcare brokers. The impact can be academic and emotional. Findings indicate a need for further research and support for adolescents who want to learn about healthcare tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]