Dual Pandemics Longitudinal Project

Project Aim: To understand and promote adolescent well-being, equity, and positive relationships throughout the Dual Pandemics (i.e., COVID-19 and racism).

This project is an inter-institutional research-practice partnership between developmental scientists at NC State, Duke, and Grinnell College and administrators at a local high school.

Our Team

The Dual Pandemics Longitudinal Project (see timeline below) was conducted by developmental scientists at NC State University (Dr. Jackie Cerda-Smith & Dr. Kelly Lynn Mulvey), Duke University (Dr. Molly Weeks & Dr. Steven Asher), and Grinell College (Dr. Paula Yust) and administrators at a local high school.

My Role: Since entering graduate school in the Fall of 2020, I led the team throughout all phases of data collection and served as the primary communication liaison between our school partner and the research team.

Resulting Publications

Cerda-Smith, J., Yust, P. K. S., Weeks, M. S., Asher, S. R., & Mulvey, K. L. (2024). A novel approach for evaluating a schoolwide antiracist curriculum intervention. AERA Open, 10, 23328584231223476. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584231223476

Cerda-Smith, J., Yust, P.K.S, & Mulvey, K.L. Longitudinal associations between critical consciousness, school racial climate, and belonging. [Revision under review].

Cerda-Smith, J., Grant*, C., Yust, P.K.S, Mathews, C.J., & Mulvey, K.L. “A different pair of glasses”: Impacts of a school-based antiracist intervention on student and teacher critical race consciousness. [Manuscript under review].

Dual Interventions During Dual Pandemics

Advisory Periods. A virtual, non-academic meeting consisting of 1-2 staff members and approximately 15 students of mixed grade levels. Advisory periods occurred twice a week for 45 minutes each session throughout the school year. The focus of Advisory periods was to better understand students' socio-emotional needs during the pandemic and to help build relationships in an online learning environment.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism & You (Reynolds & Kendi, 2020). At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, all students and staff received a physical copy of the book. In October, students and staff members read and discussed the book together during a weekly Advisory period. The intervention lasted for a series of 10 weeks (October - December). The goal of this antiracist intervention was to learn about the historical roots of racism and antiracism in the U.S. and to connect this knowledge to current events and systems.

Stamped Intervention

Here, our primary aim is to evaluate the efficacy of the antiracist intervention; however, because the Stamped intervention occurred in Advisory periods, it is impossible to tease out these interconnected interventions.

Relevant Data Collections:

Pre-intervention (September 2020 survey)
Post-intervention (March 2021 survey)
Daily Diary Study (October - December 2020)
Individual Interviews with students and teachers about their experiences with and perceptions of the Stamped intervention (March - June 2021)

Findings:

For quantitative findings, see Cerda-Smith et al., (2024).
For qualitative findings, see this preprint.

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