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Welcome Back!
Thanks for checking back in with my project! In this blog post, I will overview the results of my data collection and discuss about my research process as a whole. Enjoy!
Data Collection + Results
Since my last blog post, I have finished my data collection and statistical analysis that is associated with my project. After going through the diversity and equity policies of the school districts, I was then able to conduct my Chi-Square analysis testing. Like I explained in my previous blog post, I created a metric with my mentor that would track the perceived definition of critical race theory throughout the different school districts that ranked from a scale of 1-3 (1=very present, 2=somewhat present, 3=not present). Once I scored all the districts, I ran the statistical Chi-Square test to determine if there is an association.
As a reminder, these were the hypothesis used in my project.
Null: There is no association between school district policies and critical race thoery
Alternative: There is an association between school district policies and critical race theory
This table above is the Chi-Square statistical test run for Jefferson County Schools, the chi-square value is 0.332 and this school district fails to reject the null hypothesis, thus showing no association between the policy statement and critical race theory.
Here is an example of a statistical test that I ran for Jefferson County Schools. Since my null hypothesis is that there is no association, my expected or e column is consistent with the value 3 since that represents no presence of critical race theory. In order to find how far this distance is from my observed values, I used the chi-square formula which is (observed-expected)^2/expected. Then I added these values to get my collective chi-square value.
I then compared the chi-square values to the critical value of 2.2 from my p-value of 0.3. A p-value of 0.3 means that if I were to take a random sample of 100 school districts, 30 would reject the null by chance alone.
In this example, since 0.332 is below 2.2, I concluded that the null failed to be rejected and that there is no association between critical race theory and these statements.
The image above shows the five school districts that failed to reject the null hypothesis, showing that there is no association between critical race theory and school equity policies.
The image above shows the three school districts that rejected the null hypothesis, showing that there is an association between critical race theory and school equity policies.
Conclusions
Because 5/8 of the school districts that I researched failed to reject the null hypothesis, we can draw a conclusion that statistically there seems to be a quite low association between critical race theory and diversity/equity policies. The three school districts that did fail to reject the null hypothesis which were Cherry Creek (chi-square:2.49) and Poudre Schools (chi-square: 2.743) were very close to the 2.2 critical value, which adds more evidence that there is a very low association between these two values.
Implications
Based on these findings we can extrapolate findings that the community backlash regarding that critical race theory is found within school districts can be questioned and challenged by my findings. Based on the research that I have conducted; the evidence of my research reveals that there is a very low association between the definition of critical race theory defined by the status quo and school district policies. Thus, my research addresses a really important gap in the academic and scholarly conversation as it currently stands.
Additionally, my research can help future endeavors by school districts who are attempting to craft diversity and equity policies to ensure that they are clear and well-versed based on the needs of their community.
My research is super relevant and takes place in the large national debate that is happening around school districts and how they are tackling the issue of diversity. My research paper is one of the only in the academic conversation that directly looks at how policies closely align to the perceived definition of critical race theory. Additionally, as a student who attends Douglas County School District in the state of Colorado, my research is very applicable to the current political climate found in my own county and state that can further be used to evaluate other similar areas.
Reflection
The research process as a whole has been an enriching and fulfilling journey that has taught me important lessons that can be applied to future goals and aspirations that I have. Here are two important things that I have personally gained and learned throughout this process and can be used by future researchers or students who plan on taking AP Research.
FLEXIBILITY!
Being flexible in research process has taught me an important life skill of expecting the unexpected and learning how to grow. For example, in my research process, I was initially going to run a t-test statistical test to see if I could find a difference in means based on my expected and observed values. However, I learned at a very late stage of my research process that a chi-square test would be more appropriate to find an association, so I had to quickly learn how to conduct this test and apply it to my research.
2. ADVISORS!
Finding advisors is crucial to ensuring you have a strong project. Teachers, friends, family, and anyone you can possibly reach out to who has expert knowledge in the field of your research is super important. Aside from Mr. Laudick and Ms. Burnham, a UC Irvine professor named Andrew Beckman was integral to my research process as he taught me important skills of how to conduct public policy research. Being able to reach out to professionals and find ways to connect has been super helpful to my research process.
Concluding Thoughts!
After finishing up my data collection and statistical testing, I formulated my AP Research Oral Presentation and Defense that I presented on April 5th. I was super excited to share my research presentation to my teacher, advisors and other important people in our school. Now that I am completed with the presentation aspect, I am now working on my final paper. I have attached the slide deck associated with my presentation on the right hand side.
I will also be a featured speaker at the April 27th RCHS Research Symposium which takes place from 6-8pm. I have attached the flyer for your reference and information, and I would love to see you there!
Thank you so much for checking out my blog post! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc., please reach out! See you soon :)
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