University of Massachusetts Boston
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BEYOND THE INTERRUPTION: UNDERSTANDING THE LIVED REALITIES OF STUDENTS WITH LIMITED OR INTERRUPTED FORMAL EDUCATION (SLIFE)
No full textTerms such as English as a Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs), and Limited English Proficient (LEP) are widely used by educators and policymakers. However, these broad classifications often reflect deficit-based language and obscure the individuality of the students they describe—students who have diverse educational needs, represent a range of cultural backgrounds, and bring valuable assets and funds of knowledge to their school communities. The dominance of English in the United States has reinforced a normative standard of English proficiency, positioning those who meet this standard as typical while marginalizing and segregating those who do not. Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) represent a distinct student population, often consisting of refugees or migrants whose education has been disrupted by factors such as poverty, displacement, or civil unrest. As the refugee and SLIFE population continues to grow, their underrepresentation or overgeneralization perpetuates inequities which leads to SLIFEs’ marginalization and miseducation in English dominated spaces.
This study employs descriptive phenomenology and qualitative research methods, including arts-based inquiry, River of Life to examine the educational challenges and experiences of immigrant SLIFE as they navigate migration, schooling, and social integration. The study’s findings are organized within three central themes: Bodies in Transition, Language as a Lifeline, and Navigating Connections and School Mobility. Together, these themes provide a rare insight into SLIFEs’ lived realities across time and contexts, offering a more holistic understanding of their educational journeys. By exploring both the challenges they face and the unique assets they bring, this study highlights the complexities of their integration into Massachusetts newcomer programs
Three Essays on the Effect of Environmental Regulation on Corporate Policy
No full textThis dissertation explores the impact of environmental regulations on corporate policies and financial market outcomes. It consists of three essays that examine how climate regulations affect market valuations, corporate innovation and investment strategies, and capital structure decisions. Using a novel hand-collected dataset that links facility-level greenhouse gas emissions from the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) with firm-level financial data from CRSP and Compustat, the analyses provide detailed measurements of firm-level regulatory exposure.
The first essay investigates market reactions to methane regulations under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, finding that investors react significantly to firms’ direct regulatory risk and stringency exposure. The second essay studies how firms adjust innovation and capital expenditures when subject to environmental fees, and document an increase in R&D investment among firms with greater regulatory exposure. The third essay examines firms’ capital structure responses, and show that firms facing new regulatory compliance costs significantly reduce leverage, with more pronounced effects among financially constrained firms.
The dissertation contributes several novel measures that better capture firm-specific climate regulatory risk than traditional emission aggregates. These findings offer critical insights for understanding how firms adapt to regulatory environments and how investors price climate risk. Keywords: environmental regulation, corporate finance, climate regulatory risk, innovation and investment strategies, greenhouse gas emissions, methane fee
Introduction
Full text linkIntroduction for Volume 37, Issue 1 of the New England Journal of Public Policy
Ending Wars in Times of Uncertainty: Moral Leadership, Memory, and the Cost of Peace
Full text linkIn our era of ‘liquid modernity,’ ending wars requires more than ceasing hostilities—it demands ethical frameworks that address the deeper wounds of conflict. This article examines how peace processes frequently abandon those who sacrificed most, creating narratives of betrayal that undermine future stability. Using Poland’s post–World War II experience as a case study, it demonstrates how prioritizing geopolitical expediency over justice creates lasting damage to international order. Drawing on Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of liquid times, Anne Applebaum’s work on memory and abandonment, and Jonathan Sacks’s vision of moral leadership, the article argues that sustainable peace requires attention to dignity, inclusion, and truth and proposes a framework for ethical peacebuilding. Without leadership rooted in ethical responsibility rather than political calculation, the end of war becomes merely the suspension of violence—not the beginning of genuine peace built on restored trust and shared futures
A Data User\u27s Perspective on the New Statistical Standards on Informality
No full textThis paper presents a data user’s perspective on how recent changes in statistical standards have successfully addressed challenges to improving statistics on workers in informal employment, and making these statistics accessible. The findings are based on recent work of the Statistics Programe of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), using data from several national labour force surveys.WIEGO is a global research and policy network focused on empowering the working poor, especially women in the informal economy, to improve their livelihood. The paper focuses on measurement challenges in identifying key groups of informal workers, alongside related developments in international statistical standards, including improvements in the classification and identification of dependent contractors and contributing family workers through the new International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-18). The importance of a well-defined cross-cutting variable on place of work in identifying street vendors, market traders, homebased workers and domestic workers is also discussed. The paper highlights the need to measure emerging forms of non-standard employment in high income countries that display characteristics of informal employment. Finally, the paper raises the importance of disseminating data following the recommendations of the Informal Economy Indicator Framework, approved at the 21st International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2023
Child Abuse in Colonial America
Full text linkChild Abuse in Colonial America is an investigation of the extent to which colonial societies were aware of child abuse and how they responded. Historians often assert that awareness of the problem did not exist in America until the mid-nineteenth century; however, the evidence uncovered suggests that cases of child abuse were recognized during the colonial period and that the societal responses differed widely. Historians of childhood document myriad social, economic, political, religious, and other cultural influences that dictate how children were treated at different times and locations, and this framework is used to interpret why the responses to child abuse varied by colony. Puritan-influenced New England is considered first before turning to an examination of Quaker Pennsylvania, which elucidates how different religious perspectives operated on the issue of child abuse. Then, Dutch New Netherlands is considered to examine how an economically focused colony with a different legal system contrasted with the religiously inspired colonies of New England and Pennsylvania. Finally, the southern colonies, with less densely populated settlements and difficulties related to disease and famine, are considered. Primary sources, including court records, newspapers, and correspondence, provide ample opportunities to examine the topic. Secondary sources from the historical study of childhood provide a framework for interpreting the primary sources. The conclusion is reached that colonists were aware of child abuse, often found it reprehensible, but were limited in their response by the various cultural, economic, and social circumstances of their time
Ableist and Neurodiversity Affirming Messages in School-Aged Autistic Students’ Individual Education Programs: Influences and Impact on Student Outcomes
No full textAutistic adolescents and adults experience ableism in schools (Williams et al., 2019). Further, educators may hold ableist views about autistic students (Nah & Tan, 2023). Many autistic youth receive special education services outlined in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) (IDEA, 2004), which may reflect these ableist views. The current study analyzed the IEPs of 41 school-aged autistic youth for ableist and neurodiversity affirming messages. Quantitatively, IEPs were coded for ableist and neurodiversity affirming messages across pre-determined categories. Further, associations between the ableist and neurodiversity affirming measures and students’ characteristics including IQ, verbal ability, and internalizing/externalizing symptoms were examined. IEPs were both moderately ableist and neurodiversity affirming. Possibly ableist language (i.e., terminology rejected by autistic people) was lower in the IEPs of students with higher verbal ability. Associations were not found between all other variables. Qualitatively, 26 IEPs were examined using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged related to ableism: 1) autistic ways of being were described as problematic, 2) blaming child characteristics for negative outcomes, and 3) ambiguously ableist descriptions of the student or interventions. Four themes emerged related to neurodiversity affirming ideologies: 1) IEPs included accommodations commonly recommended for autistic students, 2) many IEPs encouraged or acknowledged student autonomy, preferences, and methods of expression, 3) some IEPs identify students’ underlying needs rather than placing blame on the student, and 4) staff support the student to navigate social interactions in ways that did not encourage the student to appear neurotypical. Our findings have implications for training educators in neurodiversity affirming approaches
Design and Development of a Standalone Digital Holographic Microscope Employing Phase-Driven Reconstruction and Classification for Biomedical Imaging and Optical Diagnostics
Full text linkAccess to advanced biomedical imaging technologies remains a significant challenge in resource-limited settings, especially for early disease detection and monitoring of diseases such as malaria, HIV, and other blood-borne diseases. Although point-of-care (POC) devices have gained popularity in global health, many rely on antibody-based tests, lateral flow strips, or optical readouts that often lack quantitative capabilities, sensitivity to early infections, or versatility in different diagnostic targets. In addition, these systems are typically dependent on disposable reagents or manual interpretation, which limits their effectiveness in remote areas. Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM) presents a promising alternative as a label-free imaging method capable of quantitatively analyzing phase changes in transparent biological samples, such as red blood cells, cancer cells, and tissue cultures. However, traditional DHM setups are bulky and rely heavily on complex optical components and external computing hardware for data processing and visualization, restricting their use outside controlled laboratory environments. Lensless inline DHM (LiDHM) overcomes these limitations by removing the need for objective lenses and intricate optics, utilizing coherent or quasi-coherent illumination, and capturing holograms directly on image sensors. Its straightforward alignment, compact design, and compatibility with affordable, off-the-shelf parts make it ideal for portable, low-cost diagnostic devices. However, inline configurations present specific computational challenges, notably twin-image artifacts and phase-retrieval ambiguities, which must be addressed to unlock the full potential of LiDHM. This dissertation details a comprehensive integration of computational and hardware innovations aimed at enabling clinical-grade LiDHM in a field-deployable format. Central to this effort is the development of the Phase Constraint on the Phase-Only Function (PCOF) framework, a novel reconstruction algorithm that effectively suppresses twin-image artifacts, enhances phase contrast, and maintains structural fidelity without manual tuning. Validation through simulations and experiments showed that the PCOF outperforms conventional angular spectrum and iterative phase-retrieval methods. To translate these advancements into a practical diagnostic tool, a compact, 3D-printed LiDHM system was designed and built, powered by a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with a touchscreen interface. The system features a real-time graphical user interface and supports multiple imaging modes, including optical density (OD), quantitative phase imaging (QPI), and dual-modality visualization, with configurable acquisition modes for full-field, fragmented, or region-specific imaging. Its performance was tested on various biological samples, such as microspheres, optical fibers, and unstained epithelial cells. A key use case is the label-free detection and classification of plasmodium-infected red blood cells (iRBCs). By extracting features such as dry mass, refractive index, and phase change from segmented phase images and using a two-step classification process that combines statistical thresholding with feature-specific filtering, the system achieved high specificity in distinguishing iRBCs from healthy RBCs. In conclusion, this dissertation presents a fully integrated, modular and field-ready LiDHM platform that bridges the gap between high-resolution quantitative imaging and accessible diagnostics. This work advances the potential for the deployment of digital phase imaging to detect infectious diseases and other bloodborne diseases in low-resource and underserved environments
Putting the Social Back in Social Anxiety: Presentation and Preliminary Testing of a Structurally Informed Ecological Model
No full textWithin the United States, neoliberal systems of economic exploitation and oppression act as structural determinants of health, contributing to social anxiety inequitably across individuals. In order to situate current cognitive behavioral research on and limits of treatment for social anxiety within a framework that transcends immediate psychological processes, the current study had two primary aims: (1) offer a theoretically grounded and structurally informed ecological model of social anxiety etiology and maintenance, and (2) empirically examine the relation between social vulnerabilities (e.g., peer victimization, identity-based discrimination) and social anxiety, the mediating role of cognitive mechanisms (negative social self-beliefs and public self-consciousness) in this relation, and the moderating role of neoliberal ideology on the relation between social vulnerabilities and cognitive mechanisms of social anxiety. The second aim of this project was tested using structural equation modeling based on cross-sectional data from a diverse online sample (N = 246). Results of the study supported previous research on the positive relation between social anxiety and its cognitive mechanisms as well as social vulnerability and social anxiety. Negative social self-beliefs fully mediated the relation between social vulnerability and social anxiety, while public self-consciousness partially mediated the relation between social vulnerability and social anxiety. Contrary to our hypotheses, neoliberal ideology (as measured by system justification) moderated the relation between social vulnerability and negative social self-beliefs in the opposite direction than expected, such that at high levels of neoliberal ideology, the relation between social vulnerability and negative social self-beliefs was significantly weaker than at low levels of neoliberal ideology. Neoliberal ideology did not moderate the relation between social vulnerability and public self-consciousness. Across both aims of this project, we identified, through theoretical and empirical exploration, broader ecological determinants of social anxiety and its associated psychological mechanisms to address philosophical limitations in leading psychological theories conceptualizing social anxiety that largely ignore structure. Furthermore, these results have implications for current treatment of social anxiety by identifying opportunities for structural and social intervention that transcend and complement traditional psychotherapies
The Role of Androgen Receptor and B2/ALU SINE RNA Interaction in Hippocampal Dendritic Development
No full textOnce dismissed as “junk”, transposable elements have recently gained recognition for their regulatory roles, especially in the brain. During development, circulating androgens promote proper morphological development of hippocampal neurons. We and others have shown that murine B2 SINE RNA is a regulator in the rodent hippocampus. It is unknown, however, if B2 is necessary for the proper development of hippocampal neurons. This dissertation investigates the role of murine B2 in the development of primary hippocampal neurons in combination with androgen treatment. We first examined the role of ALU SINE and androgen receptor in a prostate cancer cell model and found that DHT alters the expression of ALU RNA. We utilized rat primary hippocampal cells to examine the effects of DHT and B2 RNA knockdown on dendritic arborization. We found that knocking down B2 in male neurons results in a reduction of dendritic complexity but not in female neurons. Taken together, this work suggests that B2 SINE RNA plays a role in the proper development of hippocampal neurons in a sex dependent manner