Minorities

Reverse mortgages are designed to allow house-rich but cash-poor homeowners the ability to tap the equity in their homes. This unique mortgage product has several features that distinguish it from a traditional mortgage, including that no principal or interest payments are made to the lender. Using 2018 - 2020 HMDA data, I test for disparate treatment in outcomes by race, ethnicity and gender. I test for redlining disparate outcomes using the census track minority population percentage as a proxy for neighborhood and test for loan pricing disparate outcomes using the interest rate charged. I test for origination disparate outcomes by comparing approval denial rates. My findings indicate (i) that lenders are more likely to reject applications from borrowers in census tracks with higher percentages of minorities, (ii) that lenders are more likely to reject applications from minority borrowers and (iii) that lenders charge higher interest rates to minority borrowers. I do not find that lenders charge higher interest rates in census tracks with higher percentages of minorities.

Motivation can foster engagement in the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program leading to benefits that can potentially result in sustainable employment. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Motivational Interviewing using the Motivation Curriculum for Vocation Rehabilitation Consumers (MCRC) on stages of change, self-determination, functional disability limitations awareness and life satisfaction on minority and non-minority VR clients with disabilities that had open cases with The Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

The desire for academic success is shared by Haitian parents and their American-born children. Yet, despite this will to succeed, second generation Haitian students have been shown to fare poorly in school when compared to other ethnic groups. This qualitative study revealed that students' poor results in high school were not due to adversarial attitudes toward education; rather, they reflected inadequate foundations in basic academic skills. In particular, limited vocabularies hamper the academic achievement of many Haitian American students. Some students who expected that passing grades would lead to college are unable to pass the FCAT exam required to earn a high school diploma. Surprisingly, the highest levels of academic achievement were attained by the students with the poorest and least educated parents. They displayed extraordinary motivation attributed to a strong sense of familial obligation.

The increasing number of English language learners (ELL) in Florida's public schools has brought challenges to educational leaders as they work to provide educational opportunity to these children. In 1990, several community and activist groups filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education to pressure it to provide adequate English language programs in all public schools. The lawsuit resulted in Floridas META Consent Decree (MCD), a legal accord by which Florida agreed to provide adequate teacher training and educational programs, thereby improving access to equal opportunity for ELLs. ELLs are also called limited English proficient (LEP) students in other states. This term was changed in Florida because the LEP label brought with it a negative connotation as it referred to proficiency within the learning of English as a limitation rather than as an asset. The study presents a comprehensive review of the MCD and its eleven main components. Through document and content analysis, the study intended to ix determine whether Florida's 67 public school districts comply with the decree and whether policies are in place to implement the court authorized processes. The study begins with an introduction, which includes historical data and Florida demographics that relate to the issue of second language learners. A review of the literature incorporates legal cases and pertinent educational policies that have preceded the decree.

There is little research-based and theoretical literature about adult education or English literacy classes in nonformal settings such as library literacy programs in the community (Mathews-Aydinli, 2008; McCook & Barber, 2002b). The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to explore the motivation, learning supports, learning barriers, and program change recommendations of Third Age Learners in a nonformal library ESOL setting. This study provides insight into the demographic variable of linguistically-isolated Third Age English Language Learners (ELLs) participating in a library conversationally-based ESOL program. The results can guide libraries offering services, as well as those considering offering services to these customers (American Library Association [ALA], 2008a). Data collected included in-depth, face-to-face interviews, classroom observations, documents, learner and teacher essays, researcher journals, and analytic memos. The researcher coded all data with NVIv o 8 qualitative software then half of the data was coded with Atlas-TI 5 software by a second coder. A thematic analysis was completed in order to triangulate the data. The purposeful sample consisted of 21 participants at a Florida library adult ESOL program which included 11 learners and 10 teachers. The 11 learners were selected based on their ethnic background, predominantly those of Hispanic background. Eight learner findings and four teacher-perceived findings were identified in this study.

This Project involves looking at African American culture as it relates to swimming, water safety awareness, and water skills. The paper explores the myths and cultural norms associated with drowning phobias in African Americans to discover the root causes. Through historic accounts of African American culture one begins to uncover reasons why this culture became, in a sense aqua phobic. The paper will show what water sport professionals are up against, when working with a culture that is several generations removed from the water and their water skills. The ultimate goal is to draw attention to the importance of water safety and the ability to swim as a life skill.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of implementing a school counselor-led intervention, a culturally translated version of the Student Success Skills (SSS) program, on student academic achievement in Hispanic students. The research question investigated in this study was: Does Hispanic student participation in the culturally translated Student Success Skills classroom guidance program increase academic achievement as measured by state mandated standardized reading and math tests? Based on the fact that Hispanic students are at a very high risk of academic failure, there is an urgent need to address the lack of academic success. The cultural translation of the Student Success Skills (SSS) program focuses on student outcomes and helps to provide a link between school counselors and improved outcomes for Hispanic students.The sample for this study included 103 treatment and 98 comparison fourth and fifth grade students from three schools in South Florida. Participating students were selected from all Hispanic students at four schools in South Florida, by selecting the students who spoke mainly Spanish at home and came from Hispanic backgrounds. Academic achievement was measured using a standardized, objective, state-wide assessment instrument, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The procedure used to analyze the results for this study was a Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The statistical analysis showed that the treatment group scored significantly higher than the comparison group in reading. There was not a significant difference in math for the treatment group. When fidelity of treatment was investigated a post hoc analysis found that groups with full implementation of the program scored significantly higher in math and in reading than the comparison group.