Interrace Interactions

The Effects of Group Project Dynamics on Interrace Interactions in Princeton Elementary Students
Ananya Joshi and Ariella Cohen
Princeton University

Introduction
Princeton Department of Human Services (PDHS) has become aware of tensions between Princeton’s Black and Latino communities (Neira, 2016). In response, PDHS is investigating how different racial groups interact, specifically attempting to reduce the observed tensions between Princeton’s Latino and Black communities (Neira, 2016).
PDHS has several youth development programs, but none about elementary students’ perceptions of other racial groups (Human Services, 2016). This motivates our intervention, which studies Princeton elementary students’ perceptions of students of different races. This will help PDHS understand first, how elementary students interact with racially different peers, second, if the tension between Black and Latino adults is mirrored in children, and finally if a collaborative intervention increases positive interactions between students of different races.
This intervention is
This increase was also seen in the Community Park Elementary School, where we will hold the intervention. Community Park has students from a large geographic area, a 10 students per class, and demographic makeup representative of Princeton (Niche, 2016). We assume the school will remain as racially diverse during this intervention to observe Latino and Black student interactions. We also assume that students in each classroom are randomly assigned, so that races are random within each class. Finally, we do not expect every family to sign the waiver allowing their child to be filmed. This waiver is required for the data analysis. Thus, we estimate 180 participants (n=180) of the appx. 200 students (Niche,