Specific Learning Outcomes

Marla Yi Donoy Walters

PPS 6010

March 3, 2011

Topic

“Demonstrate through discussion and writing knowledge of factors that impede or limit pupil development including stereotyping, socioeconomic status, inadequate language development, negative school climate, and discrimination.”

So, we can all agree… (I’m assuming)

Stereotyping students = bad

Discriminating against students = bad

Negative school climate = bad

Lower socioeconomic status = typically lower academic achievement

Inadequate language development = EL students have 5x higher dropout rate

Definitions

A stereotype is an exaggerated belief, image or distorted truth about a person or group

A generalization based on images in mass media, or reputations passed on by parents, peers and other members of society. Stereotypes can be positive or negative.

A prejudice is an opinion, prejudgment or attitude about a group or its individual members. A prejudice can be positive, but in our usage refers to a negative attitude.

Prejudice is often aimed at "out-groups."Discrimination is behavior that treats people unequally because of their group memberships.

Discriminatory behavior, ranging from slights to hate crimes, often begins with negative stereotypes and prejudices.

But what if…

Educators do not discriminate or stereotype students, but instead students stereotype themselves

This is called “Stereotype Threat”As a result, their performance decreases

Stereotype Threat

Stereotype threat refers to being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group   

First developed by social psychologist Claude Steele (1995).

Basically: a self-fulfilling prophesy

Caucasian Stereotypes

Can’t danceLess athletic than other ethnicities

“White men can’t jump”

Dumb blonde jokesRedneckPlastic surgery/BotoxScore higher on academic tests than other minorities, except Asians

African-American Stereotypes

Poor

Lazy

Criminals

Very religious

Athletic

Score less than Whites on academic tests

Asian-Americans Stereotypes

Bad drivers

High achievers in math and science

Geeks/NerdsLong Duk Dong from 16 Candles

Data from The Goonies

Submissive women

Small masculinity

“Rice Rockets”

Hispanic/Latino Stereotypes

Illegal immigrants

Many children

Cholos/Gangs

Bad tempers

Low-wage jobs

Score less than Whites on academic tests

Stereotype Threat Research

Recent research shows that students’ knowledge of stereotype-based negative expectations about their test performance can depress their actual performance

If a student is aware of their culture’s negative stereotypes and the expectations of those stereotypes, it can actually decrease their test performance.

Stereotype Threat Research

One study conducted found that Caucasian men performed poorly compared to African-American men in a miniature golf task when the task was presented as a test of natural athletic ability

When the task was presented as a test of “sporting intelligence,” performance by African American suffered compared to Caucasian men.

More Research…

Stereotype: females perform worse than males in math

College women performed worse than their male counterparts when completing a very difficult math test

This difference was eliminated when the test was presented as not showing gender differences

How it works

Awareness of these negative stereotypes may produce distracting thoughts about confirming group stereotypes, and these anxieties, in turn, may lead to the very failure that is feared

When do people experience Stereotype Threat?

Designating a test as diagnostic of intellectual ability

When told a test was diagnostic of verbal ability, Black students scored a full standard deviation lower than Whites.When the same test was presented as nondiagnostic of ability, the Black and White students performed equally well (Steele & Aronson, 1995)

Bringing attention to students’ ethnicities prior to testing

A performance difference was found when students had to specify their race on a demographics form before testing, even when the test was presented as nondiagnostic of ability

Why does stereotype threat occur in students?

Anxiety/physiological arousal

Blood pressure

Heart rate

Intrusive thoughtsIntrusive worries about fulfilling the group stereotype or being judged according to it

Vicious cycle

Decrease performanceNegative thinking

What determines strength of stereotype threats?

Test characteristics (real or purported)More difficult tests produce greater stereotype threat effectsStereotyped groups show decreased performance when a test is presented as showing intergroup score differences or diagnostic of ability

Beliefs about intelligenceWhen 7th grade female students were told intelligence is due to effort and not inherent, they did better on math tests than girls in the control group and performed as well as the boys in their class.

What determines strength of stereotype threats?

Concerns about stereotypic evaluations by others

In situations where the evaluator is vague about performance criteria, stereotype threat effects increased in studentsIf performance criteria were specifically delineated, it helped to reduce stereotype threat effects

Social identity salienceThe more that a testing environment promoted awareness of one’s social identity, the more performance decreased.

Study: Women completed a math test in a room with 0, 1, or 2 other women and several men.

– Women performed best on the math test when they had two other females in the room, and performed worst when they were the only woman in a room with several men.

How to reduce stereotype threat in students

Let students know that challenging but attainable standards are present

More relevant in lower grades, before students are aware they can judge their own competencies accurately

Let them know importance of high expectations

Makes the general point that students who think others expect them to do poorly are more likely going to perform worse

How to reduce stereotype threat in students

Give age-appropriate information about the nature of the assessment instruments and the reliable objectives with which they will be scoredAssure students that scorers of tests will not have access to students’ demographic characteristicsLong term goal: lobby for test developers to move demographic information to the end of examinations (SAT, GRE, etc)

How does this pertain to us as School Psychologists

Do not inadvertently induce stereotype threat effects by asking questions about topics related to a student’s demographic group (eg: music preferences)

Don’t ask demographic questions

Ability/Achievement measures should be placed at the beginning of assessments, before less formal self-report activities (clinical interview, family background, current home environment, self-perceptions of academic functioning)

Achievement/ability tests firsts, self-report second

How does this pertain to us as School Psychologists

Do not describe tests as diagnostic of intellectual ability

Don’t say it is a test of intellectual ability

Consider the possibility of stereotype threat effects when interpreting scores of vulnerable group members.

Keep in mind that students may still have stereotype threat effects

Discussion

How did you feel when I listed the stereotypes?

Have you ever felt the (intrinsic) pressure to try to break your ethnicity/culture’s stereotype?

References

http://www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/definition.html http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.pitts/stereotype_threat_Jordan, A.H., Lovett, B.J.,(2007). Stereotype threat and test performance: A primer for school psychologists. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 45-59.