In this article, Arbuthnot presents the
findings that involve two studies that attempt to explain how stereotype threat
affects standardized test performance in mathematics. The study concerns black
eighth-grade students who are considered influenced by stereotype threat
defined as “a social-psychological
threat that arises when one is in a situation or doing something for which a
negative stereotype about their group applies. According to Steele (1997)
(cited by Arbuthnot) “this predicament threatens the individual: he or she
fears being negatively stereotyped, judged or treated stereotypically, or
inadvertently conforming to the stereotype."
In the first study, the author presents findings from an analysis of black
students’ test performances on standardized mathematics exam questions that do
and do not include differential item functioning (DIF) which the author claims
to signify a gap that exists between particular groups. The second study explores
how stereotype threat influences
students’ strategy choices in standardized exams. Findings from the two studies suggest that stereotype threat
may have a negative impact on black adolescent students’ test-taking strategies
and achievement on standardized mathematics tests.
Stops:
According to
the author, stereotype threat can negatively affect the intellectual
performance of African Americans taking the math test, due
to the stereotype that African Americans are less intelligent than other
groups. This made me wonder what would occur to groups who are under the effect of stereotype promise, the opposite of
stereotype threat. Such a group should seemingly benefit from the situation.
However, I recall a different study concluding that positive stereotypes form a considerable burden and therefore
adversely affect performance in the stereotyped domain. In Arbuthnot’s
study, the entire sample consisted of 257 eighth-grade
students: 36 Asian American, 159 black non-Hispanic, 40 white, and other
participants. According to the author, although all of these students
participated in the experiment, only black students are featured in this
paper. The study could be more comprehensive and convincing if further analysis
was done for other ethnicity groups.
Question:
There many conditions
under which people are likely to apply stereotypes. As teachers, stereotypes cause more problems than benefits, if any. What are the common stereotypes that we experience in K-12 settings?
Thanks for sharing, Ting! It's interesting that you raised the idea of a stereotype promise, as opposed to a stereotype threat. I would hypothesise that a stereotype promise may increase student performance and achievement up to a point, before causing it to fall. It may encourage self-confidence and extrinsic motivation up to a point, until the pressure of keeping up to performance becomes too heavy a burden to bear by the individual.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it may be important for educators to be mindful about the possible stereotypes that they may consciously or sub-consciously be influenced by, because it may perpetuate or reinforce certain expectations or self-images, which may in turn have an impact on student achievement or performance; somewhat like the role that the hidden curriculum plays. After all, as pointed out in Boaler's article, educational research has consistently shown that lower expectations of students will likely lead to lower student performance/achievement. Hence, it is important for educators to set high but realistic expectations for their students.
Possible stereotypes could include students from the science stream (as opposed to the humanities/arts streams) having greater interest in and inclination for mathematics; and hence perform better. Some mathematics educators may have preferences for how problems should be approached or solved, thereby limiting the possibilities of thinking that a student may be more naturally inclined to or proficient at.
High School is certainly a place with a heck of a lot of stereotypes - expectations are placed on and by selves, peers, teachers, society etc... It's interesting to analyze the possible benefits of stereotypes since we usually discuss the negatives. I'd be interested in reading more about 'stereotype promise' and it would be interesting to share with students who feel they suffer under stereotypes and expectations.
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