ERIC Number: EJ1089929
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Mar
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3737
EISSN: N/A
An Effort to Close Achievement Gaps at Scale through Self-Affirmation
Borman, Geoffrey D.; Grigg, Jeffrey; Hanselman, Paul
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, v38 n1 p21-42 Mar 2016
In this districtwide scale-up, we randomly assigned seventh-grade students within 11 schools to receive a series of writing exercises designed to promote values affirmation. Impacts on cumulative seventh-grade grade point average (GPA) for the district's racial/ethnic minority students who may be subject to stereotype threat are consistent with but smaller than those from prior smaller scale studies. Also, we find some evidence of impact on minority students' standardized mathematics test scores. These effects address a substantial portion of the achievement gap unexplained by demographics and prior achievement--the portion of the gap potentially attributable to stereotype threat. Our results suggest that persistent achievement gaps, which may be explained by subtle social and psychological phenomena, can be mitigated by brief, yet theoretically precise, social-psychological interventions.
Descriptors: Achievement Gap, Grade 7, Writing Assignments, Self Esteem, Grade Point Average, Minority Group Students, Ethnic Stereotypes, Mathematics Achievement, Scores, Social Influences, Randomized Controlled Trials, Middle School Students, Hypothesis Testing, Standardized Tests, Student Characteristics, Reading Achievement
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Wisconsin
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A110136; R305C050055