ERIC Number: EJ1057077
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1934-5747
EISSN: N/A
Social Identity and Achievement Gaps: Evidence from an Affirmation Intervention
Dee, Thomas S.
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, v8 n2 p149-168 2015
One provocative explanation for the continued persistence of minority achievement gaps involves the performance-dampening anxiety thought to be experienced by minority students in highly evaluative settings (i.e., "stereotype threat"). Recent field-experimental studies suggest that modest, low-cost "buffering" interventions informed by this phenomenon may be highly effective at reducing minority achievement gaps. This field-experimental study evaluates such an intervention in which students complete a self-directed "self affirmation" exercise that encourages them to identify and reflect upon their core personal values. This within-classroom randomized trial was conducted among 2,500 7th and 8th graders from six Philadelphia-area middle schools during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years. Although this study failed to replicate the earlier findings indicating that the affirmation generated large increases in the academic performance of minority students, this treatment did lead to statistically significant improvements in the performance of the minority students in more supportive classroom environments. However, the treatment contrast also "reduced" the performance of female students in those settings.
Descriptors: Minority Group Students, Achievement Gap, Intervention, Self Efficacy, Reflection, Values, Grade 8, Grade 7, Middle School Students, Comparative Analysis, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Stereotypes, Racial Differences, Identification (Psychology), Barriers, African American Students, White Students, Hispanic American Students, Writing Assignments, Statistical Analysis, Grades (Scholastic), Mathematics Achievement, Reading Achievement, Attendance Patterns, Discipline Problems, Language Usage, Ethnic Groups, Gender Differences, Ethnicity
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Pennsylvania
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A090162