How Do Unconscious Biases and Stereotype Threat Affect the Achievement Gap? Oregon Name Conference May 6, 2008 Patrick Burk, Ph.D. Oregon Department of Education Jean Moule, Ph.D. Oregon State University

Session Plan Outline:  Racial and gender achievement gaps in Oregon  Increase in Diverse Student Population  Teacher Diversity Participants: Complete paper IAT Discuss: How conscious and unconscious biases in both educators and students inform the achievement gaps.

Gender Data

A Crisis in Our State % of Students of Color in Oregon ____ % of Teachers of Color in Oregon ____

Prepared in Oregon Prepared in Other States Total American Indian/Alaskan Native Asian Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 22 Black or African American Hispanic Multi-ethnic17320 White Not identified or unavailable TOTAL Race/Ethnic Breakout by Newly Licensed Educators Prepared In Oregon and In Other States, Source: Teacher Standards and Practices Commission

The Problem Achievement Gap Persists Classrooms Becoming More Diverse Shortage of Teacher Diversity Racial/Ethnic Mismatch Between Students and Teachers

Question How does the mismatch between students and teachers inform the achievement gap?

Examples of Unconscious Biases Blink of an eye and Re-fensing Jamal and Keisha or John and Emily Stereotype Threat

Source: Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (Winter, 2005). Color blind or just plain blind. The Nonprofit Quarterly, 12(4). Unconscious Biases at Work

25 Thanks to the following team for the next six slides Caryn Block Loriann Roberson Tarani Merriweather Presented at Teachers College, Columbia University Winter Roundtable, February 2008 “Responding to Stereotype Threat: What We Know and What Remains Unanswered”

26 What is stereotype threat? Fear of being treated and judged according to a negative stereotype about one’s group  Occurs when an individual is in a performance situation and is aware that there is a negative stereotype about their group that suggests they will not perform well  Occurs regardless of whether the individual believes the stereotype  Occurs regardless of the accuracy of the stereotype

27 What are the conditions that lead to stereotype threat? The task an individual is performing is relevant to the stereotype The task is challenging The individual is performing in a domain she or he identifies with The context in which the task is being performed is likely to reinforce the stereotype

28 What are the consequences of stereotype threat? Decreased achievement test performance Decreased short term task performance  Vast majority of research has examined these outcomes

29 Proposed mechanisms for effect of stereotype threat on performance Physiological arousal Reduced working memory capacity Anxiety Excess effort Lowered performance expectations Source:

Intelligent, motivated student faces a difficult, stereotype relevant test Search for explanation of difficulty Others assume student that performance accurately reflects ability Student performs test, but performance is disrupted by stereotype threat Student becomes frustrated and demotivated Stereotype comes to mind Context reinforces stereotype

31 Documented in a large number of groups  Women on math tests (Spencer, Steele & Quinn,1999)  African-Americans on standardized tests (Steele & Aronson, 1995)  Hispanics on standardized tests (Gonzales, Blanton & Williams, 2002)  Low SES students on standardized tests (Croizet & Claire, 1998)  Women on negotiation tasks (Kray, Galinsky & Thompson, 2002)  Men on social sensitivity tasks (Koenig & Eagly, 2005)  Whites on tasks that require being non- racist (Richeson & Shelton, 2003)  White men (compared with Black men) on athletic tasks ( Stone, Sjomeling, Lynch, & Darley, 1999)  White men (compared with Asian men) on a math tests (Aronson, Lustinga, Good, Keough, Steele, & Brown,1999)

The IAT (Implicit Association Test) Source: Harvard University. Project implicit. Retrieved April 26, 2007, from

The IAT (Implicit Association Test) Source: Moule, J. (in press). Understanding unconscious biases and unintentional racism. The Kappan.

A Paper IAT executive LISA housework SARAH entrepreneur DEREK silverware MATT cleaning TAMMY career BILL corporation VICKY office STEVE administrator PAUL home AMY employment PEGGY dishwasher MARK babies BOB marriage MIKE professional MARY merchant JEFF garden KEVIN family HOLLY salary SCOTT shopping DIANA business DONNA manager EMILY laundry JOHN promotion KATE commerce JILL kitchen GREG children JASON briefcase JOAN living-room ANN house ADAM

A Paper IAT The words in this list are in four categories: MALE NAMES and FEMALE NAMES are in CAPITAL letters. Home-related and career-related words are in lowercase.

Round One IAT Go through the list from left to right line by line, putting a line through only each MALE NAME and each home related word. Do this as fast as you can.

Round Two IAT The next list is the same as the last one. This time, go through the list putting a line through only each FEMALE NAME and each home-related word. Again, Do this as fast as you can.

A Few Suggestions on Intercultual Communications Source: Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (Winter, 2005). Color blind or just plain blind. The Nonprofit Quarterly, 12(4).

A Few Suggestions on Overcoming Stereotype Threat Source: retrieved April 27, Reframing the task Deemphasizing threatened social identities Encouraging self-affirmation Emphasizing high standards with assurances of capability Providing role models Providing external attributions for difficulty Emphasizing an incremental view of ability