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REDUCING STEREOTYPE THREAT: THE EFFECT OF AFFIRMATION INTERVENTION ON STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this project is my own or was done in collaboration with my Advisor. This project does not include proprietary or classified information. ____________________________________________________________ ____________ Chance M. Giddens Certificate of Approval: _______________________________ _______________________________

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REDUCING STEREOTYPE THREAT: THE EFFECT OF AFFIRMATION INTERVENTION ON STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES

Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this project is my own or was done in collaboration with my Advisor. This project does not include

proprietary or classified information.

________________________________________________________________________Chance M. Giddens

Certificate of Approval:

_______________________________ _______________________________Donald R. Livingston, Ed.D Sharon M. Livingston, Ph.D.Associate Professor and Project Co-Advisor Assistant Professor and Project Co-AdvisorEducation Department Education Department

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Stereotype Threat ii

REDUCING STEREOTYPE THREAT: THE EFFECT OF AFFIRMATION INTERVENTION ON STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES

A project submitted

by

Chance M. Giddens

to

LaGrange College

in partial fulfillment of

the requirement for the

degree of

SPECIALIST IN EDUCATION

in

Curriculum and Instruction

LaGrange, Georgia

July 14, 2011

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Stereotype Threat iii

Abstract

An achievement gap is present between Black and White students and between

poor and affluent students. Research indicates one reason for the disparity in

performance might be the presence of stereotype threat. This study was designed to

negate the effects of stereotype threat on academic performance by way of affirmation

intervention. The study combined action research with evaluation research to analyze the

effectiveness of affirmation intervention on standardized test scores and the school

improvement plan. Results showed no statistical difference in test scores before and after

implementation but included responses from students and teachers that showed

appreciation for affirmation intervention. Further, administrative responses indicated

receptiveness toward affirmation intervention techniques being employed in the

classroom as part of the school improvement plan.

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Table of Contents

Abstract iii

Table of Contents iv

List of Tables v

Chapter 1: Introduction 1Statement of the Problem 1Significance of the Problem 1Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 2Focus Questions 4

Overview of Methodology5Human as Researcher 6

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 7Effect on Test Scores 8Student Perceptions 10Leadership Thoughts 12

Chapter 3: Methodology 16Research Design

16Setting 17

Subjects and Participants17Procedures and Data Collection Methods 18

Validity and Reliability Measures20Analysis of Data 22

Chapter 4: Results 24

Chapter 5: Analysis and Discussion of Results 36Analysis of Results 36Discussion 40Implications 41Impact on School Improvement 43Recommendations for Future Research 44

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Stereotype Threat v

References 46

Appendices 52List of Tables

Table 3.1: Data Shell 18

Table 4.1: t-Test, Paired Two Sample for Means 25

Table 4.2: Chi Square Results, Student Questionnaire 27

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Stereotype Threat 1

CHAPTER ONE-INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

This study explores how reducing stereotype threat amongst African American

high school students will affect their scores on the Georgia High School Graduation Test

in social studies. Minority students underperform their counterparts in the majority

population on nearly all measures of learning. From standardized test scores to grade

point average to graduation rates, there is an “achievement gap” between Black and

White students in the United States. Bifulco and Ladd (2007) note that “among the most

persistent issues in American education are the racial segregation of students and the

achievement gap between black and white students” (p. 1). The problem is, in fact, a

national one. Though socioeconomic status also has stratification, with high SES

individuals consistently outperforming low SES individuals, the most common factor in

the achievement gap is race. As Bali and Alvarez (2004) state “the ‘race gap,’ usually

studied as the difference between Black and White students’ achievement scores, clearly

and repeatedly arises across the nation” (p. 1). In light of this evidence, this study seeks

to answer the following research question: Will reducing stereotype threat among

African American students result in higher standardized test scores for them?

Significance of the Problem

If the achievement gap between Black and White students is not narrowed, the

ramifications will continue to be far-reaching. Left unabated, the gap will ensure that

schools cannot meet Adequate Yearly Progress as proscribed in No Child Left Behind as

graduation rates for minorities, often the most important part of the equation for overall

graduation rate (a central component of AYP), will continue to decrease. Beyond

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immediate concerns, the long-range denouement can be nothing other than a further

entrenchment of what has become inter-generational poverty. Previous research has

suggested that skills reflected in test-score performance on tests such as the Armed

Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) can account for some of the racial differences in

average wages (Blackburn, 2004). To put it simply, less academic achievement translates

into less earning power for the individual, or, in this case, the group. The academic

achievement gap is a reality that impedes social and economic advancement for the

African American family. In order to strengthen the African American family via

academic achievement and educational attainment, the amelioration of the gap must be a

primary goal of the educational establishment (Leach & Williams, 2007).

Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks

This study is germane to the LaGrange College Education Department’s (2008)

Conceptual Framework in three important ways. Tenet 1 states that when “teachers

implement the principles of constructivism in their teacher preparation programs, they

transform their candidates and stimulate them to develop their own personal

understandings of constructivism” (pg. 3). The idea of stereotype threat is rooted deeply

in the social constructivist view that learning has many outside factors influencing it; that

education does not happen “in a vacuum.” Central to this overarching philosophy is a

critical theory view regarding education and how the group holding power determines, in

effect, the educational achievement of the group that does not. The fact that low SES

students in general, and African American students in particular, are outside the power

structure and are thusly affected by outside forces over which they have no control is an

important context of this study. Students who have internalized the popular myth that

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their particular group has less academic acumen than other groups are bound to “live

down” to that stereotype. Jost and Banaji, as cited by Spencer and Castano (2007), posit

the notion that System Justification Theory suggests “members of both high and low

status groups are motivated to maintain the status quo and legitimize the existing social

structures through the use of stereotypes, whether positive or negative” (p. 38).

Furthermore, because critical theory holds that transmission of education is not “value

free,” the dominant group within society determines what values are transmitted. By

reducing stereotype threat this study is designed to help students not only overcome an

artificial barrier but also to help them navigate their world by having a deeper, critical

view of it.

The goal of this study aligns nicely with Tenet 2 of the Conceptual Framework

insofar that “we believe that learning is mostly an affective, dramatic, and emotional

event and that it requires learners to construct new connections” (p. 5). That is, for a

critical understanding of the world around them, students must take an active role in their

education. The best way to do this is to connect their education to the world around

them. The implementation of avenues to overcome stereotype threat will be an emotional

exercise. Only by confronting externalities that serve as impediments to learning,

however, will students be able to excise them. In so doing, the idea that the brain, much

like a muscle, will grow when exercised will allow students to construct those new

connections.

Tenet 3 of the Conceptual Framework asserts that “through action research,

positive classroom practices, and on-going research in school communities, candidates

can affect policies and practices around them” (p. 8). The reason for this study is to

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Stereotype Threat 4

affect the lives of children in a real and long-term way. Teaching children mechanisms to

reduce stereotype threat will lead to positive outcomes in both school and the real world.

Further, this study is aligned with the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of

the Five Elements of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education 2000

Standard I for Initial Programs. The Five National Board for Professional Teaching

Standards Core Propositions for Experienced Teachers, specifically Proposition 5, that

teachers are members of learning communities, is reflected in this study as well.

Focus Questions

This study is guided by three focus questions. Question one explores the

quantitative effect of the study and is concerned with the overarching research question;

namely, how reducing stereotype threat will impact student achievement on standardized

exams. Question two explores the effect on student perception when presented with

affirmation intervention and is designed to glean pertinent information from the students

affected. From a pedagogical perspective, question three investigates how the study will

affect the culture of the school as seen through an administrative lens.

The three focus questions are:

1. Will reducing stereotype threat amongst students in eleventh grade

government classes result in a markedly better score for this group on the

Georgia High School Graduation Test in social studies?

2. How will students respond to a campaign specifically designed to increase

achievement on standardized tests?

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Stereotype Threat 5

3. How will school leaders feel about the processes used to reduce stereotype

threat with regards to the stated goals of the school improvement plan for

social studies?

Overview of Methodology

In Comparative Education, Arnove and Torres (2003) suggest that “the goal of

comparative education has been to contribute to theory building; to the formulation of

generalizable propositions about the working of school systems and their interactions

with their surrounding economies, politics, cultures, and social orders” (p. 86). This

study was centered on the comparative approach of reducing stereotype threat.

This study was conducted in one section of 11th grade government at Troup

County Comprehensive High School. The male to female ratio was equal with a

preponderance of students in a low SES level. The students were exposed to various

methods to reduce stereotype threat prior to the Georgia High School Graduation Test in

social studies.

The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative measures of assessment.

Quantitatively, a Likert scale questionnaire and a dependent t-test to examine pre and

post test results amongst students was implemented in response to focus question one.

Students were given an exam similar to the GHSGT in social studies prior to stereotype

reduction methods being implemented. Once stereotype reduction methods had been

implemented, students took the GHSGT in social studies. Qualitatively, the study

utilized surveys and interviews. Students were given surveys to assess how they felt

about the methods used in response to focus question two. Similarly, administrators were

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interviewed to assess their feelings about both the efficacy of the procedure and the

results thereof in response to focus question three.

Human as Researcher

In my ten years in front of the classroom, I have taught many different courses

within the social studies curriculum from remedial social studies to AP European History.

In that time I have seen first-hand the achievement gap in play. As a member of the

School Improvement Team (or varying iterations thereof) for all ten years, I have been

privy to data that proves the achievement gap between the races is not only pervasive, but

growing. As a social scientist, I am also keenly aware of historical factors that continue

to play a part in the achievement gap. As a parent, I’m concerned with how this gap, if

left unattended to, will affect the country my children inherit. Reducing stereotype threat

to narrow the achievement gap meshes my experiences, knowledge, and desires in a

research-based approach that I hope will prove fruitful.

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CHAPTER TWO—REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This study focuses on three research questions: Will reducing stereotype threat

amongst students in eleventh grade government classes result in a markedly better score

for this group on the Georgia High School Graduation Test in social studies? How will

Black students respond to a campaign specifically designed to increase achievement on

standardized tests? How will school leaders feel about the processes used to reduce

stereotype threat with regards to the stated goals of the school improvement plan for

social studies? To imbue the study with the proper credentials, research and review of

available literature concerning each question was undertaken.

Stereotype threat arises when members of a group internalize negative

connotations about said group with regards to completion of or excelling at specific tasks.

This negativity is manifested by a fear of reinforcing the negative stereotype. Black high

school students exhibit stereotype threat in the face of meeting or exceeding state-

mandated “cut-off” scores on standardized exams. The stark achievement gap between

the races on these types of assessments lends credence to the theory. To reduce

stereotype threat, then, is to narrow the achievement gap.

Affirmation intervention techniques have been used in various guises in numerous

studies in an effort to disabuse black students of the notion they are incapable of

academic achievement. The task is all the more difficult when confronted with the stark

reality that the achievement gap first arises in the primary grades. Poor starts causing an

early achievement gap often result in an exponential growth of the gap with grade-to-

grade progression (Chapin, 2006). Couple the knowledge that many black students carry

with them about past performance with the trepidation all adolescents have for

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assessments of any kind and underperformance because of stereotype threat becomes an

all too-real possibility. As the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional

Assistance found (Aronson, Cohen, McColskey, Montrose, Lewis, & Mooney, 2009),

“although a test-taking situation may seem objectively the same for all students, some

students, because of their social identity, may experience it in a very different way” (p.

2).

Effect on Test Scores

What then to engender positivity in Black test takers? Use of instruments

designed to assess student perceptions of race and the achievement gap is a necessity.

One-on-one conversations, group discussions, surveys, questionnaires, and fostering an

environment of trust in conjunction with or because of the use of such techniques have

proven successful (Bruce, Getch, & Ziomek-Daigle, 2009). Group dynamics in this sense

are a positive. The negative group dynamic, the one that gives rise to stereotype threat,

can and must be overcome. Using affirmation intervention techniques can mitigate the

negative group dynamic by replacing it with a positive group dynamic through

relationship building within and across the group.

To this end, an effort to re-educate the student about educational attainment is of

paramount importance. Students who have all too often had negative experiences in

school need to be taught that school can and should be a positive experience. And while

it is true that different kinds of students may require different pedagogies of improvement

(Steele, 1999), it is also true that all students can benefit from learning about the

malleable nature of the human brain and its capacities. Teaching students that their mind

is like a muscle—that it becomes stronger or “smarter” with exercise—can lead to

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improved performance across any number of educational assessments (Aronson et al.,

2004). Such interventions can ultimately lead to success outside the schoolhouse as well.

Serna, Forness, and Neilson (1998) posit that “ultimately, teachers may be able to teach

social/resiliency/self-determination skills so that children can advocate for themselves

and exhibit behaviors that promote independence and success in school, family, and

community settings” (p. 49). Thus, improving the self-perception of the student can

improve test scores, graduation rates, and life-long earning potential for the student.

Beyond discussions about and lessons devoted to learning potential, though, other

affirmation intervention techniques are needed to help reduce stereotype threat.

Affirmation intervention can be both teacher directed and student (or self) directed. By

understanding motivational urges and how to harness self-control, self affirmation is sure

to follow (Schmeichel & Vohs, 2009). As stereotype threat afflicts members of a group,

group affirmation is also important to reduce the threat. Peer support is invaluable to

these ends (Olszewski-Kubilius, 2006). When students can point to another who is,

ostensibly, just like themselves but different in that the other has attained educational

success, students can begin to imagine themselves matching said achievement. Frequent

contact with the parent by the school in a concerted effort to improve the student’s self-

worth and self-perception of ability on regimented educational tasks leads to improved

performance and the counselors of the school should be primarily engaged in such efforts

(Brigman, Webb & Campbell, 2007).

What then of actual classroom instruction? Research indicates that specific

reading and writing tasks work to reduce stereotype threat. The use of authentic reading

materials has shown to be effective to this end. When students are allowed to read

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materials that are at their reading level and in an area of interest to them, educational

awareness and, most importantly, self esteem are raised (Erickson, 2008). When Black

students are allowed to write about their values and interests, there tends to be an

improvement in achievement as well (Cohen, Garcia, Purdie-Vaughns, Apfel, &

Brzustoski 2009).

Labeling, though, is perhaps most important in this area. Just as stereotype threat

affects performance on assessments, labeling bias does as well. When tests are labeled in

different ways, it affects performance on them (Jencks & Phillips 1998). By describing a

test as a measure of intelligence, for example, the instructor may be unwittingly setting

his Black students up for failure. Even if the test measures intelligence quotient, labeling

it as something else improves the performance of minority students (Sackett, Hardison, &

Cullen 2004). To reduce stereotype threat one must be cognizant of these findings.

Focused lessons that are attuned to both group dynamics and individual perceptions of

ability must be employed along with the focused efforts of parents and counselors to do

the same.

Student Perceptions

How then will Black students feel about efforts to reduce stereotype threat?

Racial inequality in educational attainment is not something that is simply rooted in the

past. Opportunities within schools are often racialized knowingly or unknowingly by the

school leaders (Pollock, 2008). The key to assuring buy-in by minority students toward

affirmation intervention techniques lies in the overall climate of the school. The better

Black students feel about the racial climate in their particular school, the more likely the

achievement gap there is narrower than at a school with a poor racial climate (Mattison &

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Stereotype Threat 11

Aber 2007). The fact is, racial climate within a school is indicative of achievement by

minorities. Students who attend schools that have a balanced distribution of races do

better than those who attend schools dominated by one race (Ipka, 2003). Being aware

of this factor should help students appreciate efforts designed to help them overcome

internalized feelings of deficiency.

To that end, expressing the idea of educational capital in explicit terms will help

Black students understand the importance of accepting affirmation intervention. By

maximizing experiences in school students can gain additional “capital”, or tools to help

them be successful in all areas of their life (Lewis, 2003). The trick is to get Black

students to accept such theory. To have a positive experience in school and thusly be

positively affected by learning, Black students and their families need to take pro-active

roles in their education (Leach & Williams, 2007). By reaching out to parents when

implementing affirmation intervention techniques, teachers can have a positive impact on

the perception of parents with regards to their child’s education. Insistence on academic

achievement and family environment play a critical role in how a student views his

education (Mandara, Varner, Greene, & Richman, 2009). The question of how Black

students will respond to efforts at stereotype reduction through affirmation intervention

can largely be answered by what type of home life the student has. Not only are attitudes

about education within the home important, but the educational attainment of the mother

has a direct impact on her child’s educational journey (Mandara et al., 2009). To assess

the feelings of Black students these variables must be taken into account.

To what degree students view intelligence as malleable influences how they will

react to affirmation intervention (Aronson et al., 2003). In situations where stereotypes

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exist, this information is vital. By determining the nature of individuals’ achievement

goals, one can focus attention on patterns of behavioral variables (Smith, Schneider, &

Ruck, 2005). This relates directly to minority students in two important ways. One,

there must be positive role-models present to emulate; two, positive attitudes toward

education are of significant importance. When there is evidence of educational

attainment by visible minority populations, youth within those populations have higher

achievement (Maximova & Krahn, 2005). Students who can point to someone similar to

themselves having success in education are more likely to believe success is possible for

them. Possessing a positive attitude is instrumental in educational achievement for all

students, but especially so for minority students. In Canada, for example, only two

percent of the population is Black, but an achievement gap still exists between Black

Canadians and White Canadians. That gap is narrowed, however, when positive attitudes

about education manifest themselves within the minority population. When students and

their parents feel good about education, academic successes follow (Smith et al., 2005).

Leadership Thoughts

Assessing how students feel about change processes is one thing; assessing how

school leaders feel about the same change process is something altogether different.

Multi-racial schools need strong leadership in place to affect change with regards to the

achievement gap. To reduce alienation of minority students, the leadership must be pro-

active in making the school climate one where all students can feel comfortable (Shah,

2008). This fact must go hand in hand with parental involvement. As Roscigno (1999)

states, “family and school, rather than being independent institutions, likely overlap and

intrude on one another” (p. 160). This is especially true when the discussion is about

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how to narrow the pervasive achievement gap. When stake-holders work together to

implement strategies designed to ameliorate a problem such as the achievement gap, the

outcomes are invariably better than if those stake-holders are at odds with one another.

For the educational institution, how to address the problem is the matter at hand.

The school has to figure out if the problem is one of structure blaming or one of culture

blaming (Sperling & Vaughn, 2009). Structure blaming encompasses a belief that the

problem is systemic, that is, that the root cause of the achievement gap lies within the

school and its pedagogical and/or disciplinary practices. Culture blaming posits the

notion that the “culture,” in this case one of a supposed callous disregard by Black

parents for the educational attainment of their children, is the primary factor in the

achievement gap. Whatever the case might be, perception of school climate by students

and their parents is directly correlated to the size of the achievement gap (Mattison &

Aber, 2007). With that in mind, it is incumbent upon school leaders to foster an

atmosphere of openness, equity, and high expectations. Without such institutional mores,

stake-holders cannot have the buy-in necessary to narrow the achievement gap.

How then to enhance programs that work or to implement new ones for those that

do not? For schools, and more importantly for school leaders, this is the crux of the

matter. To put it simply, school policies can help narrow the achievement gap (Alvarez,

Salas, & Garofano, 2004). In today’s era of high-stakes testing, student scores are

scrutinized from many different angles. The scores of White students are compared to

those of Black students. The scores of economically-disadvantaged students are

compared to those of students who come from high socio-economic status families. And

while state polices matter, (Van Dorn, Bowen, & Blau, 2006) it is what happens within

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the walls of each school that truly make a difference in narrowing the achievement gap.

Schools cannot simply focus on “content standards” in an effort to address the gap. A

holistic approach is necessary to make any real gains (Rothstein, 2004). That is, while

schools must operate under the direction of an overseeing body and conform to whatever

constraints their policies put in place, it is each school itself that must determine how to

address the gap within its walls. Just as no two classes are the same even if the subject

matter is, no two schools are just alike even if the achievement gap is.

School choice has become de rigueur as of late with those who blame the schools

themselves (structure blaming) for the failings of their students. Allowing parents to

move their children to the school of their choice is seen by some as a step in the right

direction to narrowing the achievement gap. However, Bifulco and Ladd (2006) note that

“how a particular school choice program affects students from disadvantaged groups will

depend both on the new schooling options that the program makes available and on the

choices made by their parents” (p. 32). Taken in that context, school choice is on par

with parental choices regarding expectations for their children. School choice is not

confined to schools in the United States, either. School choice is a big issue in the

Netherlands, too. There, however, it is believed that schools make the best choices for

themselves, i.e., on how to improve student achievement (Vedder, 2006). The Dutch

further believe that it is the parent who makes the best choices for their children.

Schools, then, are left to determine what is in their best interest while adhering to

the restrictions the law has placed upon them. In order to affect positive change, schools

must change from within. To become an agent of change the school must utilize

research-driven “best practices.” By implementing said best practices to narrow the

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achievement gap, the school becomes the main driver of change (Olszewski-Kubilius,

2006). Teaching students is one thing; teaching teachers how to teach better is something

altogether different. For this sea change to become a reality, schools have to get

information to their teachers on best practices. More importantly, schools must show

teachers how to implement those best practices in front of students. Professional learning

is the best avenue to retrain teachers. Closing the achievement gap, ultimately, is the

responsibility of the school. For this to happen, four components are key: strengthened

teaching, courageous conversations, student-teacher relationships, and positive energy

concerning the solutions to the problems (Hirsch, 2005). These components are,

obviously, best handled “in-house.” To affect the kind of change one would like to see

concerning the achievement gap, school leaders can and should take the lead on these

issues. By focusing on strong curricular, instructional, and assessment design, schools

leaders can help close the gap (Cooper, DeRoche, Ouchi, Segal, & Brown, 2006). The

question then becomes one of faculty involvement in and mastering of new techniques

designed to affect the desired change.

This study takes into account the complexities of narrowing the achievement gap

by focusing on three areas with the gap at its heart. By introducing affirmation

intervention techniques in the classroom designed to reduce stereotype threat in Black

students, the goal is to affect change by increasing standardized test scores for those

students. By assessing how those students felt about the intervention, the goal is to be

able to refine the techniques implemented for future use by other educators. By finding

out how the educational leaders at my school viewed the research, the goal is to be able to

affect an institutional change that will narrow the achievement gap between students.

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CHAPTER THREE—METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This project is a combination of an action research design and an evaluation

research design. As such, the study is designed both to resolve an issue in the classroom

and to affect change at the institutional level.

By using an inductive approach to qualitative research the study focused on the

gains made by students on standardized test scores. And while quantification of said

gains is important, this type of research undeniably has the person as the focus. The

emphasis is on words rather than numbers (Maxwell, Mergendoller, & Bellisimo, 2005).

The immediate goal was an improvement in test scores; the long-term goal was an

improvement in the self-perception of the students. GHSGT-aligned pre-test scores were

compared to the student’s scores on that year’s GHSGT. Further, surveys to assess

student feelings about the study were utilized to assess the efficacy of the study with

regards to self-perception.

To determine the effectiveness of affirmation intervention, the study also

incorporated an evaluation research design. Benefit maximization principles dictate that

the decision about whether or not to expand the techniques used in the study be based on

utilitarian philosophy. The best decision is the one that results in the greatest benefit for

the most people (Cohen et al., 2009). Interviews of school leaders were used to

determine the overall efficacy of the study with regards to implementation of the

employed techniques by a greater number of the faculty.

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Setting

The research was conducted at a public high school with 1382 students located in

west-central Georgia. Twenty-three students from the school were participants.

Mirroring both school and community demographics, the study group was approximately

60% White and 40% Black with 35% overall identified as being at a low socio-economic

level.

The school was chosen as the site to conduct the research by virtue of the fact that

the researcher is employed there. Permission to use the students as participants in the

study was granted by both the principal of the school and the school improvement

specialist and assessment coordinator at the district level. Further, the Institutional

Review Board of the cooperating college accepted the application for the study.

Subjects and Participants

Twenty-three students taking 11th grade government classes at the participating

high school participated in the study. The sample number was determined by the

number of students in the government classes studied.

The students at the focus of the study were in one section of an 11th grade

government class taught by the researcher. Between 16-19 years of age, 50% male and

50% female, 60% white and 40% black, the students were selected to be the subjects of

the study by being enrolled in the researchers’ government class.

School leaders at the cooperating high school were participants in the study.

These participants included the principal, the registrar, and the district academic coach

for social studies. The principal was in his 2nd year at the school and his 21st in education,

the registrar was in her 3rd year at the school and in her 13th in education, and the

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academic coach was in her 5th year in that capacity and had been in education for 18

years. The participants were selected both for their ability to give pertinent feedback

about the study and their ability to affect institutional change should the study warrant

doing so. Further, permission was needed from the principal as the instructional leader at

the school and from the registrar as the administrator in charge of the researcher’s

department at the school to allow the study.

Procedures and Data Collection Methods

This study was designed to reduce stereotype threat in Black students through

affirmation intervention techniques in an effort to improve standardized test scores. The

following table explains the foci, data collection methods, and analysis procedures.

Table 3.1 Data Shell

Focus Question Literature Sources Type of Method and Data

How these data are analyzed

Will reducing stereotype threat amongst students in

11th grade government classes result in a markedly better score for this group

on the Georgia High School Graduation Test in

social studies?

Bruce, A. (200Demack, S. (2000)Steele, C. (1999)

Method:assessment,reflection

Data:quantitative,qualitative

Dependent T Test (comparing GHSGT scores in social studies with pre-test

scores.)

How will students respond to a campaign specifically

designed to increase achievement on

standardized tests?

Ipka, V. (2003)Mandara, J. (2009)

Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2006)

Method:survey,

discussion questions,reflection

Data:Nominal and/or

ordinal,qualitative

Survey,Likert scale results examined via Chi

Square

Coded for themes

How will school leaders feel about the processes

used to reduce stereotype threat with regards to the stated goals of the school

improvement plan for social studies?

Cooper, B. (2006) Mattison, E. (2007)Roscigno, V. (1999)

Method:interview, focus group, reflection

Data:qualitative

Coded for themes

Focus Question One addresses the quantitative aspect of the evaluation research

design. Will reducing stereotype threat amongst Black students in11th-grade government

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classes result in a markedly better score for this group on the Georgia High School

Graduation Test in social studies? A pre-test similar to the GHSGT in social studies was

administered prior to affirmation intervention techniques being applied. Data from that

assessment was then compared to the actual GHSGT in social studies taken at the

conclusion of the study.

Focus Question Two was to determine the affective-reflective outcomes of the

study. How will Black students respond to a campaign specifically designed to increase

achievement on standardized tests? Specific instruments used in affirmation intervention

are found in the appendices of the study along with the survey designed for this study and

given to the students. Further, a discussion questionnaire was given to the students at the

end of the semester to gauge their feelings on the effectiveness of the treatment.

Essentially, the program of affirmation intervention utilized three overarching platforms.

Those platforms were: 1) Instructing the students that the brain is like a muscle and can

be strengthened with “exercise.” Affirmation intervention through group discussion and

one-on-one conversations held within the parameters of the social studies curriculum is

aimed at getting students to buy-in to the idea that intelligence is malleable rather than

immutable. 2) Disabusing the students of the notion that prior performance in school is a

predictor of their current abilities, i.e., just because success has not been had does not

mean that it cannot be had. Assignments, early in the semester, that fostered this notion

through subjective rather than objective grading were utilized. 3) Focusing the students

on attributes they possess that are equally as important as their educational acumen. To

this end, differentiated dissemination approaches as well as differentiated assessments

that give opportunities for non-traditional learners to showcase their talents were utilized.

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Focus Question Three deals with the change process at the institutional level.

How will school leaders feel about the processes used to reduce stereotype threat with

regards to the stated goals of the school improvement plan for social studies? An

interview with the researcher’s immediate supervisor and a focus group involving the

researcher’s colleagues within the social studies department were convened to gauge their

thoughts on the treatment and the possibility of replicating the study across the discipline.

The instruments employed, focus group prompts and interview questions, can be found as

Appendices A, B, and C, respectively. Said instruments are designed to assess both the

success of affirmation intervention itself with reducing stereotype threat amongst the

subjects and the efficacy of extending the procedures used to the faculty at large in hopes

of affecting institutional change.

In addition to quantitative data associated with focus question one, the nominal

and qualitative data associated with focus question two, and the qualitative data

associated with focus question three, a reflection by the researcher that touches on all

three foci was written as a further resource by which to view the study.

Validity, Reliability/Dependability, Bias, and Equity

To measure student learning after affirmation intervention techniques were

implemented, interval data was gathered via pre-and post-tests. Both instruments were

designed to measure student knowledge about the content area. The pre-test was a

diagnostic exam developed by the content Academic Coach for the school system and

was given prior to affirmation intervention. The post-test was the state-mandated

Georgia High School Graduation Test in Social Studies, thusly assuring content validity.

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To ensure reliability, a test-retest statistic was used to correlate the scores (Salkind,

2010). Furthermore, the exams were free from bias as they had been developed using the

methodology of Psychometricians to ensure the questions are not unfair, are inoffensive,

and have engendered no disparate impact upon the exam takers.

To assess how students felt about the affirmation intervention techniques and

whether or not they believed the techniques were worthwhile, surveys were given to the

students at the end of the study to ensure construct validity. The responses proved

reliable by disaggregating the quantitative data using a Chronbach’s Alpha (Salkind,

2010). To increase the dependability of the qualitative data collected, several measures

were implemented including having an adequate number of participants, developing a

well-organized method of data collection, and establishing a chain of evidence.

To assess how the administration viewed the methodology of the study and results

thereof, an interview of the registrar was undertaken to ensure construct validity. Several

measures were implemented to increase the dependability of the data collected including

developing a well-organized method of data collection, having an adequate number of

participants, and establishing a chain of evidence.

Given that I was aware of potential bias, an equity audit was undertaken prior to

the development of the interview questions to mitigate the potential for bias. Further,

teacher quality throughout the research period was largely static as the same instruction

was given to all students involved in the study. To ensure programmatic equity, great

pains were undertaken to maintain protocols that are easily replicated. The design of the

study itself negates any effects that might have arisen from an equity trap as the express

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purpose was to determine if affirmation intervention could increase the standardized test

scores of historically marginalized populations.

Analysis of Data

For the analysis of Focus Question One, regarding student mastery of content,

pre-and post-tests were utilized to determine if significant stereotype reduction occurred

thanks to affirmation intervention. The test scores were analyzed by a dependent t-test. A

dependent t-test was used to determine if there are significant differences between the

pre-test and the post test. In this instance, the decision to reject the null hypothesis was

set at p < .05. Effect size was measured by Cohen's r for the dependent t-test.

To analyze the results of focus question two, a chi square was used to determine

the significance of each response. The significance level was reported at the p < .05, p

< .01 and the p < .001 levels.

To analyze the results of Focus Question Three, interview responses were

analyzed by survey data. The survey included qualitative data that was coded for

dominant, recurring, or emerging themes. Furthermore, a reflection that touches on all

three foci was written to be used as another lens with which to view the study.

This study exhibits consensual validation by the approval of LaGrange College

faculty to allow it. Eisner (1991) calls the faculty review process an agreement among

competent others that the description, interpretation, evaluation and thematic are right. To

ensure epistemological validation, the results of this study have been compared to similar

studies. Denzin and Lincoln (1998) describe the cycling back to the literature review as a

place where the researcher convinces the reader that he has remained consistent with the

theoretical perspectives used in the review of the literature. Credibility within the study

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is the result of structural corroboration by using many different sources. Eisner (1991)

calls this a process a confluence of evidence coming together to form a compelling

whole. Precision has been attended to by presenting a tight argument, coherent case and

strong evidence to assert judgments. Eisner (1991) refers to precision as ‘rightness of fit.’

Fairness has been attended to within the study by including opposing views from both

students and faculty taking part. The study has transferability because of the great care

taken in ensuring the above attributes, meaning the easily-replicable nature of the study

gives it referential adequacy, where perception and understanding by others will increase

because of the research (Eisner, 1991). Lather, as cited by Kinchloe & McLaren (1998)

define catalytic validity as the degree to which one anticipates a study to shape and

transform participants, subjects or school. The researcher hopes for catalytic validity in

that positive change might occur because of the study.

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CHAPTER FOUR—RESULTS

This chapter recounts the results of the implementation of affirmation intervention

techniques in an effort to reduce stereotype threat with regards to standardized test scores.

The study sought to gauge the effect of this intervention by comparing pre-test scores to

Georgia High School Graduation Test scores to assess if gains were made. The study

also sought to determine if the subjects of the study agreed with the tenants central to

stereotype reductions. Further, the study sought to ascertain if similar applications of the

intervention could be beneficial to the school improvement process. Data regarding these

foci are discussed by focus question.

Focus Question One

To determine the answer to Focus Question One, whether affirmation intervention

techniques did in fact reduce stereotype threat to allow for improvement in standardized

exams, pre-test and post-test data were compared. Students were given a pre-test that

was closely aligned to the standards used on the GHSGT prior to affirmation intervention

techniques being employed. Throughout the course of a ten week period, lasting directly

after the administration of the pre-test to the day before the administration of the

GHSGT, affirmation intervention techniques were employed in the classroom.

Essentially, the program of affirmation intervention utilized three overarching platforms.

Those platforms were: 1) Instructing the students that the brain is like a muscle and can

be strengthened with “exercise.” Affirmation intervention through group discussion and

one-on-one conversations held within the parameters of the social studies curriculum

were aimed at getting students to buy-in to the idea that intelligence is malleable rather

than immutable. 2) Disabusing the students of the notion that prior performance in school

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is a predictor of their current abilities, i.e., just because success has not been had does not

mean that it cannot be had. Assignments, early in the semester, that fostered this notion

through subjective rather than objective grading were utilized. 3) Focusing the students

on attributes they possessed that are equally as important as their educational acumen.

To this end, differentiated dissemination approaches as well as differentiated assessments

that gave opportunities for non-traditional learners to showcase their talents were utilized.

The pre-test post-test data is presented below in a statistical analysis using a

dependent t- test.

Table 4.1t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

 T score Pre-

TestT score GHSGT

Mean 50.20913043 49.98304348Variance 102.7477901 99.36578577Observations 23 23Pearson Correlation 0.806835509  Hypothesized Mean Difference 0  df 22  t Stat 0.173480667  P(T<=t) one-tail 0.431929965  t Critical one-tail 1.717144335  P(T<=t) two-tail 0.86385993  t Critical two-tail 2.073873058  

t(22)=.17, p>.05

Based on the data gleaned from the statistical analysis, the researcher accepted the

null hypothesis. There was no significant difference in test scores after affirmation

intervention techniques had been employed. Students whose scores on the pre-test were

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above average had scores on the GHSGT that were above average. Students whose

scores on the pre-test were below average, had scores on the GHGST that were below

average. The Pearson Correlation, a reliability statistic, came back at 0.806835509,

meaning that there was a strong positive correlation between pre-test and GHSGT scores.

Effect size, measuring the magnitude of a treatment effect, was also taken into account.

Effect Size r – for paired data such as the dependent t-test run for this study, came back at

.010, which was negligible at best. Therefore, affirmation intervention techniques had no

bearing on improving test scores and the null hypothesis was accepted.

Qualitatively, attrition through incompetence, indifference, incarceration, and

institutionalization wreaked havoc on the ability to conduct meaningful research with the

student population selected. The research was initially intended to study the effects of

affirmation intervention treatment on two classes to secure a meaningful number of

students with which to quantify data. However, extenuating circumstances necessitated

formally offering intervention affirmation techniques to only one class. This class started

with twenty nine students, but was reduced to twenty three throughout the semester for

the reasons listed above. Both numbers fall within the norm for class sizes, but are still

too large for effective personalized education. As Achilles and Finn (1990) note, “… a

significant benefit accrues to students in reduced-size classes in all subject areas and

there is evidence that minority students in particular benefit from the smaller class

environment” (pg. 21). Regular attendance became an unforeseen impediment as well.

One student in the group receiving treatment missed forty two days of instruction; the

class averaged eleven absences per student. The small sample size, static Pearson

Correlation, and negligible effect size are resultant from these difficulties.

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Focus Question Two

Regarding Focus Question Two, how students viewed affirmation intervention

techniques, these results, as enumerated by a chi square statistical instrument, revealed

that two disparate themes emerged.

Table 4.2Chi Square Results

Survey Itemsn=10

Student Questionnaire5=Strongly agree4=Agree3=Neutral2=Disagree1=Strongly disagree

χ

Item 1 Past performance in school predicts future performance

5.913043478

Item 2 Like a muscle, the brain gets stronger when exercised

8.52173913

Item 3 I like to read 10.69565217*

Item 4 I have to study to pass classes 0.260869565*

Item 5 Test taking causes anxiety 16.7826087*

Item 6 Everyone is good at something 7.652173913*

Item 7 School is hard 11.56521739*

Item 8 Homework is important to help me understand the subject matter

5.47826087

Item 9 A positive attitude helps me be successful 13.73913043

Item 10 How much money someone has means that person worked hard

7.652173913

* p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Despite the fact that students expressed that they like to read as revealed in Item

3, students also stated that test taking causes anxiety, as revealed in Item 5. Further,

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regarding Item 9, students agreed that a positive attitude will help them be successful.

However, based on critical values for the chi square test (Salkind, 2010), the obtained

value is less than the critical value and thus the null hypothesis must be accepted. There

was no significance regarding the student’s attitudes concerning learning and/or the

effectiveness of affirmation intervention techniques.

Qualitatively, no conclusion could be based on the feedback given by students via

the student questionnaire. Few responses proved statistically significant and those that

did were at opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to attitudes surrounding learning.

There were no themes present in the responses that would lend credence to the hypothesis

that affirmation intervention is successful as a stand-alone process.

Student responses via discussion, moreover, revealed qualitative data that yielded

conclusions that necessitated rejecting the null hypothesis. Two themes emerged from

the discussion sheets; 1) Interest in school was minimal and largely familial, 2)

Affirmation intervention was met with apathy and students showed indifference toward

how it might have affected their test scores.

Four questions were derived with the goal of peeling back attitudinal mores

toward education itself amongst the students and how education has affected their lives

and the lives of their families and peers. When asked how successful they had been in

school up to this point, most responses were some variation of “alright.” “Pretty good,”

“so-so,” and “okay, I guess” were interspersed with answers such as “I made it this far.”

Only one student, a White female who made the highest score on both the pre-test and

GHSGT, answered with overwhelming positivity. Her response was “extremely

successful.” This student offered responses to each question that proved to be an outlier.

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Two questions sought to evaluate attitudes toward assessment, one prior to treatment, the

other after treatment. Responses were similar to both questions. When asked how they

felt about taking tests, most responses were “hate tests” or some iteration thereof. “Tests

are stupid,” “tests be hard,” and “didnt car, sometime jus bubble in ansers” were

representative answers. When asked how they felt about tests as a result of being in the

researcher’s class, the responses were remarkably similar. “Still don’t care,” “still hate

tests,” “I really don’t feel nothing,” and “I can retake, so why care?” were the norm. In

response to a query about how successful people “like them” have been in school, an

illustrative answer for the group was “everybody I know and everybody like me get by

somehow.”

Four more questions were designed to assess student buy-in to affirmation

intervention techniques themselves. Students responded favorably to class discussions

about race, poverty, and education noting that “it be better than reading,” “it was ok,” and

“talking about stuff that we want to talk about is cool.” But when asked about malleable

cognitive abilities and differentiated skill sets specifically, the answers once again

suggested that the intervention techniques were not successful. Typical responses to a

question about believing that everyone is good at something were “I don’t know,” “sure,

whatever,” “just cause you say it don’t make it so,” and “no…my brother aint good at

nuthin.” The final question asked if they believed the discussions and lessons about

reducing stereotype threat had any bearing on their performance on the GHSGT. And

while the students asserted that it had helped, their answers belied their confidence.

Standard responses were “I think it helped, but that test be hard,” “maybe, but I had to

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guess a bunch,” “I hope so…I don’t want to have to take that junk over again,” “yes, but I

failed,” and “I just want to graduate.”

Focus Question Three

Focus Question Three, how the administration of the school viewed the study,

was addressed by convening a focus group discussion amongst the researcher’s twelve

colleagues in the social studies department about affirmation intervention, stereotype

threat, and standardized test scores and then interviewing the researcher’s immediate

supervisor, the school registrar, about both the results of the study and the analysis of the

focus group answers. This interview revealed qualitative data showing an appreciation for

the study in both its theoretical underpinnings and the prosecution thereof. Further,

openness toward replicating the intervention techniques across segments of the

curriculum was relayed to the researcher by his supervisor despite some misgivings by

his colleagues on the efficacy and replicable nature thereof.

Focus group discussion amongst and between members of the social studies

department revealed two dominant, but antithetical themes. The group was nearly evenly

split between those who found merit in both stereotype threat and the concept of using

affirmation intervention techniques to counter it and those who found both concepts to be

substantively flawed. The group of educators who were receptive to the central tenants

of this study, while having only cursory knowledge of the fact that the study was being

conducted, found both the idea of stereotype threat and the possible minimizing of it

through affirmation intervention to be plausible. Answers to the question about their

belief in the phenomena of stereotype threat revealed their receptiveness to the theory.

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“Yes stereotype threat exists! It’s socially expected,” and “ absolutely because it is still

not cool to be smart” were answers given along with “In my opinion, when a student

comes from a culture that has ceased to place any significant value on education, that

student is far less likely to place any real value on their own education. This results in

lower achievement. Stereotype threat exists, but it is a side effect, not the root issue.”

When asked if specific affirmation intervention techniques might help reduce stereotype

threat in students, this group of educators was likewise sanguine. Characteristic

responses were “I believe this type of focus could potentially prove to be foundational to

the success of the content-heavy sections of the class,” “I think these efforts could be

positive in that they are attempts to boost students’ confidence and to stop them from

believing in negative stereotypes about themselves,” “Absolutely, opening their eyes to

the fact that nothing holds them back is the best way to motivate someone,” and “Yes!

The fact that you even had a conversation with them about them shows them that you

care…and they will want to please you.”

Conversely, the other educators in the group found both stereotype threat and

affirmation intervention to be “…a load of bull.” When asked if they believed in

stereotype threat this group of educators answered with the likes of “No. Psychobabble is

what got us in this situation in the first place,” “Really? Girls aren’t good in math is still

being trotted out? This is 2011!” “I do not believe it exists on a factual basis. I feel that

people have been trained to find excuses such as this one and ride them and use them as a

reason to be apathetic,” and “Who knows? Even if it does it’s a load of bull.” This same

group of educators was also asked if they believed students would be successful on an

exam if they believed they would be. Their responses were typified by “They feel good

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because they are prepared/studied and score better because of that not because of the

endorphins given off from positive thinking…garbage!” When asked if they believed

that affirmation intervention might be successful in improving standardized test scores,

they responded with “Not necessarily. They may not put in the appropriate preparation to

do well,” “I doubt it. Kids don’t need confidence, they need knowledge,” and “Only if

they realize that in failure they have no one to blame except themselves.”

The last question for the focus group asked if the participants might employ

affirmation intervention in their classrooms. Again, the answers revealed disparate points

of view. The teachers who answered in the affirmative made comments like “This is

something that any good teacher would do,” and “I have used similar techniques in the

past and found it to be effective.” Those who answered in the negative made comments

like “No. It won’t work with all students. Students are not magically going to do better

because they feel better about themselves,” and “How? With all the other stuff they

make us do it’s pretty hard to find time to go off the immediate subject with which we are

supposed to be focused.”

The culmination of Focus Question Three revolved around interviewing the

researcher’s immediate supervisor about all aspects of the study. The Registrar indicated

that, with regards to the race gap, “I think the number one thing that can close this gap is

engaging students from all backgrounds and creating a classroom and school culture that

embraces everyone but also stresses accountability of all students within that culture.”

As for the efficacy of affirmation intervention techniques themselves, she said “… it

makes things personal, but it also makes them non-threatening, especially to students

who's culture is one of ‘you must do this or else.’”  This buy-in for the theory behind the

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study was evident in other answers as well. When asked Focus Question Three directly,

“How will school leaders feel about the processes used to reduce stereotype threat with

regards to the stated goals of the school improvement plan for social studies?”, the

Registrar replied “The reason that we must make sure students pass the GHSGT in social

studies is so they can graduate.”

When questioned about the results of the study, the responses were more nuanced

but still positive. When asked about the quantitative data, the registrar was dismissive of

the test results, insisting that student responses would be a better barometer. When

presented with the survey results and student responses to the discussion questions, the

researcher’s supervisor indicated that she was not surprised, stating “student apathy is

certainly a problem.” When the issue of student absences was brought up, the registrar

intimated that this might have been the root cause of poor results, saying “They can’t get

it if they are not here. That goes to both the academic piece and the affective focus.” As

for the possibility of expanding the implementation of affirmation intervention techniques

to the rest of the faculty, the researcher’s immediate supervisor noted that “I think all

teachers should demonstrate affirmation interventions, but it's not something that's

necessarily taught.  It usually develops with the art of teaching, and some teachers are

still working on just getting the pedagogy right.” The possible reluctance of some staff

members to fully embrace the initiative should it be mandated was addressed by replying

that “If relationship building is stressed, if it is part of our school improvement plan, we

can and will expect our faculty to do that. Beyond that, letting students know you care is

simply a best practice.”

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Finally, the Registrar was asked if she had any recommendations should the

researcher choose to employ such techniques in the future. She affirmed that “I think you

had an effect on those kids regardless of the outcome of your study. Asking you to step

outside your comfort zone, to give up Advanced Placement and College Preparatory

courses to focus on remediation and “regular” classes was, I know, difficult for you. But

I’ve talked to your students this year. They learned a lot from you. And you learned a lot

from them.”

Reflection

I began this study with the best intentions in mind....how to affect both immediate

results and long-term methodologies within the social studies curriculum with regards to

improving standardized test scores. Even when girded with “best practices” and imbued

with best intentions, the monumental challenges facing a public high school educator

seem to be insurmountable. I found that attrition through incompetence, indifference,

incarceration, and institutionalization wreaked havoc on my ability to conduct

meaningful research. Whereas I had intended to give treatment to two classes in hopes of

securing a meaningful number of students with which to quantify data, extenuating

circumstances necessitated formally offering intervention affirmation techniques to one

class only. Add to this attendance issues, and a perfect storm resulted. One student in the

group receiving treatment missed forty two days of instruction. The class average was

eleven absences per student.

As this study revolved around the question of stereotype threat and the reduction

thereof, particularly as it relays to the achievement gap, I found the difficulties I

encountered during the application of the study to be emblematic of the problem as a

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whole. Students who one might think would be motivated to succeed in class . . . White,

middle-class . . . did in fact succeed in class; whereas, students one would assume might

struggle . . . Black, lower socio-economic . . . did in fact struggle. Moreover, the students

who failed to achieve significant gains were from families that had a low level of

education to begin with. Unfortunately, these results cannot be attributed to affirmation

intervention as every student in the class, assuming they were present, were exposed to

the same methodologies.

In conducting a focus group with my colleagues, I found my experience with a

lack of participation because of attendance to be a recurring theme. This problem is both

a construct of ineffective absentee policies from the school district and indicative of

larger societal ills. Apathy amongst our student population toward the value of

education, and thusly school itself, is endemic. Whether this problem is an engagement

issue once the student arrives at school or a systemic one derived from inter-generational

poverty, or both, is the question at hand. I had hoped my study would counter the former

and alleviate the carcinogenic effects of the latter. It did neither.

In summation, two important elements of the study were marginalized by

circumstance. The difficulties I encountered detracted from rightness of fit for the study

by minimizing the amount of evidence with which to assert a strong judgment with

regards to the results. Further, catalytic validity was somewhat compromised from a

student perspective, though tangible from a teacher perspective.

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CHAPTER FIVE—ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

This chapter offers interpretation of the results of the study and my assertions,

reflections, and conclusions as researcher to both the results of the study and the larger

impact of the study with regards to transformation within the subjects and the setting as

well as recommendations for further research.

Analysis of Results

For Focus Question One, whether or not affirmation intervention would reduce

stereotype threat amongst Black students so that they might realize an increase on

standardized test scores, I used a pre-test/post-test model. Scores from the standards-

aligned pre-test were compared with the Georgia High School Graduation Test in social

studies at the conclusion of the study by means of a dependent t-test. Unfortunately,

there was no strong evidence that affirmation intervention improved test scores.

Students, all of whom were exposed to the same affirmation intervention techniques, had

remarkably similar scores on both tests. Qualitatively, the size of the group receiving

treatment was marginalized. Though the results are reliable by virtue of adhering to data

collection guidelines and valid by the fact that test scores for Black students were

compared, there was no significance found. The small sample size, static Pearson

Correlation, and negligible effect size are resultant from unforeseeable difficulties.

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The review of literature prior to the commission of the study was the catalyst for

the study itself. I found by reviewing literature on the subject that a gain in test scores

was a possibility for populations experiencing stereotype threat if affirmation intervention

techniques were employed. In a review of three experimental studies of interventions to

reduce stereotype threat, the results were described as “positive” (Aronson et al., 2009).

Though Bruce et al. (2009) note that intervention “…can have significant and immediate

results” (pg. 6), I found no such results.

For Focus Question Two, how Black students would respond to affirmation

intervention techniques, I employed a formal questionnaire and distributed a discussion

sheet in addition to the tried-and-true method of listening to my students throughout the

semester. Students were asked questions about their general attitude toward education on

the questionnaire and asked to discuss the affirmation intervention techniques used in the

classroom on the discussion prompts. The questionnaire was evaluated using a chi square

statistical analysis that uncovered two disparate themes. Student responses were actually

contradictory, indicating they liked to read, but hated tests; that they believed the brain

could grow with exercise but that school was hard. Because the obtained value was less

than the critical value and the null hypothesis had to be accepted, there was no

quantitative significance regarding the students’ attitudes concerning learning and/or the

effectiveness of affirmation intervention techniques.

I do not feel as though the questionnaire gave a true picture of student attitudes,

though, as it did not measure exactly how affirmation intervention played a part in their

educational journey during the course of the study. By contrast, the discussion questions

were extremely important in this regard. Two dominant themes, that interest in school

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was minimal and that affirmation intervention techniques had no bearing on student

perceptions, emerged from the discussion questions.

My results therefore proved one theme from the literature review true and proved

to be incongruent with the literature review with regards to the other theme, a duality

within the epistemological validity. Demack, Drew and Grimsley’s (2000) assertion that

“…the relative effect of a school on educational attainment is small in comparison with

the effect of a pupil’s social and ethnic background and variables related to economic and

other factors” (p. 119) could explain the disinterest in school relayed by the subjects of

my study and their disbelief that affirmation intervention had any effect on them. The

achievement gap being as entrenched and inter-generational as it is manifests itself in

stereotype threat (Leach & Williams, 2007). There is no doubt that the attitudes of my

subjects toward education and their description of their beliefs themselves bears this out.

Where my study has findings that the literature doesn’t wholly comport with, though, is

on the question of affirmation intervention techniques themselves. My subjects found it

ineffective if not disingenuous. The literature suggests that self-affirmation engenders

positivity toward the self and one’s abilities (Schmeichel & Vohs, 2009), that self-

determined skills instruction aides in performance (Serna et al., 1998), and that

confidence in one’s abilities can be manipulated by simply re-framing questions in non-

threatening ways. Despite a near constant message that eschewing stereotypes of all

kinds, especially with regards to academic achievement, would be beneficial to them, my

students did not find truth in that message.

Focus Question Three, how the administration viewed my study through the lens

of the school improvement plan to improve test scores, was measured through a focus

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group with my peers and an interview with my immediate supervisor about the results of

both the focus group discussions and the results of the study. The focus group answers

were coded for themes as were the interview responses. Focus group responses fell into

two antithetical camps. One group of educators found validity with the study, the other

thought it tripe. This is important because of the possible impact on the school

improvement plan. As mandated by law, high schools must show improvements from

year to year in both standardized test scores and graduation rates. One of the

impediments to full compliance with state and federal regulations is the intractable

achievement gap. This study was instituted to see if affirmation intervention might

narrow that gap and, if so, how feasible replicating the intervention techniques across the

school as a whole might be. The responses from my colleagues, however, give me pause

should such an initiative be implemented even with assurances from the registrar that the

use of certain techniques can be expected from the staff as a whole. The registrar noted

approval for both the reasoning behind my study and, despite a somewhat lukewarm

reception from my peers about the causal relationship between perception and

performance in school, the results thereof.

With regards to epistemological validity and Focus Question Three, there is no

doubt as to the alignment. The literature, overwhelmingly, supports pedagogical

enhancements that are research-based and locally-owned at the same time. To have any

chance of making Adequate Yearly Progress, racially-diverse schools have to take steps

to close the achievement gap. Closing the achievement gap, ultimately, is the

responsibility of the school. For this to happen, four components are key: strengthened

teaching, courageous conversations, student-teacher relationships, and positive energy

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concerning the solutions to the problems (Hirsch, 2005). All four of these components

were central components of my study.

Discussion

I began this study with the best intentions in mind....how to affect both immediate

results and long-term methodologies within the social studies curriculum with regards to

improving standardized test scores amongst Black students. The desire to "crack the

dish" or "subvert the dominant paradigm" insofar that current pedagogical practices are

seemingly ineffective to improve test scores was the driving force behind the selection of

this topic to study. The chance to affect change by simply being sensitive to historical

inequities and attempting to fashion a curriculum supplement that would help students

overcome the institutional difficulties they were saddled with through no fault of their

own, to somehow find the proverbial straw on the back of achievement gap that would

allow me to narrow it through research-based efforts proved tantalizing to a socially-

conscious individual such as myself. And then the reality of life in a public high school

set in.

Putting aside all the externalities educators have occupying our time and energies,

from No Child Left Behind and it’s proscriptions at the national level to Failure Is Not

An Option initiatives at the local level, and discounting wholly the harsh reality that

many of our students have never had instilled in them a basic understanding of self-

respect or respect of others as a result of highly dysfunctional home lives, we as

educators can control how we approach our jobs. In fact, our title dictates as much. The

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tone we set has as much to do with student achievement as anything. Setting high

expectations and refusing to settle for anything less is imperative to achieving the goal of

our profession; namely, preparing the youth of America for career or college. But even

when girded with “best practices” and imbued with best intentions, the monumental

challenges facing a public high school educator seem to be insurmountable. Spotty

attendance, attrition, and apathy are common themes among many high school students

today. For students of color, these themes are magnified. When added to a culture that

rewards hostility to following the rules and castigates those who try to improve

themselves and their lot in life, the answers are very hard to come by indeed.

Despite my difficulties and the negativity I encountered on student answers and in

focus groups and even though the study did not yield the desired results with regard to

change for a large number of students, I feel it made a difference for a student or two.

And that, ultimately, gives me satisfaction that my study was in fact a success.

Implications

While this study focused only on one section of one 11th-grade government class

at one public high school in one state, I firmly believe the difficulties I had with the

implementation of the study can be extrapolated to many sections, many classes, many

schools, and many states. Stories of “broken schools” are legion in the press and are part

of the reason “school reform” agendas have been a staple of political campaigns since “A

Nation At Risk” was penned in 1983. The themes I uncovered, that apathy toward

education is rampant in student populations, that indifference toward underachieving

student populations is accepted amongst my colleagues, and that school leaders are

willing to try nearly anything to halt the widening of the achievement gap, are, at least

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anecdotally, prevalent in educational institutions around the country. I think any educator

would find this study to be of interest if not a validation of their beliefs…whatever side of

the aisle they sit on. Referential adequacy, how well this study can be replicated, is at a

high level. Affirmation intervention techniques are not difficult to employ in the

classroom. In fact, I believe, like my supervisor, that tactics like them should be a staple

in every classroom everywhere. Whether or not any educator using them found different

results from mine would be interesting to me.

I’m not sure that my study transformed my school in any meaningful way other

than the fact that all thirteen members of the social studies department are now at least

conversant on the theory of stereotype threat. Some of them will employ affirmation

intervention techniques of their own accord, and others will continue to shun strategies

that have psychological underpinnings in favor of straight instruction in whatever subject

matter they teach. Even if the administration mandates “letting students know you care”

to the staff, it will be of little consequence. Teachers are going to do what they want once

the door to their classroom is closed, regardless. Further, I’m not sure my study had any

long-lasting effects on my students. I hate to say it, but I have no doubt that some of

them have already forgotten what subject I taught them. The level of disengagement

amongst many high school students is such that I had one student who, as a subject of this

study, was adamant he was in “Geography” as opposed to “Government” as late as the

last week of school.

This study did have a transformational effect on me, though. Accustomed to

teaching Advanced Placement courses and having the best and brightest students at a

school sit in my classes year after year, I was not only hesitant to teach remedial and

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“regular” classes this year, I was intimidated at the prospect of doing so, fearing I would

not relate to my “new” type of student. What I found, though, was that teenagers are

teenagers no matter their scholastic aptitude and that I had just as much fun with my

students this year as I have any of the other ten years of my career. Whereas I had never

had to overtly let a class know I “cared” about their success before, I found that in so

doing it was therapeutic for me and appreciated by my students. Even though I had

hoped to see stellar scores across the board for the subjects of my study on the GHSGT,

and was thusly disappointed when that did not happen, I learned a lot about the

importance of attitude and mutual-respect this year…that by being explicit with my

expectations rather than implicit students respond well in the classroom if not on

standardized tests. That, despite their underwhelming responses to my queries about

affirmation intervention itself, the message seeped in just a little bit. I will be utilizing

affirmation intervention techniques in every class I ever teach from this day forward.

Impact on School Improvement

As a member of the School Improvement Team, I am well-versed in the tenants of

our School Improvement Plan. From setting the goals to honing the language to

monitoring the implementation of the plan, I am responsible for large sections of the SIP

specifically with regards to the social studies department. Serving as a liaison between

members of my department and the administration is a part of my job I enjoy and one at

which I excel. Part of the reason my school has not met AYP in recent years is a

maddeningly persistent achievement gap between the races. Student surveys have shown

time and again that our minority students do not feel a strong sense of connection to the

school itself, the faculty, or both. Stereotype threat, no doubt, plays a role in this attitude

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as an overwhelming majority of our Black students are classified as economically-

disadvantaged and many of them come from “The Bricks,” government-subsidized

housing developments that offer little exposure to the outside world. To untie the

Gordian Knot of the achievement gap very well might be the panacea education needs.

One small step in doing so would be to foster a greater sense of school spirit and the

importance thereof within the segment of the Black population that today distrusts

education in general. Affirmation intervention techniques just might help in this regard.

My immediate supervisor, the registrar, has asked that I share the results of my study

with the School Improvement Team as a whole. If that body agrees, I will then share the

results of my study with the entire faculty. At that point, it will be up to the

administration to determine if asking teachers to have “courageous conversations” in

their classrooms is something that might be written into the SIP. Whether or not that

happens, I know this: I’ve talked with many of my colleagues about my study, about the

theoretical underpinnings with regards to stereotype threat and affirmation intervention,

and about how easy it is to employ techniques designed to mitigate the damage low self-

esteem can do to a student and have had positive interactions in most cases. If my school

is improved because a handful of teachers take it upon themselves to verbalize to students

that they care about them as students and people and that their achievement is important

to them, then my school has been improved as a result of my study.

Recommendations for Future Research

In compiling the results of this study I found I had made a couple of

miscalculations with regard to the prosecution of the study. First, a control group would

lend greater structural corroboration to the study. I was loathe to offer services to one

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class I did not offer to another and so declined to have a class of my own as a control

group; the fact that my research was relegated to one class rather than the two I had

originally planned to study notwithstanding. I chose not to use another teacher’s class as

a control group out of deference to my colleagues’ autonomy and out of the realization

that “one more thing” to deal with as instructed by a department chair is not something

most teachers would appreciate. In retrospect, however, the impact it would have had on

one of my colleagues would have been negligible at best. Should someone wish to

recreate this study, I would recommend a control group. Second, though a class divided

by race might well be illegal, it would have been interesting to see the difference in

discussions about stereotype threat with classes populated by different races. I don’t

know that segregated classes would make any difference in the outcome, but they might

lead to a greater willingness to talk openly about socially taboo subjects such as race than

did a racially-diverse classroom.

Finally, were I to expand this research, I would insist upon a greater number of

students as subjects. Hamstrung by having only two classes that fit my criterion and

further constrained by attrition, I’m sure a larger sample size would alleviate concerns

about rightness of fit. Perhaps in the future such a teaching schedule will be available to

me or to someone who would like to take this research and expand upon it.

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Appendix A

Student Questionnaire

1) How old are you?

2) What grade are you in?

3) How successful have you been in school in the past?

4) How successful have people like you been?

5) Prior to taking this class, how did you feel about taking tests?

6) Now how do you feel before you take a test?

7) Did you like our class discussions about race and poverty and education? Why or

why not?

8) What part of those discussions did you find the most interesting? Why?

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9) Do you believe, like I asserted, that your brain can get stronger with “exercise”?

That everyone is good at something and that that can help them be successful in

school?

10) Do you think those discussions helped you be successful this year on the

GHSGT? Why or why not?

Appendix B

Focus Group Questions

1) What do you know about the affirmation intervention techniques I employed in my 6th

period government class this year?

2) Stereotype threat is the idea that members of a group who have historically had

difficulty with a task will themselves have difficulty because of this. The classic

example is girls and math…”girls are bad in math, I’m a girl, therefore I’m bad in

math.” Do you think this phenomenon exists?

3) Research has indicated that if students feel good about themselves and/or their

ability to perform on a test, that they will, in fact do good on the test. What are

your thoughts on the matter?

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4) I used “affirmation intervention” techniques in my class this year to try and

reduce stereotype threat amongst Black students with regards to test-taking. We

talked about how the brain is like a muscle that grows with exercise and how prior

academic performance does not necessarily predict future performance and about

how everybody is good at something in an effort to help my students feel better

about their ability to do well on exams. Do you think these efforts could yield

positive results?

5) What do you think about using techniques like this in your class? Is it something

you think you might do? Why or why not?

Appendix C

Interview Questions

1) Please tell me your name, title, and how many years you have been in

education.

2) How does the achievement gap impact our school’s ability to achieve AYP?

3) What do you think can be done to close the gap?

4) What programs are currently in place at the school or district level to address

the needs of our underachieving students?

5) What legal obligations do we have in meeting the needs of students who

underperform on the GHSGT in social studies?

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6) How do you view the affirmation intervention techniques I employed in my

11th grade government classes?

7) The quantitative results of my study proved there was no statistical correlation

between the application of affirmation intervention techniques and GHSGT

scores. In your capacity as my immediate supervisor and as a part of the study

itself, what response do you have to the quantitative results?

8) Qualitatively, several themes emerged that are important to the results of the

study. One involved attrition and absences on the part of the subjects. In

what ways do you think absences affect not only student performance, but

also the receptiveness to affirmation intervention?

9) Another qualitative theme was the fact that the social studies department was

pretty evenly split between members who believed stereotype threat could be

diminished through affirmation intervention and those who found the whole

concept had no merit whatsoever. If affirmation intervention were to be

expected of the faculty as part of a school-improvement initiative, how could

leadership encourage reluctant educators to embrace this pedagogical

supplement?

10) What, if anything about the study would you like to see replicated? Is there

anything you would recommend that I do different?

11) Do you think affirmation intervention techniques designed to reduce

stereotype threat could be extended to other classes?

12) Is there anything I’ve missed that you think we should discuss?