Case Study: Stereotype Threat and Academic Performance. Name: Institution: Professor: Course: Date: Case Study: Stereotype Threat and Academic Performance Participant: Maria Gonzalez, a 16-year-old Latina high school student from a low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Background: Maria's parents, Juan and Maria Gonzalez, who were from Mexico, migrated to the United States in the hope of providing a better life for the family. In spite of the fact that they did not have a formal education, they gave their children the sense of education as a means for their future. Maria is the eldest among the other two siblings, and she has been used to succeeding in everything she does and having active class discussions. Nevertheless, the …show more content…
Interpretation: Maria's test score does not represent an accurate reflection of her inherent academic potential and capacity. The effects of stereotype threat, which is a psychological phenomenon in which individuals of stereotyped groups experience anxiety, self-doubt, and decline in performance due to the fear of upholding negative stereotypes of their group, is likely responsible for their irregular performance (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001). Analysis of Stereotype Threat: As a Latina belonging to the low-income group, Maria might have already incorporated negative stereotypes about her community's academic excellence and possibility for success in the larger society. Such an overwhelming and high-stakes nature of testing might have led her to pay more attention to these stereotypes and have her face in front of other people to confirm them too. The examiner's experience as well as possible biases, although they can be unintentional, could have caused Maria to be doubtful and anxious. These emotions could have been accentuated even more, therefore making it harder for Maria to perform at her full potential if there was no self-representation or …show more content…
Such support systems can create a secure place where students can voice out their experiences, develop self-advocacy skills, and simply access the resources to navigate the challenges they face. 6. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Targeted interventions: Formulate tailored interventions exclusively aimed at addressing the peculiar situations and issues that students sharing minority status, such as Maria, frequently experience. Therefore, these interventions should take into account how identities are interconnected and provide individualized support, together with the appropriate strategies, to address the multiplied impact of stereotype threat. In conclusion, by tackling stereotype threat from all angles, educational institutions can thus foster more fair and balanced testing environments and furthermore make sure that tests properly capture students' genuine capabilities, irrespective of their demographic identity. Not only does it benefit students individually, such as Maria, but it also leads toward more diversity and inclusiveness within our educational
In Bettie’s analysis of Mexican-American and white girls, she finds that race, gender and class are extremely crucial in the outcomes and futures of these girls. The unmentioned and hidden effects of class, race, and gender provide the explanation for much of the inequality seen between the white middle-class girls and Mexican-American working-class girls. Much of this inequality is itself perpetuated within the school system, both by the faculty and students.
Stereotype threat is present in our everyday lives and it prevents people from doing things to their fullest abilities. It is the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about you resulting in weaker performance. An example where stereotype threat exists is in the case where African Americans do poorly on tests compared to Caucasian individuals. This occurs because the stereotype is that African Americans are intellectually inferior to Caucasian people. In a setting where the negative stereotype is brought to mind, African Americans will perform poorly on tests when in fact they are able to perform equally as well if not better than Caucasian individuals. (Article 1) Stereotype threat limits individuals in their performance in academics, sports or even something like driving. By reducing stereotype threat, performance in many areas can improve and people can perform tasks to their fullest potentials. Stereotype threat leads to underachievement in academic and work related situations. People may feel they cannot rise above the stereotype and become limited in their successes. (article 1 I think) The purpose of this paper is to inform on stereotype threat and how to reduce it, as well as to introduce my own investigation aimed at reducing stereotype threat.
In Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About - and to - Students Every Day, Mica Pollock provides readers with fact-based information to “flip the script” of the misrepresentation of students in the education setting. Pollock demonstrates how race, gender, and ethnic labels can be detrimental to student achievement. She, then, dives in to 600 years of myths regarding social race labels and how they continue to affect humans today. By correcting race, gender, and ethnicity label myths in our minds, we can effectively advocate for these students. To conclude the book, Pollock focuses on how to devise a plan to correct our own misconceptions and foster a supportive environment for diverse students. Throughout
Many of the stereotypes we encounter and hold today were formed because of events in the past, which were formed to rationalize and justify past social and political agendas. Many of the stereotypes that we now hold today were learned long ago and have been passed from one generation to the next. This book has forever inspired me to believe in the value of each child and discourage racist attitudes wherever I encounter them. Gregory Howard Williams encountered many hurdles growing up and successfully defeated them all. He could have easily confirmed the expectations of his negative peers and developed into a self-fulfilling prophecy, but instead he chose to shun his stereotypes and triumph over incredible odds.
“We all use stereotypes all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us,” quoted by Annie Murphy Paul, a journalist. Human beings typically have varied mindsets as they grow up with different cultural values as well as social environment. Author Gary Soto’s “Like Mexican” compares his Mexican life with his wife’s Japanese background, while author Deborah Tannen’s “Gender in the Classroom” contrasts the “gender-related styles” of male and female students. From the two perspectives Soto’s and Tannen’s experiences’ give a universal, stereotypical point how different gender tendencies, conversational styles, and cultural background can result in a miscommunication of one’s behavior.
Selena Quintanilla, the madonna of Tejano music. Such an empowering person; she was beloved by many. Her tragic death caused an immense outrage and pained many. Yolanda Saldivar, her killer made a huge mistake that day. Nothing can justify her shooting Selena. Her actions were driven by hatred towards the Quintanilla family, greed, and caused an immense outbreak of mourning. Although some may say that her actions were justified because of her being fired, that is not a good enough reason to shoot someone. Here are my explanations as to why Yolanda saldivar did not have a valid reason to end Selena Quintanilla’s life.
The backlash that Sotomayor experiences because of her decision to apply to and her acceptance into Princeton reveals how most Puerto Ricans experienced forms of racialization, or racial classification, by Caucasian Americans. Sotomayor experiences the culmination of years of racial discrimination and oppression when her school nurse asks with an “accusatory tone” and a “baleful gaze” how she got a “likely” and the “two top-ranking girls in the school only got a ‘possible’” (Sotomayor 102). She expects Sotomayor to experience “shame” under her gaze because her “perplexed discomfort” in answering her question is “clearly not enough” (102). The nurse demonstrates society’s common expectation for Puerto Rican and other minority students to not be at the same intellectual level as Caucasian Americans.
In the 1960s, a wave of Cuban immigrants moved into the United States to escape their ruthless dictator, Fidel Castro. Aleida Rodriguez and her siblings were some of those immigrants. In her reflection, she looks at photographs of her childhood while she reflects upon the impact of emigration within her family during the sixties. In the excerpt from “my Mother in Two Photographs, Among Other Things,” author Aleida Rodriguez reveals the cultural rifts caused by relocation.
Growing up as a Latina in a small conservative town was not always an easy thing. I often faced presumptions that I would not graduate high school or amount to much in life because of my background. I knew that I would have to work twice as hard to accomplish my goals and prove to myself and my peers that the stereotypes made of Latinos and our success were nothing more than thoughts by people ignorant to our abilities and strengths. I was always determined to achieve my goals, even when others doubted or implied that I couldn’t.
Lacking the necessary support, many start to devalue the importance of doing well in school deciding that perhaps school isn’t part of their identity. In Susan’s case she’s eliciting multiple forms of subordination, and within each dimension she’s being subjective to different types of oppression; racial oppression, gender oppression, and class oppression, she’s experiencing cultural alienation and isolation and is not only based on her ethnicity as a Latina but is also influenced by how she is treated as a female, as a member of a certain socioeconomic class, and in relation to her English language proficiency, and even her perceived immigration status. In this sense, students like Susan experience different forms of discrimination or marginalization that stems from
& R. Mox.sm-dyor (EiSs.). Adolescent identity formation (pp. 91-12 Peters, S. (2002) Inclusive education in accelerated and professional development schools: a case-based study of two school reform efforts in the USA, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 6(4), 287–308. Alton-Lee, A. & Co., Inc. (2003) Quality teaching for diverse students in schooling: best evidence synthesis (New Zealand, Ministry of Education), June 2003.
As can be seen, the victories for individuals who are in a certain group or society are so difficult to achieve because there are a lot of stereotypes and limits that others put in place that prevent certain individuals from achieving and pushing through diversity. During High school, I remember being treated harshly when I became pregnant at the age of 16; during the 90’s this was not precisely common for most High school students.
Disproportionate identification of minority students in special education is a major concern in schools today. This paper describes the issues in the assessment process with minority students and how we have arrived at a situation where minorities are being misdiagnosed into special education programs. Additionally, several legal cases are mentioned which show numerous actions and rulings that have tried to correct the disproportionate identification in special education. Some of the legal cases discussed include Larry P. v Riles, Diana v. State Board of Education, and Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School, which all significantly impacted special education today. Additionally, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act has enforced that minority groups must receive an equal education in the least restrictive environment possible. It is our duty as teachers and citizens to abide by these laws and find different ways to assess and correct the disproportionality of minority groups that exists today.
Diversity among students including differences in culture, language and socioeconomic stance is not a new trend. The difference, however, is that today, the school system realizes that all students, including those who differ in some way from the "average" student, or those “at-risk” must be provided with an equal, opportune education (Morris, 1991).
Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the other children from high socioeconomic status families. Do these children not perform well in class because of the self-fulfilling prophecy or is there something that happens during the critical period that causes the child to fall behind?