Racial and Cultural Test Bias, Stereotype Threat and Their Implications

Racial and Cultural Test Bias, Stereotype Threat and Their ImplicationsA substantial amount of educational and psychological research has consistently demonstrated that African American students underperform academically relative to White students. For example, they tend to arrive lower grades in school (e.g., Demo & Parker, 1987 Simmons, Brown, Bush, & Blyth, 1978), score lower on standardized tests of intellectual ability (e.g., Bachman, 1970 Herring, 1989 Reyes & Stanic, 1988 Simmons et al., 1978), drop out at higher order (e.g., American Council on Education, 1990 Steele, 1992), and graduate from college with substantially lower grades than White students (e.g., Nettles, 1988). Such performance gaps can be attributed to any number of factors, such as socioeconomic status, academic preparation, and educational opportunities however, Steele (1997) pointed out that even when background factors are held constant, subsequent achievement remains lower for minority students. Moreov er, much research in this orbital cavity has focused on how African American students lack of motivation and negative attitudes contribute to their inferior academic performance (Ogbu, 1990) yet many Black students lots report high educational aspirations (Fordham, 1996 Fine, 1991 Ogbu, 1987, 1990 Hauser & Anderson, 1991), even higher than White students of comparable class background (MacLeod, 1995). What remains certain is the urgent need to explain what accounts for the decided academic underachievement of Black students. One widely held explanation for the achievement gap in test performance between Black and White students is that the tests are all culturally or racially biased. Jencks (1998) points out three types of biases... ...lantic Monthly, 68-78.Steele, C. (1997). A menace in the air How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 6, 613-629.Steele, C., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual tes t performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 5, 797-811.Steele, C., Spencer, S. J., & Aronson, J. (2002). Contending with group image The psychology of stereotype and social identity threat. (In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 379-440. New York, NY Academic Press.Vars, F. E., & Bowen, W. G. (1998). Scholastic aptitude test scores, race, and academic performance in selective colleges and universities. (In Jencks, C. & Phillips, M. (Eds.), The Black-White Test Score Gap (pp. 55-85). Washington, DC Brookings Institution Press.)