Journal Article

Using a Stereotype Threat Intervention to Improve Placement Test Scores at a Community College

Hammond, Robert, Sparrow, Michael, Harrington, Christine, Melendez, John

2023

Overview

Students of color are disproportionally placed into developmental education courses, especially when a high-stakes assessment, such as a placement test, is used for placement decisions. Stereotype threat has impacted performance on high-stakes assessments. Despite the extensive research on stereotype threat in many high-stakes assessments, this is the first study, to our knowledge, that assesses the effectiveness of a stereotype threat intervention with the college placement test. In this quasi-experimental study, we compared the placement test scores of community college students who received a brief, five-minute stereotype threat intervention to the placement test scores of community college students who did not receive the intervention. Results indicated that the intervention had a significant positive impact on placement scores for Black, White, male, female, and traditional-aged (aged 18-24) students. The only significant finding for essay scores was for male students, whose scores went up when exposed to the intervention. Practice recommendations are provided.

• Publisher: Montezuma Publishing
• Subject: Anxiety / Black college students / College students / Community colleges / Developmental Education / Gender / High Stakes Tests / Hispanic students / Intervention / Learner Engagement / Literature reviews / Outcomes of Education / Placement Test / Placement tests / Role models / Self esteem / STEM education / Stereotype Threat / Stereotypes / Student Placement / Students Of Color / White people