Intervention without Threat: Assisting “At-Risk” Students

without Triggering Stereotype Threat

Chelsea M. Baldwin, J.D., M.Ed. Candidate in Professional Counseling,

Assistant Director of Academic Achievement

Oklahoma City University School of Law

Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting January 4, 2014

“Being labeled ‘at risk' is like

being voted least likely to succeed.

For where there is no faith

in your future success,

there is no real effort

to prepare you for it.”

Carol Brunson Day

Stereotype Threat• What is it?• Who is susceptible to stereotype threat?• What type of performances does it affect?• How does it manifest?

Cognitive Load Allocation

Normal Functioning

Unavoidable subprocessesMetacognitionTask Engagement

Stereotype Threat Conditions

Unavoidable subprocessesMetacognitionTask EngagementStereotype Monitoring

Stereotype Threat Triggers

• Being new• Being different from other group

members• Being different from the people in

charge• Being in, or excluded, from a clique

based on a social identity• Being “told” you are at-risk

© 2012 Ayodhya Ouditt/NPR http://www.npr.org/2012/07/12/156664337/stereotype-threat-why-women-quit-science-jobsLast accessed 27 December 2013

What Might Stereotype Threat Look Like?

• Read through the scenario on pp 2-3 of the handout and locate the information requested by the prompts. Feel free to turn and discuss with a neighbor to verify your answers.

Minimizing Cues that Trigger Stereotype Threat

• Quizzes at the beginning of every class

• Providing Feedback• Incremental gains framework for

teaching skills and knowledge• Narratives of belonging• Informal cross-group conversations• Using [learner]-centered teaching

techniques

Bibliography

• Benedict Cary, “Frequent Tests Can Enhance College Learning, Study Finds” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/education/frequent-tests-can-enhance-college-learning-study-finds.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0

• Carol Brunson Day, “Faith and Confidence: Positioning Our Hearts and Minds to Assure Success in the Lives of Black Children” BEING BLACK IS NOT A RISK FACTOR: A STRENGTH-BASED LOOK AT THE STATE OF THE BLACK CHILD 8-11, 11 (2013). National Black Child Development Institute

• Claude M. Steele, Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (2010 1st ed) W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

• Reducingstereotypethreat.org• Verna A. Myers, Moving Diversity Forward: How to go

from Well-Meaning to Well-Doing (2011 1st ed) American Bar Association

Questions or comments:

Chelsea Baldwincbaldwin@okcu.edu(405)208-5417

Oklahoma City University School of Law2501 N. Blackwelder Ave.Oklahoma City, OK 73106