Investigating stereotype threat as a source of Black/White differential item functioning

The Black White test score gap has been a historical concern in educational policy issues. The need for a more refined understanding of the causes and circumstances surrounding these differences is vital. Drawing from Claude Steele's social-psychological theory on stereotype threat and its role in test score variation, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether stereotype threat is a potential source of differential item functioning (DIF). Additionally, this study examines cognitive engagement and emotionality patterns on mathematics achievement tests. An experiment designed to investigate the impact of stereotype threat on test performance when 8th grade Black students are solving mathematics problems was conducted. In order to gain a deeper understanding about problem-solving, think aloud protocols (i.e. Quinn and Spencer 2001) were administered to augment the results of the experiment. The results confirmed the hypothesis that stereotype threat influenced high-achieving Black student's test performance on DIF mathematics test-items. In addition, it was shown that there were different cognitive engagement patterns between high-achieving Black students in a high- and low-stereotype threat condition. However, despite the differences in test performance and cognitive engagements, there were no significant differences in the emotionality patterns of test-takers in the high- and low-stereotype threat conditions.