Taxing the African American Student: The Impact and Mitigation of Structural Stigma on Test Performance and School Success
- Author(s):
- Seibel, David
- Publication Year:
- 2020
- Source:
- ETS Policy Notes, v27 n1, Winter 2020
- Document Type:
- Periodical
- Page Count:
- 13
- Subject/Key Words:
- African American Students, Racial Bias, Discrimination, Ethnic Stereotypes, Education Policy, Social Policy, Standardized Testing, Test Scores, Immigrants, Civil Rights, Millett, Catherine M., Ercikan, Kadriye, Zapata-Rivera, Diego, MacDonald, Walter B., Nettles, Michael T.
Abstract
In the United States, African-American students often face challenges that arise from structural stigma, which can inhibit their ability to learn and grow in the classroom and in their daily lives. Structural stigma, along with centuries of racist attitudes and policies, can impede student progress and is a challenge for policymakers, business professionals and all of us to overcome. From April 15 to 17, 2019, ETS convened the Taxing the African-American Student: The Impact and Mitigation of Structural Stigma on Test Performance and School Success symposium, bringing together more than 65 leading researchers, practitioners and policymakers from different professions and perspectives. The goal of the meeting was for participants to share and learn about the challenges African-American students and their educators and community members face and to identify actions in research, policy and practice that can change the conditions for them and other stigmatized groups.