Research Paper on:
Tests and Race

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
given subject, even if they are fully cognizant of the material in question. The stress that culminates from this often unfounded perception of pressure often leads one to perform  at significantly lower levels of capability, ultimately compromising their final marks. What is being looked at much more closely, however, is the related issues of race and test performance,  inasmuch as stereotype vulnerability has proven to predispose ethnic populations to related test anxiety. "From grade school to graduate study, the one constant in a students life is the  standardized test" (Firestone PG). II. STEREOTYPE VULNERABILITY What lies at the crux of stereotype vulnerability is the manner by which ethnic populations perceive themselves as being subordinate to their  white counterparts. This perceived the testing arena, where individuals are forced to perform at a certain level expectant to their social status, punctuates this skewed perception, with some studies  indicating that "differences in measured achievement may result from cumulative differences in life experiences" (Correlates Of Student Performance On Standardized Tests). African-Americans, for example, often realize a sense of  inadequacy when placed within certain circumstances, such as those indicative of stereotype vulnerability, thereby significantly hampering their ability to work beyond the psychological hindrance toward a more realistic test result  (Jencks et al PG; Disparities in Educational Achievement). "Conditions designed to make black subjects stereotype vulnerable depressed their performance relative to white subjects. Conditions designed to alleviate this  vulnerability improved blacks performance, completely equating the two groups.... Thus, in addition to whatever environmental or genetic influences on the skills that a person brings to the testing situation, the  present research shows that the situation itself is not neutral-not even when the tester is the same race as the test-taker and shares his or her dialect. It is a