Abstract: Stereotype threat theory proposes that the possibility of being judged in terms of a negative stereotype in a particular domain negatively affects one’s performance. The proposed mixed-methods research will investigate the influences of stereotype threat on African American third-graders in a post-No Child Left Behind environment. Stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) refers to the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group in a particular performance domain. Stereotype threat theory assumes that underperformance is triggered by the possibility of being judged in terms of said stereotype. Given the possibility of positive intervention (Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002; Cohen, Garcia, Apfel, & Master, 2006; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003), a necessary next step is to examine how children experience stereotype threat effects. This is particularly important when addressing potential remedies for the racial achievement gap in standardized testing, which has become increasingly important at the elementary level (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). Therefore, the research questions that guide this proposal are: (a) How does stereotype threat influence the reading test performance of African American children in an urban elementar
