Understanding the Effects of Stigmas and Stereotypes for Students with Learning Disabilities

Project Name
Stigmatization and Stereotype Threat among Adolescents with Learning Disability: Impacts on Cognition and Performance in Math

Project Description

Students with learning disabilities often report feeling stigmatized and stereotyped in school settings. This can have dramatic effects on academic performance in critical subjects such as math. Such barriers to learning can, in turn, have a lifelong impact on achievement.

While qualitative reports suggest the widespread experience of stigmatization in this group, few in-depth studies have examined this potentially important issue. In this empirical study, CAST explores the prevalence and impact of stigmatization and stereotype threat on mathematics performance among high school students (grades 9-12) with specific learning disabilities.

This work will advance our knowledge and understanding about the experiences of students with learning disabilities. It also has the potential to inform and open new avenues of research in the effort to improve education for people with disabilities. Understanding more deeply the cognitive and affective experiences of individuals with learning disabilities is an important first step toward helping us develop effective interventions.

Timeline

2013 – 2015

Funder

National Science Foundation, Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE)

Project Leadership

Samantha Daley, EdD (Co-PI)
Sam Johnston, EdD (Co-PI)

Contact

For more information about this project, contact Sam Johnston.