Research & Studies

Research conducted many years ago by Claude Steele at Stanford University, and later confirmed by Professor Steele and other researchers, has shown that black students perform poorly on standardized tests because they fear mistakes will confirm negative stereotypes about their group. A new study at Stanford has shown that this "stereotype threat" can also hinder black students in learning new material.

In 2006 Gerald Early the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, purchased a copy of a 1950s comic book on eBay. The title of the comic was Negro Romance. Professor Early turned for help to the producers of the PBS television show History Detectives.

The study found that black and Latino youths spend one to two hours more watching television than whites and up to 90 minutes more on computers and cellphones.