Two randomized field experiments tested a social-psychological intervention designed to improve minority student performance and increase our understanding of how psychological threat mediates performance in chronically evaluative real-world environments. We expected that the risk of confirming a negative stereotype aimed at one's group could undermine academic performance in minority students by elevating their level of psychological threat. We tested whether such psychological threat could be lessened by having students reaffirm their sense of personal adequacy or "self-integrity." The intervention, a brief in-class writing assignment, significantly improved the grades of African American students and reduced the racial achievement gap by 40%. These results suggest that the racial achievement gap, a major social concern in the United States, could be ameliorated by the use of timely and targeted social-psychological interventions.

A 2-year follow-up of a randomized field experiment previously reported in Science is presented. A subtle intervention to lessen minority students' psychological threat related to being negatively stereotyped in school was tested in an experiment conducted three times with three independent cohorts (N = 133, 149, and 134). The intervention, a series of brief but structured writing assignments focusing students on a self-affirming value, reduced the racial achievement gap. Over 2 years, the grade point average (GPA) of African Americans was, on average, raised by 0.24 grade points. Low-achieving African Americans were particularly benefited. Their GPA improved, on average, 0.41 points, and their rate of remediation or grade repetition was less (5% versus 18%). Additionally, treated students' self-perceptions showed long-term benefits. Findings suggest that because initial psychological states and performance determine later outcomes by providing a baseline and initial trajectory for a recursive process, apparently small but early alterations in trajectory can have long-term effects. Implications for psychological theory and educational practice are discussed.

Three double-blind randomized field experiments examined the effects of a strategy to restore trust on minority adolescents' responses to critical feedback. In Studies 1 and 2, 7th-grade students received critical feedback from their teacher that, in the treatment condition, was designed to assuage mistrust by emphasizing the teacher's high standards and belief that the student was capable of meeting those standards--a strategy known as wise feedback. Wise feedback increased students' likelihood of submitting a revision of an essay (Study 1) and improved the quality of their final drafts (Study 2). Effects were generally stronger among African American students than among White students, and particularly strong among African Americans who felt more mistrusting of school. Indeed, among this latter group of students, the 2-year decline in trust evident in the control condition was, in the wise feedback condition, halted. Study 3, undertaken in a low-income public high school, used attributional retraining to teach students to attribute critical feedback in school to their teachers' high standards and belief in their potential. It raised African Americans' grades, reducing the achievement gap. Discussion centers on the roles of trust and recursive social processes in adolescent development.

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Small but timely experiences can have long-term benefits when their psychological effects interact with institutional processes. In a follow-up of two randomized field experiments, a brief values affirmation intervention designed to buffer minority middle schoolers against the threat of negative stereotypes had long-term benefits on college-relevant outcomes. In study 1, conducted in the Mountain West, the intervention increased Latino Americans’ probability of entering a college readiness track rather than a remedial one near the transition to high school 2 y later. In study 2, conducted in the Northeast, the intervention increased African Americans’ probability of college enrollment 7–9 y later. Among those who enrolled in college, affirmed African Americans attended relatively more selective colleges. Lifting a psychological barrier at a key transition can facilitate students’ access to positive institutional channels, giving rise to accumulative benefits.

The delivery to impoverished mothers of a coordinated set of medical and social services, including day-care for their children, had effects that were evident a decade after the intervention ended. Intervention mothers were more likely to be self-supporting, and they had higher educational attainment and smaller family sizes than did control mothers. Intervention children had better school attendance, and boys were less likely to require costly special school services than were corresponding control children. The financial implications of these results were considerable, totaling about $40,000 in extra estimated welfare costs and documented school service costs needed by the 15 control families in the single year in which these follow-up data were gathered. There were no indications that the intervention had lasting effects on the children's IQ scores. The results suggest that family support procedures, including quality day-care, have considerable promise as a general model for intervention programs.

High rates of discipline citations predict adverse life outcomes, a harm disproportionately borne by Black and Latino boys. We hypothesized that these citations arise in part from negative cycles of interaction between students and teachers, which unfold in contexts of social stereotypes. Can targeted interventions to facilitate identity safety-a sense of belonging, inclusion, and growth-for students help? Experiment 1 combined social-belonging, values-affirmation, and growth-mindset interventions delivered in several class sessions in 2 middle schools with a large Latino population (N ϭ 669). This treatment reduced citations among negatively stereotyped boys in 7th and 8th grades by 57% as compared with a randomized control condition, 95% CI [Ϫ77%, Ϫ20%]. A growth-mindset only treatment was also effective (70% reduction, 95% CI [Ϫ84%, Ϫ43%]). Experiment 2 tested the social-belonging interven-Editor's Note. Daphna Oyserman served as the action editor for this article.-SK

The delivery to impoverished mothers of a coordinated set of medical and social services, including day-care for their children, had effects that were evident a decade after the intervention ended. Intervention mothers were more likely to be self-supporting, and they had higher educational attainment and smaller family sizes than did control mothers. Intervention children had better school attendance, and boys were less likely to require costly special school services than were corresponding control children. The financial implications of these results were considerable, totaling about $40,000 in extra estimated welfare costs and documented school service costs needed by the 15 control families in the single year in which these follow-up data were gathered. There were no indications that the intervention had lasting effects on the children's IQ scores. The results suggest that family support procedures, including quality day-care, have considerable promise as a general model for intervention programs.