Posted on 01/23/2009 7:42:40 AM PST by reaganaut1
...
[R]esearchers have documented what they call an Obama effect, showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Mr. Obama’s nomination all but disappeared when the exam was administered after his acceptance speech and again after the presidential election.
The inspiring role model that Mr. Obama projected helped blacks overcome anxieties about racial stereotypes that had been shown, in earlier research, to lower the test-taking proficiency of African-Americans, the researchers conclude in a report summarizing their results.
“Obama is obviously inspirational, but we wondered whether he would contribute to an improvement in something as important as black test-taking,” said Ray Friedman, a management professor at Vanderbilt University, one of the study’s three authors. “We were skeptical that we would find any effect, but our results surprised us.”
The study has not yet undergone peer review, and two academics who read it on Thursday said they would be interested to see if other researchers would be able to replicate its results.
Dr. Friedman and his fellow researchers, David M. Marx, a professor of social psychology at San Diego State University, and Sei Jin Ko, a visiting professor in management and organizations at Northwestern, have submitted their study for review to The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Dr. Friedman said.
“It’s a very small sample, but certainly a provocative study,” said Ronald F. Ferguson, a Harvard professor who studies the factors that have affected the achievement gap between white and nonwhite students, which shows up on nearly every standardized test. “There is a certainly a theoretical foundation and some empirical support for the proposition that Obama’s election could increase the sense of competence among African-Americans, and it could reduce the anxiety associated with taking difficult test questions.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Obama is like Global Warming. He has the power to effect everything.
Bad news for the NFL and NBA if true.
One of the executive orders signed yesterday made the White House a “Grill-Free Zone”...
Sure this isn’t one of yours? :)
Cough cough Bull crap.
The Question I have had all along: What if we had elected a black Republican? Would we have the same level of excitement?
Makes sense to me-after all, the South Koreans, Chinese, and Indians who came here did terribly academically, financially, etc. until they had a President who “looked like them”
/s
My wife and I are Indian. Freepers had better support Bobby Jindal, so that my children have HOPE.
/s
Whatever good Mr. Obama brings to blacks because he is black will soon be lost because of his policies. On the other hand, if Mr. Obama causes young, black people to rise above needing government’s help, if he inspires them to succeed on their own, they will be better off forever. But somehow I doubt any good will come from Mr. Obama’s Socialist happy dreams.
The bell curve story comes to mind when it comes to black test scores..
The bell curve story comes to mind when it comes to black test scores.
I hope so too, but when you live making excuses your whole life, you aren’t likely to change. Face it, no one is successful all the time. If your habit is to blame every failure on someone else, you will continue to do that. On the other hand, if you look at failure as a learning process, you will eventually succeed.
Total BS!
That is exactly right Brytlea. When something happens, if the first you do is look around and say “Whose fault is this?” you are never going to fix anything because sometimes the fault lies in yourself.
Sadly, I see too many people (can you say frivolous lawsuits???) make that mistake of looking around to figure point instead of fixing something they could have done better.
Of course scores will improve. Especially since they dumb down the tests. I guess that this means that, maybe, 31% will graduate rather than 30% graduating from High School?
I can’t stop fainting.
The Messiah has instantly increased the I.Q.’s
of blacks. I’m impressed...
But this is all a sham. A 20 question test does not certify anything.
This is disgusting. Black people are not some mindless “mass” that moves based on a “Dear Leader”.
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