DOI: 10.6078/d1vt4t
title: Data from: When policy and psychology meet: mitigating the consequences of bias in schools

description: Harsh exclusionary discipline predicts major negative life outcomes,
 including adult incarceration and unemployment. This breeds racial
 inequality, because Black students are disproportionately at risk for this
 type of discipline. Can a combination of policy and psychological
 interventions reduce this kind of discipline and mitigate this inequality?
 Two preregistered experiments (Nexperiment1 = 246 teachers; Nexperiment2 =
 243 teachers) used an established paradigm to systematically test
 integration of two and then three policy and psychological interventions
 to mitigate the consequences of bias (troublemaker-labeling and
 pattern-perception) on discipline (discipline-severity). Results indicate
 the integrated interventions can curb teachers’ troublemaker-labeling and
 pattern-prediction toward Black students who misbehave in a hypothetical
 paradigm. In turn, integration of the three components reduced racial
 inequality in teachers’ discipline decisions. This research informs
 scientific theory, public policy, and interventions.
description: This dataset was collected from K-12 teachers via online surveys
 (Qualtrics). The statistical analyses were conducted in
 R-programing.   In the present
 research, we tested whether a combination of getting perspective and
 exposure to relevant incremental theories can mitigate the consequences of
 bias on discipline decisions. We call this combination of approaches a
 “Bias-Consequence Alleviation” (BCA) intervention. The present research
 sought to determine how the following components can be integrated to
 reduce the process by which bias contributes to racial inequality in
 discipline decisions:  (1) getting a misbehaving student’s perspective,
 “student-perspective”; (2) belief that <i>others’
 </i>personalities can change, “student-growth”; and (3) belief that
 <i>one’s own </i>ability to sustain positive relationships can
 change, “relationship-growth.” Can a combination of these three components
 curb troublemaker-labeling and pattern-prediction responses to a Black
 student’s misbehavior (Experiments 1 & 2) and, in turn, mitigate
 disproportionate discipline (Experiment 2)? For
 consistency across experiments and connection to real-world outcomes
 (i.e., suspension rates), we used the “Two-Strikes” paradigm in each
 experiment (<i>5</i>). Participants were prompted to imagine
 two misbehaviors by a hypothetical Black student (named Darnell or
 DeShawn). First, teachers read and responded to the following
 scenario:  Darnell comes in late to your class during
 Test Day. You ask for his tardy pass. He doesn't respond. You ask
 again for him to give you his tardy pass. He slams it on your desk. Then,
 while the class is taking the test, Darnell makes a lot of noise stomping
 to his desk. Next, teachers were told that the student
 misbehaved three days later and read and responded to the following
 scenario:  Today, Darnell is upset because you
 “bother" him when he "wants to sit quietly and do nothing".
 And he says that you should just leave him alone. So you give him reading
 assignments and just busy work. But Darnell calls you "crazy"
 and doesn’t do anything you give him. Experiment 1 was
 an initial test if together, a structural intervention
 (student-perspective) and a mindset intervention (student-growth), could
 effectively be integrated to curb consequences of bias (e.g.,
 troublemaker-labeling).  Because this was a Teacher
 sample, no exclusions were made based off of feedback/prompts. Two
 teachers did not complete all prompts. However, effects remained
 consistent whether they were excluded or not. Therefore, to establish as
 much power as possible in the statistical analyses, reported results do
 not exclude these participants. Pre-registered hypotheses specified
 predicted effects for the second misbehavior. In past research, a
 “black-escalation” effect has been found such that teachers’ responses to
 misbehavior escalate more sharply for Black students, as compared to White
 students, from the first misbehavior to the second misbehavior (see
 Okonofua et al., 2015). In the current research, the teachers only read
 about Black students. Thus potential for the black-escalation effect was
 present across conditions. Further, one condition – procedure – was
 applied between the first and second misbehaviors and thus unable to
 produce effects on the first misbehavior. Teachers (218 female, 21 male, 7
 declined to state) were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (structure:
 student-perspective versus journaling control) X 2 (mindset:
 student-growth versus technology control) between-subjects design. The
 racial breakdown of our sample was as follows: 212 White, 9 Black, 8
 Latinx, 8 Other, 2 Asian, and 7 declined to answer. Our sample had a mean
 age of <i>M </i>= 43.24, <i>SD </i>= 10.35 and
 average years of teaching experience of <i>M </i>= 14.70,
 <i>SD </i>= 9.20.  
 Procedure  
 <i>Perspective</i>. Teachers were randomly assigned
 to either get information about the target student’s perspective or get
 information about a personal journal entry and then answer questions about
 the experience. This manipulation occurred between teachers’ review of the
 first and second misbehaviors. Half of the teachers read about learning
 more information about the student from the student. This made the
 treatment about the process of getting perspective as opposed to imagining
 perspective (Eyal, Steffel, & Epley, 2018). Research suggests that
 simply trying to take another person’s perspective may not help people
 understand other people better. However, people can achieve greater
 psychological understanding through conversation and listening.
 “Perspective-getting” leads to increased empathy for another person,
 increased sense of similarity and connection to others, better
 cooperation, and strengthened social bonds (see Galinsky et al., 2005).
 This work suggests that teacher-student relationships can benefit from
 perspective-getting (e.g., teachers learning a Black student’s
 perspective) and do so in ways that can also combat conditions under which
 bias affects social cognition (e.g., more individuation and less ambiguity
 in decision-making; see Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016).
 Between the misbehaviors, these teachers read the following: 
   When you get the time, you try to talk with
 students during off periods. A few days later, you spoke with Darnell from
 your class. He told you about how he likes music and plans to learn how to
 play multiple instruments. Darnell also talked about how he struggled with
 things he experienced outside of school. Sometimes he wondered if anyone
 even cared. And sometimes it made him feel like school wasn't for
 him. He likes music and plans to learn how to play multiple
 instruments.   Teachers were then
 given the opportunity to describe what else they would do with their off
 period and what they would talk to the student about if they spent more
 time talking to him.  The other half of the teachers
 read about their experience with writing in a journal during their off
 period. Between the misbehaviors, these teachers read the
 following:   When you get the time,
 you try to write in your journal during off periods. A few days later, you
 took time to write. You write about how you like music and some of the
 instruments you wish you could play. You think playing the trumpet would
 be fun but also difficult to learn. Sometimes you go to the music store to
 play around with some of the instruments, but you have never actually
 bought anything before.   These
 teachers were then given the opportunity to describe what else they would
 do with their off period and what else they would write in their journal
 if they spent more time writing in it during their off period.
   <i>Student-growth.</i> Teachers
 were also randomly assigned to either read about how misbehaving students’
 personalities can improve or about how technology use can enhance student
 engagement. This manipulation occurred directly before teachers read about
 the first misbehavior. Half of the teachers read about how students and
 their behavior can and do change. This message drew from past research on
 an incremental theory of personality (Yeager et al., 2012). These teachers
 read the following message taken from the treatment condition in the
 empathic-mindset intervention (Okonofua et al., 2016):
   Almost everyone has a personal story about a
 great teacher who influenced his or her life. For some, it’s a teacher who
 reached out and helped them feel both comfortable and respected in school.
 For others, it’s a teacher who helped them see that they could reach a
 higher standard, even when they doubted themselves. As teachers, these
 stories warm our hearts. They inspire us to create a positive setting that
 brings out the best in our students. Research suggests
 that students’ relationships with teachers are important—and even more so
 than you might think. Children who experience caring relationships with
 adults grow up to be more respectful and caring people. At home, a kind
 and responsive parent shows a child that their family is good and
 trustworthy. In school, a teacher who makes his or her students feel
 heard, valued, and respected shows them that school is fair and they can
 grow and succeed there. Of course, creating positive
 relationships is not always easy—especially with middle school students.
 The social and biological changes of adolescence can make middle school
 students insecure and sensitive. Yet students’ attitudes about school and
 behavior can and do improve when teachers successfully convey the caring
 and respect students crave.  
 Teachers were then asked to list two ways that students can
 become better behaved and more respectful when they have a caring and
 supportive relationship with a teacher. This is an adaptation of the
 “Saying Is Believing” technique that can solidify the delivery of
 intervention messages by allowing teachers to assume the role of experts
 as opposed to recipients of an intervention (see Yeager & Walton,
 2011).  The other half of teachers read about how
 technology use can enhance student learning and engagement. These teachers
 read the following message taken from the control condition in the
 empathic-mindset intervention (Okonofua et al., 2016):
   There are many ways of learning that come
 together to make a whole. Reading lessons and texts, viewing pictures and
 graphs, and listening to lectures are all examples of ways students can
 learn new information. All together, these forms of learning provide
 useful means for students to grow and develop in school. As teachers, it
 is effective to incorporate approaches that appeal to many learning styles
 when planning lessons, and that’s where technology can help.
 Researchers have started to systematically explore the benefits
 of technology in effectively implementing lesson plans. The research
 suggests that using certain devices is more important in class than most
 people think. It allows teachers to help students grow by adapting to
 their various learning styles. It is particularly useful when presenting
 lectures, keeping a calendar, and managing assignments. Research finds
 that little additions of computer-based programs can help adapt lessons
 for emerging student learning styles. By better understanding technology
 teachers can nurture students' growth into more organized, more
 motivated young adults. Similar to the treatment
 condition, teachers were then asked to list two ways that students can
 benefit from more technology use in the classroom.
description: This is the dataset for Study 1. Also attached is the R-markdown
 with the coding/programing script used to analyze the data through
 R-programming. Missing values are marked as NA.
 R-script is also attached.  
 Measures    All questions
 were asked on a scale of 1 (“Not at all”) to 5 (“Extremely”). Following
 each misbehavior, teachers were asked the following questions: 
 • How severe was Darnell's behavior?
 • To what extent is Darnell hindering you from maintaining order
 in the class? • How irritating is
 Darnell?  • How severely should Darnell be
 disciplined?  Like in previous research,
 the responses to the first three questions were aggregated into a measure
 called “feeling troubled” (Okonofua et al., 2015). After the two
 misbehaviors, teachers were also asked the following questions:
 • How likely is it that you would say that Darnell is
 a troublemaker? • To what extent do you think
 Darnell's behavior is indicative of a pattern? •
 How likely is it that you will be able to build a strong relationship with
 Darnell?  • To what extent do you think Darnell is a
 danger to other students?