Background Questionnaires: Why Ask About Social Identity?

Ruth A. Childs & Orlena Broomes

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Montreal, May 2010.

Why have Background Questionnaires?

Large-scale assessments provide important information about what students know and what they know how to do

But, not which students are performing well and which are struggling – or, more importantly, why

Background Questionnaires often include questions about… Students

Social identities Experiences Attitudes & Beliefs Goals

Teachers Social Identities & Experiences Instruction & Assessment Practices Beliefs Resources

Schools Community

What do we mean by “Social Identity”?

Carla O’Connor, a professor at the University of Michigan describes social identity as “how people are differentially positioned in the social

world” She emphasizes that

“any one individual reflects multiple social identities” “these identities are simultaneously structured and

cultured and operate differentially across place and time”

Why ask about Social Identity?

The Ontario Human Rights Code gives four reasons for collecting social identity data: To monitor and evaluate potential discrimination To identify and remove systemic barriers To ameliorate or prevent disadvantage To promote equality

One of the Ontario Ministry of Education priorities is “Reduced gaps in student achievement”

A gap is a difference between groups

To reduce gaps in achievement, we have to first identify the gaps

To identify the gaps, we need to have information about group membership

An Example

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) High School graduation requirement In 2007/08, 156,151 Grade 10 students who were eligible

to sit the English-language version of the test Results

122,324 students passed 23,279 failed 4,357 were absent 6,191 received permission to defer taking the test

122,309

23,275

4,355 6,1910

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Successful Not Successful Absent Deferred

OSSLT 2007-2008

All Students

59,503

14,4662,224 3,711

62,806

8,809

2,131 2,4800

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Successful Not Successful Absent Deferred

OSSLT 2007-2008

Female

Male

119,983

21,684

4,171 4,171

2,326

1,591

184 2,020

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Successful Not Successful Absent Deferred

OSSLT 2007-2008

ELL

Not ELL

97,548

4,1511,038 1,038

21,747

13,592

1,942 1,553

759

3,094

409 1,518

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

Successful Not Successful Absent Deferred

OSSLT 2007-2008

Locally Developed English Course

Applied English

Academic English

Writing the Questions

Choose the dimensions that matter in the particular context (this may vary regionally and by the academic subject being tested)

Explain why the information is important and how it will be used – why would someone respond?

Specify if the information will be anonymous or confidential Describe social identity dimensions clearly (e.g., sex vs. gender; race

vs. ethnicity) Choose categories thoughtfully

What distinctions are important? What level of specificity is needed? Gerber (1999) found that

respondents “paid close attention not only to the category that applied to their own group, but to the categories available for others as well,” wanting to “make sure that the categories were evenhanded, and did not give preferential treatment to specific groups” (p. 230)

What is the precise meaning of terms? What terms will respondents recognize?

Include an “I prefer not to respond” option

Testing the Questions

Approaches Expert review Cognitive interviewing (think-alouds)

Questions How do respondents decide whether to answer? How do respondents decide how to answer? Do students at different ages understand the questions

differently? Roger Levine in testing NAEP questions found differences by age.