Are teachers' expectations different for racial minority than for European American students? A meta-analysis.

Abstract

Four quantitative meta-analyses examined whether teachers' expectations, referrals, positive and neutral speech, and negative speech differed toward ethnic minority students (i.e., African American, Asian American, and Latino/a) as compared with European American students. Teachers were found to hold the highest expectations for Asian American students (d = -.17). In addition, teachers held more positive expectations for European American students than for Latino/a (d =.46) or African American (d =.25) students. Teachers made more positive referrals and fewer negative referrals for European American students than for Latino/a and African American students (d =.31). Although teachers directed more positive and neutral speech (e.g., questions and encouragement) toward European American students than toward Latino/a and African American students (d =.21), they directed an equal amount of negative speech (e.g., criticism) to all students (d =.02). In general, teachers' favoring of European American students compared with African American and Latino/a students was associated with small but statistically significant effects. The meta-analyses suggest that teachers' expectations and speech vary with students' ethnic backgrounds. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.