Teachers’ perceptions of students’ school performance: the impact of classroom composition. Evidence from a survey experiment

Abstract

This study uses a randomized vignette experiment to explore the impact of classroom composition on students’ teacher-perceived school performance. It hypothesizes that in classrooms with a high share of disadvantaged students, teachers rate the school performance of both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students lower than in classrooms with a low share of disadvantaged students. The experimental design disentangles two mechanisms behind compositional effects: ethnicity and social-status. Findings indicate the more disadvantaged perceptions of Roma and non-Roma students in classrooms with a high (rather than a low) share of Roma students. No similar findings were found concerning the share of poor students.