Perceiving Misperception

Study shows race, gender affect teachers’ perceptions of students’ ability by Mike Cummings
Yale News, February 12, 2020

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This article summarizes recent research published in the Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race that examines the effects of race and gender on teachers’ perceptions of students’ abilities. The study showed that educators penalize or advantage students depending on their racial, ethnic, or gender identity. Sobering and eye-opening, the research offers much to reflect upon for educators working with students from diverse backgrounds. The study showed “a variety of racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the association between first-grade students’ non-cognitive skills and their assessed ability in math and reading.” The researchers “sought to determine whether teachers’ ratings ‘penalized’ or ‘advantaged’ certain groups through an unequal relationship between children’s non-cognitive skills and teachers’ perceptions of their academic ability” and found that they did. For example, the study found that “teachers penalize black girls and black boys differently in math” and that teachers “penalized white and black girls, relative to white boys, in their ratings of math ability, but did not disadvantage Asian and Latino girls in the same manner.” Teachers and schools have certainly made progress in understanding how teachers’ perceptions shape their assessments of students’ abilities, but these findings suggest that there is more work to be done – and offers much to consider for schools aiming to be more equitable towards all students.