Gender and minority background as moderators of teacher expectation effects on self-concept, subjective task values, and academic performance

Two developments in teacher expectation research formed the basis for the current study. First, researchers have begun investigating the self-fulfilling prophecy effects of teacher expectations on a variety of psycho-social outcomes in addition to the effects on academic achievement. Second, researchers have started to realize that some groups of students appeared to be more vulnerable or susceptible to teacher expectations. The current study aimed to investigate whether students’ gender and minority background were moderators of teacher expectation effects for both academic outcomes and self-concept and subjective task value in the mathematics domain. The study is based on a sample of 1663 students (Grades 6 and 7) in 42 classes from three intermediate schools in New Zealand. Multilevel modeling was applied using MLwiN software. First, after controlling for students’ beginning-of-year mathematics achievement, teacher expectations were higher for Asian and lower for Māori, compared with New Zealand European students. Expectations within the domain of mathematics, however, were higher for girls than for boys. Second, teachers’ beginning-year expectations were predictive of achievement and self-concept of students at end-of-year, after controlling for beginning-of-year achievement and self-concept. Teachers’ expectations were, however, not predictive of end-of-year intrinsic and utility value.Third, we did not find evidence for moderation effects of students’ gender and minority background. These findings imply that despite the roughly similar magnitude of teacher expectation effects for various student groups, teacher expectations may contribute to gaps in students’ achievement and self-concept because of differential expectations at the beginning of the year

Gender and minority background as moderators of teacher expectation effects on self-concept, subjective task values, and academic performance

Two developments in teacher expectation research formed the basis for the current study. First, researchers have begun investigating the self-fulfilling prophecy effects of teacher expectations on a variety of psycho-social outcomes in addition to the effects on academic achievement. Second, researchers have started to realize that some groups of students appeared to be more vulnerable or susceptible to teacher expectations. The current study aimed to investigate whether students’ gender and minority background were moderators of teacher expectation effects for both academic outcomes and self-concept and subjective task value in the mathematics domain. The study is based on a sample of 1663 students (Grades 6 and 7) in 42 classes from three intermediate schools in New Zealand. Multilevel modeling was applied using MLwiN software. First, after controlling for students’ beginning-of-year mathematics achievement, teacher expectations were higher for Asian and lower for Māori, compared with New Zealand European students. Expectations within the domain of mathematics, however, were higher for girls than for boys. Second, teachers’ beginning-year expectations were predictive of achievement and self-concept of students at end-of-year, after controlling for beginning-of-year achievement and self-concept. Teachers’ expectations were, however, not predictive of end-of-year intrinsic and utility value.Third, we did not find evidence for moderation effects of students’ gender and minority background. These findings imply that despite the roughly similar magnitude of teacher expectation effects for various student groups, teacher expectations may contribute to gaps in students’ achievement and self-concept because of differential expectations at the beginning of the year

Gender and minority background as moderators of teacher expectation effects on self-concept, subjective task values, and academic performance

Two developments in teacher expectation research formed the basis for the current study. First, researchers have begun investigating the self-fulfilling prophecy effects of teacher expectations on a variety of psycho-social outcomes in addition to the effects on academic achievement. Second, researchers have started to realize that some groups of students appeared to be more vulnerable or susceptible to teacher expectations. The current study aimed to investigate whether students’ gender and minority background were moderators of teacher expectation effects for both academic outcomes and self-concept and subjective task value in the mathematics domain. The study is based on a sample of 1663 students (Grades 6 and 7) in 42 classes from three intermediate schools in New Zealand. Multilevel modeling was applied using MLwiN software. First, after controlling for students’ beginning-of-year mathematics achievement, teacher expectations were higher for Asian and lower for Māori, compared with New Zealand European students. Expectations within the domain of mathematics, however, were higher for girls than for boys. Second, teachers’ beginning-year expectations were predictive of achievement and self-concept of students at end-of-year, after controlling for beginning-of-year achievement and self-concept. Teachers’ expectations were, however, not predictive of end-of-year intrinsic and utility value.Third, we did not find evidence for moderation effects of students’ gender and minority background. These findings imply that despite the roughly similar magnitude of teacher expectation effects for various student groups, teacher expectations may contribute to gaps in students’ achievement and self-concept because of differential expectations at the beginning of the year

Part-time Special Education Predicts Students’ Reading Self-concept Development

The academic self-concept changes from childhood to early adulthood in relation to experiences of capability in different school tasks and comparison with peers. Students in special education have a lower academic self-concept than their peers do, but it is unclear how part-time special education affects self-concept development. In Finnish schools, part-time special education is learning support that is usually provided for 1–2 h/week in small groups. The main aim of this study was exploring the effects of participation in part-time special education and gender on the level and change in three academic self-concept domains (General School, Mathematics and Reading) between the ages of 11 and 13 years (N = 669). Use of the multilevel growth curve model revealed negative linear development in all three self-concept domains from Grades 5 to 7, but participation in part-time special education had a statistically significant positive effect on the development of the Reading self-concept

Do teachers differ in the level of expectations or in the extent to which they differentiate in expectations? Relations between teacher -level expectations, teacher background and beliefs, and subsequent student performance

Previous studies have indicated that, although some teachers have substantial expectation effects on student outcomes, the effects for most teachers are only small. Furthermore, teacher expectations are associated with key pedagogical differences related to teacher beliefs about providing instruction and support for learning. The aim of this study was to explore (a) teacher-level differences in the level and differentiation of expectations, (b) associations between teacher differences in expectations and teacher background and beliefs, and (c) relationships with subsequent student performance. Secondary analyses were performed on data for 42 teachers and their students in New Zealand. The results were supportive of the notion that some teachers were differentiating more between students in their expectations than others. Teachers who differentiated more perceived students generally as more competent, but felt less related to the school team, and perceived more classroom stress. Differentiation in expectations was negatively related to end-of-year mathematics scores

What influences students' peer-feedback uptake? Relations between error tolerance, feedback tolerance, writing self-efficacy, perceived language skills and peer-feedback processing

This study investigated the extent to which the uptake of peer-feedback of 10th grade students (N = 160, age range = 15–16) related to intrapersonal factors (error tolerance, feedback tolerance, and writing self-efficacy) and interpersonal factors (feedback provider's language skills, as perceived by the feedback recipient). Two groups of students received similar feedback on their writing performance, provided by trained research-assistants. Half the students was led to believe that feedback was provided by a peer perceived to have stronger language skills than their own, whereas the other half was led to believe that feedback was provided by a peer perceived to have weaker language skills than their own. Results showed that (1) error tolerance was related to feedback tolerance, (2) perceived language skills of the feedback provider positively related to the uptake of peer-feedback on writing style, and (3) error tolerance, feedback tolerance, and writing self-efficacy did not relate to peer-feedback uptake. These results emphasize the central role of errors in peer-feedback processing and they imply that the importance of interpersonal factors should not be overlooked when predicting or explaining peer-feedback uptake