A Difference of Perception: How a Racial Mismatch between Students and Teachers affect Academic Outcomes

• In Event: 1284 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 05. Race/Ethnicity in Educational Contexts

Abstract

On average, black children enter elementary school behind their white counter parts, but schooling does little to close this gap; in fact, the racial achievement gap widens as students matriculate through the educational process. Scholars have turned their attention to the study non-cognitive skills as a way of understanding why some students fail and others succeed. Much of the literature acknowledges a positive effect of non-cognitive skills on academic outcomes, but shortcomings exist in the literature in understanding how race impacts the teachers' perceptions of students’ noncognitive skills given the subjective nature of assessment of these skills. This paper specifically examines how race and gender impact teachers' perceptions of students’ effort as well as how this contributes to student’s academics. I find on average, teachers believe students put forth less effort than the student’s perception of their effort, but black and male students are rated by teachers as giving significantly less effort than the students own assessment. This mismatch in perceived effort between teachers and students is associated with lower academic grades in math and reading despite the students’ academic ability in these subjects.

Author

• Leah Gillion, Princeton University