Teacher judgements and gender achievement gaps in primary education in England, Germany, and the US

We examined whether inaccurate teacher judgements of primary school student achievement correlate with students' gender and whether such bias contributes to gender achievement gaps in language and mathematics. Our study used ex-post harmonised longitudinal data from England, Germany, and the US. We observed domain-specific teacher judgement bias with a positive bias for girls in the language domain and for boys in mathematics. Furthermore, biased teacher judgements partly mediated the effect of gender on later achievement. Despite these common findings, cross-country differences emerged in the extent of teacher judgement bias as well as its mediation of gender achievement gaps. We conclude that this is a topic of relevance across national contexts and where the institutional and societal setting needs more attention in future research.

Teacher expectations and students’ achievement in solving elementary arithmetic problems

The objective of this research was to verify whether teacher expectations of students' achievement in mathematics in solving elementary arithmetic problems are related to students’ performance in these problems. The sample was 1,420 students and 66 teachers from 48 schools in Spain.

First, we assessed whether differences existed in the level of resolution among students, with regard to such factors as grade, gender, or socioeconomic status. We then evaluated teachers' level of expectations of students in relation to the same factors. Finally, we aimed to verify to what extent teachers' expectations corresponded to students’ performance levels.

It was found that there is a moderate correlation between expectations and achievement, and that expectations were greater than the results. A comparison is made with the results of previous studies.

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There is a moderate correlation between expectations and achievement; expectations are still subject to stereotypes associated with social class.

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We can state that the stereotype associated with gender and mathematics is disappearing among teachers at the levels studied.

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Although teachers have changed over the years and, such as the one concerning the gender of our students, others are maintained.

Stereotypes about overweight students and their impact on grading among physical education teachers

A student’s weight is a particularly important characteristic in physical education. Research has shown that physical education teachers and people working in this area are particularly likely to hold strong negative implicit biases toward overweight students and that these students tend to earn lower grades in physical education. Stereotypes of overweight people might color teachers’ judgments of these students. In this study, we experimentally investigated whether overweight students received lower grades from physical education teachers on an exercise than normal weight students. We presented a verbal description of an exercise and asked teachers to grade a student’s performance and to judge the student’s social and working behaviors. Teachers gave lower grades to the overweight student, and regression analyses showed that their stereotypical beliefs predicted their judgments. Teachers’ motivation to control prejudice had no relation to their judgments. Nonetheless, our results showed that the same performance was graded worse only because the student was overweight.

Subtle discrimination: do stereotypes among teachers trigger bias in their expectations and widen ethnic achievement gaps?

Ethnic and racial disparities in educational outcomes, such as test scores, are a core issue of educational research. While the role of student and family factors in the formation of such disparities is well established, existing studies fail to draw a similarly clear picture of how teachers contribute to ethnic and racial achievement gaps. In contrast to previous studies, which focussed on the consequences of rather blatant forms of discrimination, such as in teachers’ grading practices, this study investigates rather subtle processes that might result in discrimination of ethnic and racial minority students. In particular, I address stereotypes among teachers and analyse if they induce bias in their achievement expectations for ethnic minority school beginners. Additionally, I analyse if such bias results in a self-fulfilling prophecy and contributes to ethnic achievement gaps at the end of first grade. Multilevel regressions applied to a sample of 1007 children and 64 teachers in German primary schools reveal that different teachers internalize distinct stereotypes regarding ethnic achievement gaps and the achievement-related attributes of ethnic minority students. I also find that teachers with more negative stereotypes expect lower mathematics and reading achievements for ethnic minority students at the beginning of first grade. However, although I replicate the finding that inaccurate teacher expectations result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, I find no statistically significant effects of teacher stereotypes on ethnic differences in the development of students’ reading and mathematical skills throughout first grade.

Climatic Warmth and National Wealth: Some Culture-Level Determinants of National Character Stereotypes

National character stereotypes are widely shared, but do not reflect assessed levels of personality traits. In this article we present data illustrating the divergence of stereotypes and assessed personality traits in north and south Italy, test hypotheses about the associations of temperature and national wealth with national character stereotypes in 49 cultures, and explore possible links to national values and beliefs. Results suggest that warmth and wealth are common determinants of national stereotypes, but that there are also idiosyncratic influences on the perceptions of individual nations.

Is there "smoke without fire"? Applying the theory of values to the study of motivational aspects of ethnic stereotypes: The case of Jewish stereotypes in Russia

Few studies have examined to what extent commonly held stereotypes reflect real intergroup differences in motivational goals. Taking a values perspective (Schwartz et al., 2012), the study examines value preferences among Jews and Russians in Russia, to assess the extent to which commonly held stereotypes reflect values of group members. Results showed that Jews reported substantially higher levels of universalism-tolerance, benevolence (both caring and dependability), and tradition values, and lower levels of power (both dominance and resources), and universalism-nature values, than Russians. Results indicated that the widespread Jewish stereotypes of power, achievement, and rootlessness/cosmopolitanism are ungrounded, while the stereotypes of liberalism and particularism are upheld by the reported differences in the value preferences between Jews and the majority population in Russia. The present study underscores the importance of value comparisons between ethnic minority and majority groups for understanding their motivational goals and thus fighting prejudices and discrimination.

Racial Bias in Perceptions of Size and Strength: The Impact of Stereotypes and Group Differences

Recent research has shown that race can influence perceptions of men’s size and strength. Across two studies (Study 1: N = 1,032, Study 2: N = 303) examining men and women from multiple racial groups (Asian, Black, and White adults), we found that although race does impact judgments of size and strength, raters’ judgments primarily track targets’ objective physical features. In some cases, racial stereotypes actually improved group-level accuracy, as these stereotypes aligned with racial-group differences in size and strength according to nationally representative data. We conclude that individuals primarily rely on individuating information when making physical judgments but do not completely discount racial stereotypes, which reflect a combination of real group-level differences and culturally transmitted beliefs.

From Culture 1.0 to Culture 3.0: Three Socio-Technical Regimes of Social and Economic Value Creation through Culture, and Their Impact on European Cohesion Policies

We develop a new conceptual framework to analyze the evolution of the relationship between cultural production and different forms of economic and social value creation in terms of three alternative socio-technical regimes that have emerged over time. We show how, with the emergence of the Culture 3.0 regime characterized by novel forms of active cultural participation, where the distinction between producers and users of cultural and creative contents is increasingly blurred, new channels of social and economic value creation through cultural participation acquire increasing importance. We characterize them through an eight-tier classification, and argue on this basis why cultural policy is going to acquire a central role in the policy design approaches of the future. Whether Europe will play the role of a strategic leader in this scenario in the context of future cohesion policies is an open question.

Context and Perceptual Salience Influence the Formation of Novel Stereotypes via Cumulative Cultural Evolution

We use a transmission chain method to establish how context and category salience influence the formation of novel stereotypes through cumulative cultural evolution. We created novel alien targets by combining features from three category dimensions-color, movement, and shape-thereby creating social targets that were individually unique but that also shared category membership with other aliens (e.g., two aliens might be the same color and shape but move differently). At the start of the transmission chains each alien was randomly assigned attributes that described it (e.g., arrogant, caring, confident). Participants were given training on the alien-attribute assignments and were then tested on their memory for these. The alien-attribute assignments participants produced during test were used as the training materials for the next participant in the transmission chain. As information was repeatedly transmitted an increasingly simplified, learnable stereotype-like structure emerged for targets who shared the same color, such that by the end of the chains targets who shared the same color were more likely to share the same attributes (a reanalysis of data from Martin et al., which we term Experiment 1). The apparent bias toward the formation of novel stereotypes around the color category dimension was also found for objects (Experiment 2). However, when the category dimension of color was made less salient, it no longer dominated the formation of novel stereotypes (Experiment 3). The current findings suggest that context and category salience influence category dimension salience, which in turn influences the cumulative cultural evolution of information.

How predictions of economic behavior are affected by the socio-economic status of the target person

We investigate how the stereotype of the poor (vs. middle class) influences behavioral predictions. In Study 1, participants made predictions regarding another person's economic behavior in scenarios pertaining to rate of time preferences (loss, gain of smaller and larger amount). We find that participants, across scenarios, expect individuals with low SES to show more short-sightedness-i.e., steeper temporal discounting. This pattern persisted until strong diagnostic information about previous economic behavior was provided. These results are novel but consistent with previous work on stereotype application. Study 2 probed stereotype accuracy. Participants with lower vs. higher SES reported how they would act in scenarios matching those of Study 1. We find that they respond very similarly, which is in contrast to the stereotype that poor people are more short-sighted and may possibly be taken to suggest that the association between low SES and short-sightedness is biased.

Ethnic and National Stereotypes: The Princeton Trilogy Revisited and Revised

Three studies assessed changes in the content, consensus, and favorableness of 10 ethnic and national stereotypes by replicating and extending the Princeton trilogy. Results indicated that throughout the past 60 years, almost all of the ethnic and national stereotypes that were examined had changed in content, and more than half had changed in consensus. Most changes in consensus reflected increases rather than decreases, suggesting that modern members of stereotyped groups may confront stereotypes more frequently than did previous members of stereotyped groups. However, the damaging effects that consensual stereotypes can have on members of these groups may be tempered by the finding that most of the stereotypes became more favorable. These results are discussed in terms of changing social roles, intergroup contact, and stereotype accuracy.

Is this about You or Me? Self-Versus Other-Directed Judgments and Feelings in Response to Intergroup Interaction

This research demonstrated that both dominant and lower status group members’ responses to interacting with an out-group member can center largely on thoughts and feelings about themselves. Pairs of students (either two White Canadians or one White Canadian and one Aboriginal Canadian) had casual get-acquainted discussions. Consistent with our hypothesis that individuals would tend to frame the interaction in terms of the other person’s evaluation of them, high-prejudice White Canadians felt stereotyped by an Aboriginal partner even though they actually were not stereotyped and even though they themselves did not stereotype an Aboriginal partner. Moreover, Aboriginal Canadians appeared to personalize negative behaviors exhibited by their White partner. These individuals experienced discomfort and self-directed negative affect—but not other-directed negative affect—when their White partner was high in prejudice.

What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn't be, are Allowed to be, and don't Have to Be: The Contents of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes

This article presents a four-category framework to characterize the contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. The framework distinguishes between prescriptions and proscriptions that are intensified by virtue of one's gender, and those that are relaxed by virtue of one's gender. Two studies examined the utility of this framework for characterizing prescriptive gender stereotypes in American society (Study 1) and in the highly masculine context of Princeton University (Study 2). The results demonstrated the persistence of traditional gender prescriptions in both contexts, but also revealed distinct areas of societal vigilance and leeway for each gender. In addition, they showed that women are seen more positively, relative to societal standards, than are men. We consider the implications of this framework for research on reactions to gender stereotype deviants and sex discrimination.

Précis of Social Perception and Social Reality: Why accuracy dominates bias and self-fulfilling prophecy

Social Perception and Social Reality (Jussim 2012) reviews the evidence in social psychology and related fields and reaches three conclusions: (1) Although errors, biases, and self-fulfilling prophecies in person perception are real, reliable, and occasionally quite powerful, on average, they tend to be weak, fragile, and fleeting. (2) Perceptions of individuals and groups tend to be at least moderately, and often highly accurate. (3) Conclusions based on the research on error, bias, and self-fulfilling prophecies routinely greatly overstate their power and pervasiveness, and consistently ignore evidence of accuracy, agreement, and rationality in social perception. The weight of the evidence – including some of the most classic research widely interpreted as testifying to the power of biased and self-fulfilling processes – is that interpersonal expectations relate to social reality primarily because they reflect rather than cause social reality. This is the case not only for teacher expectations, but also for social stereotypes, both as perceptions of groups, and as the bases of expectations regarding individuals. The time is long overdue to replace cherry-picked and unjustified stories emphasizing error, bias, the power of self-fulfilling prophecies, and the inaccuracy of stereotypes, with conclusions that more closely correspond to the full range of empirical findings, which includes multiple failed replications of classic expectancy studies, meta-analyses consistently demonstrating small or at best moderate expectancy effects, and high accuracy in social perception.

Gatekeepers of the American Dream: how teachers' perceptions shape the academic outcomes of immigrant and language-minority students

High school teachers evaluate and offer guidance to students as they approach the transition to college based in part on their perceptions of the student's hard work and potential to succeed in college. Their perceptions may be especially crucial for immigrant and language-minority students navigating the U.S. educational system. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we consider how the intersection of nativity and language-minority status may (1) inform teachers' perceptions of students' effort and college potential, and (2) shape the link between teachers' perceptions and students' academic progress towards college (grades and likelihood of advancing to more demanding math courses). We find that teachers perceive immigrant language-minority students as hard workers, and that their grades reflect that perception. However, these same students are less likely than others to advance in math between the sophomore and junior years, a critical point for preparing for college. Language-minority students born in the U.S. are more likely to be negatively perceived. Yet, when their teachers see them as hard workers, they advance in math at the same rates as nonimmigrant native English speaking peers. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering both language-minority and immigrant status as social dimensions of students' background that moderate the way that high school teachers' perceptions shape students' preparation for college.

The spontaneous formation of stereotypes via cumulative cultural evolution

All people share knowledge of cultural stereotypes of social groups--but what are the origins of these stereotypes? We examined whether stereotypes form spontaneously as information is repeatedly passed from person to person. As information about novel social targets was passed down a chain of individuals, what initially began as a set of random associations evolved into a system that was simplified and categorically structured. Over time, novel stereotypes emerged that not only were increasingly learnable but also allowed generalizations to be made about previously unseen social targets. By illuminating how cognitive and social factors influence how stereotypes form and change, these findings show how stereotypes might naturally evolve or be manipulated.

Motivation in educational contexts: does gender matter?

Girls and women now outperform boys and men on many indices of academic achievement. Gender differences in motivation may underlie these trends. In this chapter, I review and integrate research on gender differences in self-evaluation, self-regulation, and achievement goals. I argue for the existence of gendered tendencies "to prove" versus "to try and to improve," whereby males tend to orient to demonstrating and defending their abilities, and females to working hard and addressing deficiencies. I discuss how these motivations develop within social and educational contexts of learning, and intersect with gendered patterns of socialization, values, and behaviors in other arenas, especially relational ones. Recurring themes include the costs and benefits of differential emphases on competition and self-promotion versus affiliation and consideration of others in the family, peer group, and classroom. I conclude with some recommendations for creating classroom environments that might promote optimal motivation among all students, regardless of gender.

Family Socioeconomic Status, Parent Expectations, and a Child's Achievement

This study investigates how a family's socioeconomic status (SES) affects a child's educational achievement and differentiates the direct effects of SES on these experiences from the indirect ones as they are mediated by the school. This distinction is an important one as it is in the latter realm where social policy can have an impact. The data are from a nationally representative sample of children enrolled in kindergarten in the US in the Spring of 2000. The percentage of the parents expecting their child to earn at least a Bachelor's degree rises with family SES. However, the percentage of high-SES parents of low-achieving students expecting their child to earn at least a Bachelor's degree is higher than that for low- and middle-SES parents of high-achieving students. Ordinary least squares regression analyses using a mediation model were used to distinguish direct from indirect effects of the family's SES score on achievement. Unexpectedly, the direct effects are greater than the indirect ones.

What are lay theories of social class?

Numerous studies have documented the effects of social class on psychological and behavioral variables. However, lay beliefs about how social class affects these dimensions have not been systematically tested. Studies 1 and 2 assessed lay beliefs about the association between social class and 8 variables (including psychological and behavioral tendencies and cognitive ability). Study 3 assessed lay beliefs about the Big five personality traits and social class, and study 4 reframed the 8 variables from study 1 in opposite terms and yielded similar results. Study 5 contained the variables framed as in both studies 1 and 4, and replicated those results suggesting that framing effects were not responsible for the effects observed. Interestingly, for the most part lay beliefs about social class did not differ as a function of participants’ own social class. In general people held relatively accurate and consistent stereotypes about the relationship between social class and well-being, health, intelligence, and neuroticism. In contrast lay beliefs regarding social class and reasoning styles, as well as relational, social, and emotional tendencies were less consistent and coherent. This work suggests that on the whole people’s beliefs about social class are not particularly accurate, and further that in some domains there are contradictory stereotypes about the consequences of social class.

The role of teachers' expectations in the association between children's SES and performance in kindergarten: a moderated mediation analysis

This study examines the role of teachers' expectations in the association between children's socio-economic background and achievement outcomes. Furthermore, the role of children's ethnicity in moderating this mediated relation is investigated. In the present study, 3,948 children from kindergarten are examined. Data are analysed by means of structural equation modeling. First, results show that teachers' expectations mediate the relation between children's SES and their later language and math achievement, after controlling for children's ethnicity, prior achievement and gender. This result indicates that teachers may exacerbate individual differences between children. Second, children's ethnicity moderates the mediation effect of teachers' expectations with respect to math outcomes. The role of teachers' expectations in mediating the relation between SES and math outcomes is stronger for majority children than for minority children.

Genauigkeit von Lehrerurteilen über die Lesekompetenz ihrer Schülerinnen und Schüler in der Sekundarstufe I – Eine Frage der Spezifität? 1Dieser Beitrag wurde unter der geschäftsführenden Herausgeberschaft von Jens Möller angenommen

Zusammenfassung. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde die Akkuratheit von globalen (Konstruktebene) und aufgabenspezifischen (Aufgabenebene) Lehrereinschätzungen von Schülerleistungen im Bereich des Lesens untersucht und verglichen. Darüber hinaus wurde der Einfluss des Geschlechts und des sozioökonomischen Status auf die Lehrerurteile überprüft. Die Ergebnisse beziehen sich auf 64 Deutschlehrkräfte und deren Klassen der fünften Jahrgangsstufe, die an der BiKS-Studie teilnahmen. Die Lehrerurteile wiesen sowohl auf der Konstrukt- als auch auf der Aufgabenebene nur geringe Zusammenhänge mit den Schülerleistungen auf. Dabei fielen die globalen Lehrerurteile akkurater aus als die aufgabenspezifischen Einschätzungen. In ihren Urteilen auf Aufgabenebene überschätzten die Deutschlehrkräfte im Mittel das Niveau der Lesekompetenz, schätzten aber die Streuung akkurat ein und wiesen eine mittelhohe Trefferquote auf. Zudem zeigte sich, dass diese Komponenten nur gering miteinander korrelierten. Weiterhin konnten wir in dieser Studie feststellen, dass weder der sozioökonomische Status noch das Geschlecht der Schülerinnen und Schüler über die Schülerleistung hinaus einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die globalen und aufgabenspezifischen Lehrereinschätzungen hatten.

Self-verification as a mediator of mothers' self-fulfilling effects on adolescents' educational attainment

This research examined whether self-verification acts as a general mediational process of self-fulfilling prophecies. The authors tested this hypothesis by examining whether self-verification processes mediated self-fulfilling prophecy effects within a different context and with a different belief and a different outcome than has been used in prior research. Results of longitudinal data obtained from mothers and their adolescents (N=332) indicated that mothers' beliefs about their adolescents' educational outcomes had a significant indirect effect on adolescents' academic attainment through adolescents' educational aspirations. This effect, observed over a 6-year span, provided evidence that mothers' self-fulfilling effects occurred, in part, because mothers' false beliefs influenced their adolescents' own educational aspirations, which adolescents then self-verified through their educational attainment. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

The use of stereotypes and individuating information in political person perception

This article introduces the political person perception model, which identifies conditions under which perceivers rely on stereotypes (party membership), individuating information (issue position), or both in political person perception. Three studies supported the model's predictions. Study 1 showed that perceivers gave primacy to target information that was narrowly relevant to a judgment, whether that information was stereotypic or individuating. Study 2 found that perceivers relied exclusively on individuating information when it was narrowly relevant to the judgment and relied on both stereotype and individuating information when individuating information was not narrowly relevant to the judgment but did imply a political ideology. Study 3 replicated these findings in a more ecologically valid context and showed that people relied on party information in the absence of narrowly relevant policy positions and when individuating information did not imply a political ideology. Implications for political person perception and theories of stereotyping are discussed.

The validity and structure of culture-level personality scores: data from ratings of young adolescents

We examined properties of culture-level personality traits in ratings of targets (N=5,109) ages 12 to 17 in 24 cultures. Aggregate scores were generalizable across gender, age, and relationship groups and showed convergence with culture-level scores from previous studies of self-reports and observer ratings of adults, but they were unrelated to national character stereotypes. Trait profiles also showed cross-study agreement within most cultures, 8 of which had not previously been studied. Multidimensional scaling showed that Western and non-Western cultures clustered along a dimension related to Extraversion. A culture-level factor analysis replicated earlier findings of a broad Extraversion factor but generally resembled the factor structure found in individuals. Continued analysis of aggregate personality scores is warranted.

Motivationale und affektive Merkmale unterschätzter Schüler

In diesem Beitrag werden zwei Untersuchungen zur diagnostischen Kompetenz von Lehrkräften und den motivational-affektiven Merkmalen unterschätzter und überschätzter Schüler präsentiert. An den Untersuchungen in Deutschland und China nahmen jeweils acht Grundschulklassen sowie deren Mathematiklehrer teil. Die Viertklässler bearbeiteten einen Mathematikleistungstest und einen Selbstbeschreibungsfragebogen. Die Lehrkräfte schätzten die Schüler in Bezug auf die Testleistung und motivational-affektive Merkmale ein. Auf Grundlage der geschätzten und der tatsächlichen Testleistung erfolgte eine Einteilung in unterschätzte und überschätzte Schüler. Beide Untersuchungen kommen zu übereinstimmenden Ergebnissen. Die Lehrkräfte konnten Testleistungen mit guter Genauigkeit prognostizieren, aber hatten Schwierigkeiten damit motivational-affektive Schülermerkmale richtig einzuschätzen. Unterschätzte Schüler zeigten die gleiche Testleistung und Lernmotivation wie überschätzte Schüler, aber hatten eine niedrigere Erfolgserwartung, ein niedrigeres Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept und eine höhere Leistungsangst. Die Lehrer erwarteten, dass unterschätzte Schüler in der nächsten Mathematikarbeit schlechter abschneiden werden und mit schlechteren Noten zufrieden sind als überschätzte Schüler. Der Beurteilungsfehler der Lehrer beschränkte sich nicht allein auf die Testleistung, sondern generalisierte auf motivational-affektive Schülermerkmale.

Fachspezifität und Stabilität diagnostischer Kompetenz von Grundschullehrkräften in den Fächern Deutsch und Mathematik

Trotz der hohen Bedeutung diagnostischer Kompetenz von Lehrkräften ist über die Reichweite bzw. Spezifität des Konstrukts und ihre Stabilität bislang vergleichsweise wenig bekannt. Auf Basis längsschnittlicher Daten der Bamberger Forschergruppe BiKS gehen wir Fragen zur Güte, Spezifizität und Stabilität diagnostischer Urteile von Grundschullehrkräften in den Fächern Deutsch und Mathematik nach. Untersucht wurden die mit Abstand von einem halben Jahr im ersten und im zweiten Halbjahr der vierten Klassenstufe abgegebenen Urteile von 127 Klassenlehrerinnen und -lehrern zu den mathematischen und sprachlichen Leistungen ihrer jeweiligen Schülerinnen und Schüler. Die Urteile wurden mit den gleichzeitig erhobenen entsprechenden Testleistungen der von diesen Lehrkräften unterrichteten und von uns untersuchten 1.852 bayerischen und hessischen Schülerinnen und Schülern in Beziehung gesetzt. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass sich die Fähigkeit von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern, Schülerleistungen in eine Rangreihe zu bringen, erwartungsgemäß fachbezogen, kaum jedoch fachübergreifend abbilden lässt. Hinsichtlich der Güte diagnostischer Urteile bestätigen sich die in der Literatur berichteten Befunde zur Rangordnungskomponente, die in unserer Stichprobe in Abhängigkeit vom Zeitpunkt und Fach zwischen r = .54 und .66 variiert. Die Analysen zur Stabilität der Güte fachbezogener diagnostischer Urteile verdeutlichen, dass es Gründe für die Annahme einer zeitlich überdauernden fachbezogenen diagnostischen Kompetenz von Grundschullehrkräften gibt. Die Konsequenzen dieser Befunde sowohl für theoretische Modelle der Diagnosekompetenz als auch des Professionsbegriffs bei Lehrkräften werden diskutiert.

A longitudinal study of the simultaneous influence of mothers' and teachers' educational expectations on low-income youth's academic achievement

This short-term longitudinal study investigated the simultaneous influences of adults' (mothers and teachers) educational expectations and youth's achievement (standardized test scores and teachers' ratings of academic performance) across a 3-year time span on youth's performance in school (GPA). Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of 426 low-income urban youth, ages 6 through 16 at T1. Results from cross-lagged and autoregressive path analyses indicated stability in adults' expectations and youth's standardized test scores; cross-lagged influences of teachers', but not mothers', expectations across time; and effects of youth's achievement outcomes on adults' expectations at T2, but not vice versa. Overall, the pattern of findings demonstrate that adults' educational expectations are dynamic and responsive to how youth are faring in school and to changes in academic performance across time.

Teacher expectations, classroom context, and the achievement gap

In two independent datasets with 1872 elementary-aged children in 83 classrooms, Studies 1 and 2 examined the role of classroom context in moderating the relationship between child ethnicity and teacher expectations. For Study 1 overall and Study 2 mixed-grade classrooms, in ethnically diverse classrooms where students reported high levels of differential teacher treatment (PDT) towards high and low achieving students, teacher expectations of European American and Asian American students were between .75 and 1.00 standard deviations higher than teacher expectations of African American and Latino students with similar records of achievement. In highly diverse low-PDT classrooms in Study 1 and highly diverse low-PDT mixed-grade classrooms in Study 2, teachers held similar expectations for all students with similar records of achievement. Study 3 estimated the contribution of teacher expectations to the year-end ethnic achievement gap in high- and low-bias classrooms. In high-bias classrooms, teacher expectancy effects accounted for an average of .29 and up to .38 standard deviations of the year-end ethnic achievement gap.

Personality in its natural habitat: Manifestations and implicit folk theories of personality in daily life

To examine the expression of personality in its natural habitat, the authors tracked 96 participants over 2 days using the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), which samples snippets of ambient sounds in participants' immediate environments. Participants' Big Five scores were correlated with EAR-derived information on their daily social interactions, locations, activities, moods, and language use; these quotidian manifestations were generally consistent with the trait definitions and (except for Openness) often gender specific. To identify implicit folk theories about daily manifestations of personality, the authors correlated the EAR-derived information with impressions of participants based on their EAR sounds; judges' implicit folk theories were generally accurate (especially for Extraversion) and also partially gender specific. The findings point to the importance of naturalistic observation studies on how personality is expressed and perceived in the natural stream of everyday behavior.

Teacher expectations and self-fulfilling prophecies: knowns and unknowns, resolved and unresolved controversies

This article shows that 35 years of empirical research on teacher expectations justifies the following conclusions: (a) Self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom do occur, but these effects are typically small, they do not accumulate greatly across perceivers or over time, and they may be more likely to dissipate than accumulate; (b) powerful self-fulfilling prophecies may selectively occur among students from stigmatized social groups; (c) whether self-fulfilling prophecies affect intelligence, and whether they in general do more harm than good, remains unclear, and (d) teacher expectations may predict student outcomes more because these expectations are accurate than because they are self-fulfilling. Implications for future research, the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in social problems, and perspectives emphasizing the power of erroneous beliefs to create social reality are discussed.

Complicating race: the relationship between prejudice, race, and social class categorizations

Although racial stereotyping and prejudice research have received considerable attention, the important element of social class has been largely excluded from social psychological research. Using the Statement Recognition Procedure, two experiments investigated social categorization along race and social class dimensions, the influence of racial and social class prejudice on these categorizations, and differences between White and Black perceivers. Analyses conducted at the subtype of race and social class memberships demonstrated differing patterns of categorization based on subtype membership. For example, lowerclass Black targets were primarily categorized by race, whereas middle-class Black targets were primarily categorized by social class. The results demonstrate the importance of considering social class membership independent of and in conjunction with race. Theoretical and methodological implications regarding the study for race and social class categorizations are discussed.