Contemporary Success of Black Teachers
A recently released study from the Johns Hopkins University Economics of Education Review shows that there are significant differences in how white, Black, and Hispanic teachers view the abilities and potential of Black students. Gershenson. Holt and Papageorge (2016) suggest that the low expectations of some teachers could affect the performance of students, particularly disadvantaged ones who lack access to role models who could counteract a teacher’s low expectations. Papageorge states:
“What we find is that white teachers and black teachers systematically disagree about the same student. One of them has to be wrong.”
In another study on the effects of racial interactions between teachers and students, Fairlie, Hoffmann, and Oreopoulos (2011) found the following:
“The performance gap in terms of class dropout and pass rates between white and minority students falls by roughly half when taught by a minority instructor.”
According to Fairlie, Hoffman, and Oreopoulos, in models that allow for a full set of ethnic and racial interactions between students and instructors:
“African-American students perform particularly better when taught by African-American instructors…The class dropout rate relative to Whites is six percentage points lower for Black students when taught by a Black instructor. Conditional on completing the course, the relative fraction attaining a B-average or greater is 13 percentage points higher.”
According to Gershenson, Hart, Davis, Lindsay, and Papageorge (2017), Black primary-school students matched to a same-race teacher performed better on standardized tests and had more favorable teacher perceptions. These researchers noted that having at least one black teacher in grades 3-5 also increased the likelihood that low-income students would aspire to go to college.
Citation
Blackmon, A.T. (2003). The influence of science education professional development on African American science teachers’ conceptual change and practice (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (Accession Order No. 3080303). Emory University.
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