Poorer Children and Teacher Perception

[JIM CURRAN]

Children from poorer families perceived by teachers as less able, says study
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds or with special needs may be marked down in critical primary school assessments because of unconscious bias affecting their teachers, according to research published on Tuesday.

The research also suggests familiar gender stereotypes – that boys are good at maths and girls are better at reading – may create a vicious cycle, and that this may “continue to play a part in creating and perpetuating inequalities”.

The work by University College London’s Institute of Education compared results from standardised tests by nearly 5,000 primary school pupils in England with assessments of their ability by their teachers. It found significant differences in how the pupils performed compared with their teachers’ judgment.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... ary-school

[maizie]

It is very worrying.

I have frequently encountered the belief that poor children will have difficulty learning to read because there won't be any books in their homes and their parents won't read with them. it's not even ability related, just a 'fact of poverty'.

But surely it is up to schools to make up the deficit?

[Susan Godsland]

Research, studying factors that predict children's reading ability, showed that in Britain the strongest predictor at age seven was the mother's level of education rather than the child's IQ (D.McGuinness Why Children Can't Read p29).

As Tom Burkard explains, 'When teachers don't teach, the education children receive from their parents becomes of paramount importance, and the children of ill-educated parents are at an overwhelming disadvantage' (Burkard.2007.p30)

https://heatherfblog.wordpress.com/2014 ... h-reading/
''Most schools rely on parents to teach children to read..''

[JIM CURRAN]

Pygmalion in the classroom ( Rosenthal & Jacobson)
http://www.sagepub.com/newman6study/res ... nthal1.htm

[JIM CURRAN]

Stereotyped at Seven? Biases in Teacher Judgement of Pupils’ Ability and Attainment
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/di ... 9415000227