Expectations of Students; Teacher Student Relationship IDENTIFIERS *Gender Issues

Attribution theory supports the notion that teachers respond to student behavior based upon their own beliefs regarding the causation of behavior. This study examined differences in male and female teachers ' attributions and beliefs in relation to gender and success of their students. Subjects, 250 high school teachers, half male and half female, completed a 2-part survey to measure their attributions of student success or failure in relation to gender-associated behaviors. The teachers were also asked to identify the gender of students believed to be most successful within the teacher's content area. Findings indicated over half of the female teachers and a third of the male teachers reported female students to be more successful in their content areas. Both male and female teachers reported boys to be most successful only in traditional male subjects, such as metal shop and woodworking, whereas female student