Student ethnicity and teacher expectations

This study investigated the relationship between student ethnicity and teacher expectations and how these expectations were communicated to students through the types of questions they were asked. The subjects for this study were twenty-two second grade students. The first phase of the study consisted of observations in which the questions asked by the teacher and the ethnicity of the student were recorded. They were later categorized as low order and high order questions. Finally, a Chi square test was used to determine if there was a significant relationship between ethnicity and teacher expectations. The study revealed that no significant relationship existed between White, Black, and Latino students and the types of questions they were asked by their teacher (X=5.047). Furthermore, no statistically significant relationship was found between Black and Latino students (X=3.412) and between white and Black students (X=.0360). The study, however, revealed a significant relationship between White and Latino students and the types of questions each ethnic group was asked by the teacher (X=4.541, p\u3c.05)