Modifying biased teacher expectations in mathematics and German. A teacher intervention study

Abstract

Students’ migration backgrounds and low socioeconomic status can bias teacher expectations of student achievement in mathematics and German. The main goal of this intervention study was to inform, raise awareness, and provide opportunities to implement behaviors to modify primary school teachers’ biased achievement expectations. Before and after the implementation of the teacher training, data were collected using teacher, student, and parent questionnaires and student achievement tests in mathematics and German. Regression analyses using a sample of 860 students from Grades 4 to 6 from 75 classes showed that students’ migration backgrounds and socioeconomic status biased teacher expectations for pretests in mathematics and German. After the intervention, expectations in mathematics were unbiased by students’ migration background among teachers in the test group, in contrast to the control group. This study provides evidence for strategies to modify biased teacher expectations through teacher training.