About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 3. Schooling and Education

Abstract

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Purpose
Teachers’ racial and gendered biases have critical implications for students' classroom experiences, self-perceptions, academic achievement, and racialized discipline (Legette et al., 2021; Lorenzetti & Johnson, 2022). Teachers' biased perceptions of behavior for boys and girls, as well as Black and White students are well documented (Downey & Pribesh, 2004; Wright, 2016). However, teachers’ biased perceptions towards Latine students have been relatively understudied (Wayman, 2002). Thus, this study aims to investigate how student race and gender differently impact teachers’ perceptions of student behavior among Black, Latine, and White youth, as well as females and males. Additionally, professional development focusing on anti-bias and anti-racist teaching practices have been suggested to minimize teachers’ biased perceptions and improve inclusive classroom environments (Lin et al., 2008). Research has shown that implementing both these teachings can increase educators’ overall cultural competency (Okonofua et al., 2022; Villavicencio et al., 2022). As such, this study also investigates how teachers’ anti-bias and anti-racist coursework may mitigate teachers’ racialized and gendered perceptions.

Research Questions
RQ1) Do teachers rate students’ behaviors (i.e., typical, inappropriate, disobedient, or disrespectful) differently based on student gender (i.e., girl and boy) and race (i.e., Black, Latine, White)?
RQ2) How does teachers’ anti-bias and/or anti-racist training shape their racialized and gendered perceptions of students?

Procedure
20 teachers (60% White, 70% female) from 4 elementary schools in the Midwest responded to vignettes about students' misbehavior. The vignettes were manipulated using stereotypical names to elicit race (e.g., Jamal, Maria, Jose). Teachers reported their perceptions of the behavior as inappropriate, typical, disobedient, and disrespectful (1= Not at all to 5= Very). Teachers also reported whether they have taken any classes in their education preparation program that addressed anti-racist and/or anti-bias teaching (yes/no).

Analyses
A series of one-way ANOVAs and post-hoc analysis were conducted to test if the child’s race and gender shaped teachers' perceptions of students’ behaviors (typical, inappropriate, disobedient, and disrespectful). Multiple linear regressions were performed to test if anti-bias/anti-racist training moderated the association between the child’s race/gender and teachers’ perceptions of students’ behaviors.

Results
RQ1) Teachers perceived Latine and Black students’ misbehaviors as more inappropriate (F(2,92)=.085, p<.05) and disobedient (F(2,91)=.111, p<.05) than White students. Additionally, teachers perceived Latine students' misbehavior as more disrespectful (F(2,88)=.085, p<.05) compared to Black and White students. Regarding gender, teachers perceived boys’ misbehavior as more typical than girls, (F(1,91)=.103, p<.05), and there was marginal significance indicating teachers perceived girls’ misbehavior as more disrespectful than boys (F(1,89)=.034, p=.082).
RQ2) Teachers with prior anti-racist training were less likely to perceive Black students’ behaviors as inappropriate (t=-2.08, p<.05) and disrespectful (t=-2.04, p<.05), and less likely to view Latine students’ misbehavior as inappropriate (t=-1.91, p=.062). Marginal significance was shown with anti-bias training and perceptions of Latine students, such that teachers with previous anti-bias training viewed Latine misbehavior as less disobedient (t=-1.79, p=.08).

Conclusion
Our results indicate that teachers’ racial and gendered perceptions of students shape their perception of the students’ misbehavior. As such, students may be reprimanded by their teachers more frequently and severely for similar misbehavior displayed by their peers, based on their race and/or gender (Breese, 2023; Chin et al., 2022). Our findings suggest that anti-bias and anti-racist training for educators may mitigate the impact of teachers’ biased perceptions of student misbehavior. This is because these trainings allow teachers to reflect on their racial and gendered biases and be conscious of the perceptions they carry, especially in the classroom. Thus, anti-bias and anti-racist training should be implemented in teacher educator programs and provided as professional development for in-service teachers.

Author information

Author	Role
Cristina Dimova, University of Denver	Presenting author
Colleen Cassidy, University of Denver, United States	Non-presenting author
Kamilah Legette, University of Denver, United States	Non-presenting author

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