Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

A significant body of research indicates that minority students perform better with teachers of the same race. Race and class are intertwined, but little is known about the effect of student-teacher socioeconomic (SES) match on student outcomes. Exploring the role of teachers’ SES backgrounds is one potential, yet unexplored, mechanism through which we might be able to better understand why race-match relationships exist. Further, SES-match may be predictive of better student outcomes independently of racial match for several reasons. First, research has shown that teachers stereotype students based on class differences. If a teacher is from a lower SES background, such bias toward low SES students may be eased. Second, teachers from low SES backgrounds may utilize their experience to better connect with or communicate with children from low SES backgrounds. Third, such teachers may serve as role models and mentors for low SES students, giving them an example of a person from their socioeconomic background who successfully completed college.

We propose to study this topic using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort 2010-2011. Specifically, the aims of this research project include:

1) Quantifying the link between a teacher’s SES background and student SES,
2) Measuring the impact of these matches (and mismatches) on teacher expectations, student achievement, discipline, and special education classification, and
3) For each of these aims, exploring how these relationships may vary by race and gender.

Results inform how we can develop useful interventions and influence teacher preparation efforts that will positively and directly benefit youth.