Teacher expectations can influence children's psychosocial outcomes; yet not all children confirm teacher expectations. Social psychology and developmental psychopathology offer theories to help predict which children are susceptible to teacher expectations and which children resist those expectations. To date, however, almost no empirical research has tested these predictions. In addition, very few researchers have examine children's differential response to high and low expectations (controlling for prior achievement). The proposed research applies what is known about expectancy process, stereotype threat, and self-verification to make and test predictions about children's differential susceptibility to expectancy effects. In particular, this research will evaluate the influence of ethnicity, gender, and self-concept in first, third, and fifth grade children's differential response to teacher expectations. Unlike previous research, the proposed project explores children's differential response to high and low expectations separately. This research also explores developmental changes in children's differential response to teacher expectations.
| McKown, Clark; Weinstein, Rhona S (2003) The development and consequences of stereotype consciousness in middle childhood. Child Dev 74:498-515 |
