Address teacher perception biases through teacher training and professional development focused on scaffolding and identifying children needing extra support¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 6 claims (5 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article's implication section recommends targeting teacher perceptions in professional development as an avenue for addressing the achievement gap. "Further investigation into whether and how these perceptions could be addressed in teacher training and professional development is also recommended (Kilday et al., 2012), with particular attention to assisting teachers in learning how to appropriately scaffold children's learning." It also recommends continued research into teacher background, training, and contextual factors such as the preschool work environment.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers need accurate understanding of preschoolers' knowledge and skills to provide differentiated instruction matched to children's needs

Constraints¶

• The article recommends further investigation of how perceptions could be addressed; it did not itself evaluate any training intervention

Target Learners¶

• low-income, ethnically diverse preschoolers aged 3 to 5

Target Learning Goals¶

• language and pre-literacy skills
• mathematics skills

Claims¶

• Contrary to hypotheses, preschoolers with more behavior problems were perceived by teachers as having significantly better pre-academic abilities than they actually had [+W]
• Even controlling for actual skill, older children, children with stronger social skills, and children with fewer inattentive symptoms were perceived as more academically able by preschool teachers [+W]
• Preschool teachers' perceptions of children's academic abilities were not associated with child gender or race/ethnicity [~W]
• Preschool teachers both over- and underestimate children's pre-academic abilities relative to objective assessment, with substantial numbers of children discrepant in each direction [+W]
• Prior objective achievement is a strong predictor of preschool academic skill and may be protective against harmful teacher perceptions, while low-income children are most vulnerable to negative perceptions [+W]
• Preschoolers severely underestimated by their teachers showed weaker fall-to-spring academic skill growth, significant for language and pre-literacy but not for math [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Social Emotional Learning Protective
• Implement sustained educator development programs including needs assessment, coaching, communities of practice, and experiential learning

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Baker Courtney N., Tichovolsky Marianne H., Kupersmidt Janis B., Voegler-Lee Mary Ellen, Arnold David H. (2015). Teacher (Mis)Perceptions of Preschoolers' Academic Skills: Predictors and Associations With Longitudinal Outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000008