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Assessed by a Teacher Like Me: Race and Teacher Assessments

Author

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  • Amine Ouazad

    (INSEAD Department of Economics 77300 Fontainebleau France)

Abstract
Do teachers assess same-race students more favorably? This paper uses nationally representative data on teacher assessments of student ability that can be compared with test scores to determine whether teachers give better assessments to same-race students. The data set follows students from kindergarten to grade 5, a period during which racial gaps in test scores increase rapidly. Teacher assessments comprise up to twenty items measuring specific skills. Using a unique within-student and within-teacher identification and while controlling for subject-specific test scores, I find that teachers do assess same-race students more favorably. Effects appear in kindergarten and persist thereafter. Robustness checks suggest that: student behavior does not explain this effect; same-race effects are evident in teacher assessments of most of the skills; grading Òon the curveÓ should be associated with lower assessments; and measurement error in assessments or test scores does not significantly affect the estimates. © 2014 Association for Education Finance and Policy

Suggested Citation

  • Amine Ouazad, 2014. "Assessed by a Teacher Like Me: Race and Teacher Assessments," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 334-372, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:334-372
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    7. Seth Gershenson & Stephen B. Holt & Nicholas Papageorge, 2015. "Who Believes in Me? The Effect of Student-Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations," Upjohn Working Papers 15-231, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    8. Eisenkopf, Gerald & Hessami, Zohal & Fischbacher, Urs & Ursprung, Heinrich W., 2015. "Academic performance and single-sex schooling: Evidence from a natural experiment in Switzerland," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 123-143.
    9. Penney, Jeffrey, 2023. "Same race teachers do not necessarily raise academic achievement," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
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    12. Shi, Ying & Zhu, Maria, 2023. "“Model minorities” in the classroom? Positive evaluation bias towards Asian students and its consequences," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    13. Egalite, Anna J. & Kisida, Brian & Winters, Marcus A., 2015. "Representation in the classroom: The effect of own-race teachers on student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 44-52.
    14. Hill, Andrew J. & Jones, Daniel B., 2018. "A teacher who knows me: The academic benefits of repeat student-teacher matches," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-12.
    15. Jeffrey Penney, 2017. "Racial Interaction Effects and Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(4), pages 447-467, Fall.
    16. Harbatkin, Erica, 2021. "Does student-teacher race match affect course grades?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    race; test scores; teacher assessments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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