Ethnicity, Teachers' Expectations, and the Academic Achievement Process in Canada

This research examines the extent to which differences in achievement between German-speaking and French-speaking students are accountedfor by the expectations of their teachers. A causal model incorporating both normative and cognitive expectations of teachers is used. The results suggest that teachers base their expectations on the intellectual ability and previous performance of students rather than upon their ethnicity or other ascribed characteristics. Moreover, the data indicate that expectations affect the teachers' evaluation of learning to a greater degree than they affect actual learning.