There’s a copious amount of research on the effect role models have on developing minds, but a new study raises the bar for what kind of role models might be most effective in the classroom. Researchers from the University of Arkansas, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and Harvard University have joined forces to discover that students may perform better on exams if their role models—their teachers—are of the same ethnicity.
First reported by Stephen Sawchuck for Education Week and published in the April edition of Economics of Education Review, researchers examined eight years of math and reading test scores for students in third through tenth grades and compared the test results between classes and grades to see if “race-congruent” teachers played a role in student achievement.
As it turns out, there is a positive impact when teachers and students are the same race, albeit a slight one. Black and white students both saw small improvements in reading test scores when paired with a race-congruent teacher; black, white, and Asian/Pacific students saw small improvements in math. Not only that, but black and white students who had formerly struggled with the tests saw marked improvements when taught by a race-congruent teacher.
There were some deviations from the trend, as Sawchuck points out: Hispanic students paired with Hispanic teachers occasionally performed more poorly on exams than their peers taught by those of another ethnicity. This anomaly may be due to the diverse Hispanic population concentrated in Florida.
Of course, a teacher’s ethnicity has little to do with his or her efficacy as an educator. This study, however, speaks to the sort of implicit, subconscious effect race plays in the classroom—and how it might help your struggling students.
Additional ISM resources:
Private School News Vol. 14 No. 1 New Research: Teachers Subconsciously Discourage Girls From STEM Studies
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 27 No. 12 Professional Development and Your Senior Administrative Staff
I&P Vol. 28 No. 10 Mission-Centered Advisory Programs
