What Primary School Teachers Are Guided by in Their Expectations Regarding the Academic Success of Students

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between teacher’s expectations and academic and socioemotional skills at the start of primary school students. The main hypothesis is that the relationship between teacher expectations and students’ socioemotional skills differs for students with different levels of academic performance. The study sample consists of 4,430 first-graders (51% girls, median age 7) enrolled in 249 classes. It has been figured out that teacher expectations are predicted both by students academic performance and by students socioemotional skills. In addition to the expected outcome that high academic performance is associated with favorable teacher expectations, socioemotional characteristics are also positively associated with expectations. Moreover, the effect is enhanced for children with low academic performance.