Linking Black Middle School Students' Perceptions of Teachers' Expectations to Academic Engagement and Efficacy.

Abstract Teachers' expectations are consistent predictors of performance outcomes for elementary, middle, and secondary students. However, the literature is not as clear in articulating exactly how teacher expectations influence such outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine whether perceptions of teachers' expectations are predictive of students' academic efficacy and engagement. Two hundred sixty-two Black middle-grade students reported their perceptions of their teachers' expectations for classroom performance, along with their academic engagement and academic efficacy. Perceived teacher expectation emerged as a significant predictor of students' academic efficacy and each form of academic engagement. Limitations and future research directions are discussed. Introduction The effects of teacher expectations have been well examined in the education literature (Alvidrez & Weinstein, 1999; Babad & Taylor, 1992; Gill & Reynolds, 1999; Gottfredson, Marciniak, Birdseye, & Gottfredson, 1995; Jussim & Eccles, 1992; Jussim & Harber, 2005; Kenealy, Frude, & Shaw, 1991; Kuklinski & Weinstein, 2001; Lane, Pierson, & Givner, 2003; Rubie-Davies, 2006; Rubie-Davis, Hattie, & Hamilton, 2006). Across many of these studies, however, what is typically unaccounted for is the effect that teacher expectations have on the cognitive antecedents of academic performance. Though some have suggested that cognitive factors typically precede academic performance and are themselves preceded by various contextual factors (Bandura, 1997; Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), education researchers have yet to investigate whether teachers' expectations-as exhibited through their classroom practices-are associated with the cognitive antecedents of student performance. Thus, a need to study significant associations between perceived teacher expectations and academic engagement and academic efficacy for middle-grade students seems warranted. Gay (2000), Gill, and Reynolds (1999) argue that examining such associations reveals that middle-grade-level Black African American students struggle academically. For some, these academic difficulties are linked to perceptions of low teacher expectations and the teacher-student relationship (Ferguson, 2003; Noguera, 2003). Thus, it is likely that these students' perceptions of teachers' expectations are associated with self-efficacy or competence, which may influence academic performance. More generally, research has shown that students in the middle-level grades are more likely to (a) engage in academic cheating behavior (Anderman, Griesinger, & Westerfield, 1998; Murdock, Hale, & Weber, 2001), (b) begin to consider dropping out of school (Rumberger, 1995), and (c) experience declines in academic motivation and self-esteem (Anderman, Maehr, & Midgley, 1999). Some research has uncovered that, for many middle-grade -level students, these maladaptive outcomes are linked to the classroom, particularly the teacher (Anderman et al., 1999; Haselhuhn, Groen, & Galloway, 2007; Martin, 2008). These teacher-based factors include student perceptions of teacher fairness (Finn & Frone, 2004; Roeser, Midgley, & Urdan, 1996), student perceptions of teacher competence and orientation towards students (Calabrese & Cochran, 1990; Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 1998), student perceptions of teacher caring and support (Midgley, Feldlauf er, & Eccles, 1989; Wentzel, 1997, 1998), and student perceptions of the teacher-student relationship (Furrer & Skinner, 2003). Given that many academic and psychological outcomes are associated with middle-level students' interactions with and perceptions of their classroom teachers, it is important to assess these students' own reports of their teachers' expectations. It is also important to determine whether a significant relationship emerges between perceived teacher expectations and the cognitive antecedents of academic performance, namely academic engagement and academic efficacy. …