1998 - Teacher-Student Interactions and Race in Integrated Classrooms

Attribution: Casteel, Clifton A.
Researchers: Clifton A. Casteel
University Affiliation: Jefferson Parish Public School System- Jefferson Parish, LA
Email: cliftoncasteel@bellsouth.net
Research Question:
Are Black and White students treated differently by White teachers on the basis of race in integrated classrooms?
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: The Journal of Educational Research
Journal Entry: Vol. 92, No. 2, pp. 115
Year: 1998
Findings:
  • White teachers interacted more positively with White students than African American students.
  • Caucasian students were praised more often, given more clues to help answer questions, and more often called on by name to answer process questions than African American students. There were also gender differentials.
  • Teachers directed more process questions by name to boys. Boys were given more clues.
  • Teachers gave boys more praise even if answer was incorrect. These gender effects were valid only for White students.
  • Of all groups studied African American boys were treated least favorably by their teachers.
Keywords: African AmericanDisciplineIntegrationMiddle SchoolTeachersRegions: SouthMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: SurveyAnalysis Methods: ANOVA Sampling Frame:7th Grade Students
Sampling Types: NonrandomAnalysis Units: EducatorStudentData Types: Quantitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • The sample is 417 7th graders in 8 schools in a suburban public school district in SE Louisiana. The racial/gender gap composition of the sample is 184 African American and 233 Whites. Students sampled from low level, racially balanced classrooms. 16 White female teachers (2 from each school, 16 classes total) participated. A teacher-treatment inventory observation system was used to measure teachers’ behavior toward students in the classroom. 16 variables for student-teacher interactions. All contacts recorded separately for each student.
  • DV: Teachers’ behavior toward students (e.g., how students initiate contact, calling on students by name, feedback given for correct answers, clues toward correct answers, praise, repetition of questions)
  • IV: Students’ race, gender
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts