ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses student characteristics and how they can both positively and negatively bias teacher expectations. It explores the big four: Ethnicity, social class, gender, and labeling students as having special needs of some sort. Investigating students' characteristics as a precursor to teachers' expectations has been the largest area of endeavor within the field. There is a long history of the examination of teacher expectations of minority groups and whether or not these affect students. In the vast majority of studies, social class or socioeconomic status does appear to influence teacher expectations. A further student characteristic that has been explored in relation to teacher expectations is gender. The student characteristics of ethnicity, social class, and gender have probably garnered most attention in relation to teacher expectations. However, the labelling of students as having special needs of some form can also lead to teachers lowering their expectations.
