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theses

Racial disproportionality in school discipline and achievement has prompted researchers to investigate the mechanisms that may cause and reinforce these gaps. Racial relationship gaps between teachers and students have been identified as correlates of the discipline and achievement gaps. Consequently, the lack of diversity of the teaching force has become a concern for educators. In fact, resources have been used for initiatives to increase diversity in schools. Such initiatives are predicated on the assumption that a racial match between teachers and students increases the likelihood of their having positive relationships. However, more research is needed to understand that association between (1) teacher-student racial match and the quality of teacher-student relationships, and (2) the utility of a relationship-building intervention for mitigating the risks of teacher-student racial mismatch. This dissertation study examined the association between teacher-student match and student reports of the quality of relationships with their teachers. Pre-collected data from 183 students and 19 teachers in 2 urban US high schools was used to complete the study. Students completed self-report measures indicating their perceptions of teacher trust, teacher fairness, and teachers’ use of exclusionary discipline. It was hypothesized that when students did not racially match with their teachers, they would have lower reports of fairness and trust in teachers and they would perceive higher exclusionary discipline use by these teachers relative to students who did racially match with their teachers. The results of the analysis, however, did not support these hypotheses. Analyses from the study demonstrated that teacher-student racial match was not a significant predictor of the quality of teacher-student relationships as measured by student reports of fairness and trust in teachers or reports of exclusionary discipline use by their teachers. Exploratory analyses found that teacher-student gender match was a significant predictor of student perceptions of exclusionary discipline use by their teachers. This finding suggests that gender match may contribute to students’ experience of relationship with their teachers.

ETD_9044

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Gabrielle Christine Roberts-Young

doi:10.7282/T32N55R3

ETD doctoral

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