A Teacher Like Me: Does Race, Ethnicity, or Gender Matter?

摘要

The large and persistent achievement gaps separating minority and nonminority students are arguably the most important educational problem in the United States. In particular, reducing or eliminating these gaps by raising the achievement of minority students is widely seen as a critical component of promoting broader social equality with respect to a variety of outcomes like educational attainment and earnings as well as crime, health, and family structure (e.g., Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, 1998). The more modest gender gaps in achievement are also viewed as a prominent policy concern, particularly with respect to the fields of science and mathematics (e.g., American Association of University Women, 1992). The recent federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, clearly reflects these concerns, explicitly requiring that these demographic subgroups make "adequate yearly progress" toward proficiency on state tests.