1.1. Confirmation Bias is the unconscious tendency to seek information which confirms our preexisting beliefs, even when evidence exists to the contrary.
1.2. In a 2014 study, researchers found that employers we more likely to criticize the work their employees yielded when they believed it came from an African American employee, versus a Caucasian one. In a similar study, they found that teacher’s implicit biases were responsible for different expectations of acheivemnet depending on the ethnic background of their student.
1.3. These studies show how implicit biases can shape a teachers expectations for achievement based on racial backgrounds which may have detrimental effects on their students.
2. Discipline Disparities
2.1. Black students are more harshly and frequently disciplined in schools versus the punishments their White peers face.
2.2. Staats mentions one study of discipline disparities which found that students of color were more likely to be sent to the office and face disciplinary measures for offenses which are subjective, such as disrespectful attitudes or disruptive behaviors. Whereas, white students were more likely to be disciplined for objective infractions, which are less ambiguous, such as smoking or vandalism.
2.3. Teachers must be made aware that these disciplinary disparities are often due in part their implicit biases in order to not continuously perpetuate inequality.
3. Research on Teacher Bias
3.1. Research shows that teacher’s implicit racial biases are associated with both lower expectations of students and worse instruction quality. Meaning that these biases negatively impact their students educational experiences, as well as their academic achievement.
3.2. After conducting two separate studies, one on teachers and on on non-teachers, researchers found that on average, biases of teachers are comparable to levels of the general population. Showing that in each case, about 30% of respondents expressed explicit pro-white/anti-black bias and 77% expressed implicit pro-white/anti-black bias
3.3. Additional research has shown that these biases occur most often when a situation is ambiguous. In order to combat this, teachers should take more time when grading assignments or issuing disciplinary measures, as well as, provide clear and detailed explanations regarding their decisions.
4. Systems 1 & 2
4.1. System 1 defines cognition which occurs automatically and unconsciously. While system 2 is conscious processing used for mental things which require deliberate focus and concentration.
4.2. System 1 is also responsible for the associations known as implicit bias which occur unconsciously and often under time constraints or in situations which involve ambiguous information.
4.3. Teachers encounter many conditions which enable system 1 processing throughout a school day — further enabling the chances of them acting upon implicit biases.
5. The School to Prison Pipeline
5.1. Cucchiara points out that “School punishments also help create the ‘school-to-prison pipeline,’ as children move out of schools into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.”
5.2. Behaviors which are often dismissed as harmless on the part of White children become viewed as evidence of criminal tendencies among Black boys. Studies show that African Americans and Hispanics make up about 30% of all K-12 students but 56% of all students suspended. Black preschoolers make up only 18% of all preschool enrollment, but 42% of all suspended pre-school students are Black.
5.3. Educators must be mindful of their own implicit biases which may affect the way in which they treat their students differently as students who are disciplined with detention or suspension, miss out on classroom learning which only further widens the Black-White opportunity gap.
