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Racial/Ethnic Match and Student-Teacher Relationships

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  • Le, Kien
  • Nguyen, My

Abstract

This paper explores the role of teacher race/ethnicity in the teacher-perceived relationships with early elementary school students. Employing a model with both student and teacher fixed effects, we discover a positive link between the racial/ethnic match and the teacherreported relationships with students. Specifically, minority students tend to have closer and more positive relationships with their teachers than white students when they are taught by a minority teacher. Adapted rank-based tests of discrimination reveal that the favorable teacher-reported relationships with students are not prompted by teachers favoring their own kind or discriminating against opposite-race students. We further show that the estimated favorable impacts are driven by minority students reacting positively when they have a minority teacher but adversely once assigned to a white teacher, which is consistent with the role model effect. Given the importance of the relationships between young children and non-parental adults in their early stages of life, these findings have crucial policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2019. "Racial/Ethnic Match and Student-Teacher Relationships," MPRA Paper 105390, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:105390
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    Cited by:

    1. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2022. "The impacts of rainfall shocks on birth weight in Vietnam," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 143-159, April.
    2. Nguyen, My, 2020. "Mask Mandates and COVID-19 Related Symptoms in the US," MPRA Paper 109992, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Racial/Ethnic Interaction; Relationship Scale; Minorities; Non-labor Discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General

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