Failing to notice? Uneven teachers’ attention to boys and girls in the classroom

Abstract

This paper analyzes whether teachers' attention to boys and girls differs in low-performing schools in Chile, where large gender gaps in test scores are also observed. We coded 237 videotaped classes of fourth graders, identifying specific behaviors of teachers toward boys and girls. The results show a general imbalance in teachers' attention and interactions favoring boys. Gender attention gap is correlated with lower scores in math for girls on Chile's national standardized test (SIMCE). The gender attention gap was also greater in general in classrooms in which teachers had overall worse interactions with students, as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). The evidence in this paper contributes to the discussion about whether traditional measures of teacher-student interactions really capture all that matters for learning.

Education Quality and Teaching Practices

“…These outcomes may be related to teachers' practices. Using the same sample of fourth grade teachers in Chile as this paper, Bassi, Mateo Díaz, Blumberg, and Reynoso (2018) show that teachers in fact pay more attention to boys than girls, and those differentiated behaviors are correlated with worse performance in SIMCE in Math and Science among the girls. It is thus important to understand whether there are substantial differences in the response to interventions.…”

Biased Teachers and Gender Gap in Learning Outcomes: Evidence from India

“…Sansone (2017) finds that teacher's gender matters because male and female teachers differ in their gender-related math and science attitudes and how they treat male and female students. Bassi et al (2018) show that teachers in Chile give more attention to and interact more with boys and this behaviour is associated with a larger gender gap in math score. This evidence suggests that while interpreting the effect of teacher-student gender matching on learning outcomes, it is imperative to consider teacher's attitude which may be correlated with teacher's gender as well as how teachers treat boys and girls in the class.…”

Biased teachers and gender gap in learning outcomes: Evidence from India

“…Sansone (2017) finds that teacher's gender matters because male and female teachers differ in their gender-related math and science attitudes and how they treat male and female students. Bassi et al (2018) show that teachers in Chile give more attention to and interact more with boys and this behavior is associated with a larger gender gap in math score. This evidence suggests that while interpreting the effect of teacher-student gender matching on learning outcomes, it is imperative to consider teacher's attitude which may be correlated with teacher's gender as well as how teachers treat boys and girls in the class.…”