‘I’m watching you’ behavior produces racial disparities in school discipline

Research from Calvin Zimmermann, the O’Shaughnessy Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, indicates that early childhood teachers often apply discipline disproportionately in their classrooms based on a student’s race.

Research Finds Teachers Just as Likely to Have Racial Bias as Non-Teachers

Research released today challenges the notion that teachers might be uniquely equipped to instill positive racial attitudes in children or bring about racial justice, without additional support or training from schools. Instead, the results, published in Educational Researcher, find that “teachers are people too,” holding almost as much pro-White racial bias as non-teachers of the same race, level of education, age, gender, and political affiliation.