Teachers’ Expectations of Girls’ Classroom Performance and Behavior: Effects of Girls’ Race and Pubertal Timing

Experiencing an early pubertal transition has been shown to increase the risk for internalizing and externalizing outcomes among girls. It is less clear how the expectations of other individuals can be critical determinants of vulnerability for early developers.

This study used an experimental design to examine whether the expectations of teachers might be influenced by girls’ pubertal timing (early, on-time, late) and race (Black, White). Elementary school teachers (N = 220; M_age = 43 years; 91% female; 84% White) were randomly shown behavior vignettes consisting of drawings of girls in varying stages of pubertal development. They then rated each girl’s future academic/social functioning.

Results demonstrated that teachers expected White and Black early developers to have more academic/social problems. Teachers also ascribed more academic/social problems to Black early developers relative to White early developers. The findings offer new insights into the synergistic linkages between pubertal timing and teachers’ expectations, with girls’ race accentuating this relationship.