The Foster Care Label in Academic Settings: Effects on Teachers’ Expectations, Attributions, and Decision-Making
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Mc Guier, Devin James
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- July 09, 2019
- Committee Members:
- Sandra T Azar, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Sandra T Azar, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Martha Ellen Wadsworth, Committee Member
Carlomagno Del Carmen Panlilio, Committee Member
Robert J Stevens, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Foster Care
Teachers
Bias
Teacher Wellbeing - Abstract:
- Success in school is a key protective factor for youth in foster care. Communication and collaboration between schools, child welfare, and other service providers are crucial for promoting school success among foster youth. However, concerns that teachers may view youth in foster care negatively simply because of their foster care status create a barrier to communication and collaboration. Despite these concerns, to date virtually no quantitative research exists documenting the presence of bias toward foster youth in academic settings. This study used an experimental design to test whether informing elementary school teachers of hypothetical students’ foster care status resulted in biased expectations, attributions, and decision-making. This study also examined the effect of student race on teachers’ judgments and decisions, as well as the extent to which teacher well-being mitigated or enhanced effects of student foster care status and student race. Teachers (n = 179) reported lower academic expectations for students in foster care compared to their peers and were biased toward attributing foster youths’ academic and behavior problems to less internal, less controllable causes. Teachers were also more likely to attribute behavior problems to more stable causes and to recommend special education evaluations for students in foster care. Effects of student race were limited to a bias toward attributing academic and behavior problems to less internal causes, attributing academic problems to less controllable, less stable causes, and assignment of less harsh discipline responses for Black students compared to White students. There was some evidence that teacher well-being (most notably teacher sleep problems) moderated effects of student foster care status on teachers’ judgments and decisions such that poorer teacher well-being was associated with greater bias toward foster youth. Implications for policy and practice to support teachers in their interactions with students who are in foster care are discussed.