Less is more

Abstract

Teacher perceptions of student abilities can affect crucial placement decisions that, in turn, affect student opportunities to learn. The author’s research shows that this is particularly the case with black students who have earned high scores on math assessments but who, on the basis of teacher judgment, have not been recommended for placement in algebra in 8th grade. The author suggests a “less-is-more” approach — that is, remove teacher judgment from placement decisions and use universally available academic achievement performance data. This will increase the true identification of high-performing students, thereby increasing the opportunity to learn among students of different demographic backgrounds and reducing achievement gaps.