Marcos Rangel, Duke University

NOTE Change in time due to being an Economics focused seminar

About the Presentation

We study the empirical relevance of first impressions in the context of education. We find that teachers who begin their careers in classrooms with large White-Black incoming score differentials carry negative views into evaluations of future cohorts of Black students relative to their White classmates. Our evidence is based on novel data on blind evaluations and non-blind public school teacher assessments of fourth and fifth graders in North Carolina. Teachers' perceptions are particularly sensitive to relatively low-performing Black students in early classrooms, but not to relatively high-performing Black students. Since teacher expectations can shape grading patterns and sorting into academic tracks as well as students’ own beliefs and behaviors, these findings suggest an important link between specific novice teachers' initial experiences and the persistence of racial gaps in educational attainment and achievement.

About the Speaker

Marcos Rangel is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Duke University. He is an applied microeconomist specializing in development economics and population economics, with particular focus on human capital and related public policy topics. His research pays particular attention to the intra-family decision process (parents and children) and to racial differentials.