Convergence of views: Self-perceptions of African American and white kindergartners

As the second in a series of studies concerning the development of kinderga rtners' self-perceptions, this study examined the effects of the kindergart en experience on self-perceptions of African American and White students as they progressed through their kindergarten year. Using a countywide sample of 209 children in 31 classrooms, the study incorporated in vivo observati ons of teachers' verbal behavior and serf-perception data from the Pictoria l Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. R esults indicate that the kindergarten experience had an equalizing effect o n the self-perceptions of African American and White children, although sel f-perceptions of cognitive competence were initially lower for African Amer ican children than for their White counterparts. Teachers' verbal interacti ons with children were not affected by the child's race, at least when diff erent achievement levels were taken into account. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Son s, Inc.