STUDENTS ATTITUDES TOWARD TEACHERS ETHNICITY, BILINGUALITY, AND GENDER

Elementary middle, and high school student attitudes toward reacher et hnicity, bilinguality, and gender were assessed by means of student ra tings of 12 hypothetical teachers The sample consisted of 186 mostly L atino and African American students ranging in age between 9 and 17 ye ars old and attending either English-only or bilingual and English-lan guage-development classrooms in six inner-city schools. ANOVA revealed significant main effects but no interactions between any of the three within-subject variables. Students rated African American, bilingual, and female teachers highest. A number of between-subject variables we re also found to have significant main effects on student attitudes, i ncluding language of response, length of U.S. residency, and current t eacher's bilinguality. Evidence was found of student preference for sa me ethnicity teachers but only partial evidence of student preference for same bilinguality teachers. No evidence of student preference for same gender teachers was found practice and research implications of t hese findings am discussed.