SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES, PERCEPTUAL BIASES, AND ACCURACY AT THE INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP LEVELS

We examined ability grouping as a moderator of self-fulfilling prophec ies in two ways. First, we examined ability group moderation for indiv idual students with data from 1701 students and 97 teachers from sixth -grade math classes. Second, we examined ability group moderation at t he class level with data from 108 sixth-grade math classes. Across bot h sets of analyses, results showed that: (1) teacher perceptions predi cted student achievement primarily because those perceptions were accu rate; (2) teacher perceptions biased marks for students in heterogenou s classes (consistent with perceptual bias): and (3) self-fulfilling p rophecies were strongest when students were grouped within classes. We also found that teacher perceptions mediated the relationship between within-class ability grouping and student achievement. Implications f or understanding accuracy, the power of self-fulfilling prophecies, an d group level perceptions are discussed. (C) 1998 Academic Press.