The Impact of Teacher's Evaluation on Student's Test Performance and the Decision of High School Types

Kuo Hsun Ma, National Taiwan University
Chin-Chun Yi, Academia Sinica

This study examines a cultural resources/social interaction model of gatekeeping by teachers using data for ninth-grade students. We test how teacher judgment of student effort contributes to test performance and school decision when controlling cognitive traits. Using structural equation models to analyze data from the panel survey of Taiwan Youth Project (TYP), we compare the effect of student effort (cognitive factor) and class ranking (noncognitive factor). Two main findings are produced: First, the effect of teacher judgment on student effort is as contributive as the impact of class ranking. It implies the importance of considering noncognitive traits in stratification process. Second, we find gender differences dealing with the effect of student effort. Results indicate that the marginal effect of teachers’ perception on boys’ school effort is higher than that on girls’. In contrast, girls’ later educational outcome is more sensitive to their past academic records.