Teacher gender, and expectation of reading achievement in New Zealand elementary school students: essentially a barrier?

Boys continue to demonstrate lower average achievement in reading than girls. The influence of teacher gender has been explored among the factors explaining this scenario but with mixed results. Further, although teacher expectations have affected student academic outcomes, and student gender-related stereotypical notions have shaped such expectations, the role of teacher gender within this scenario has been neglected. The current study was conducted with a sample of elementary schools, in New Zealand (a national setting where essentialist gender attitudes have existed and where policies to implement scholastic gender equity have been critiqued as unsuccessful). The influence of teacher gender and of a teacher-student gender match and mismatch on teacher's expectations of their elementary student reading achievement, was tested via hierarchical linear modeling. Male teachers' expectations were found to be lower for students of both genders in reading and negative implications for male teachers and their students' reading achievement were revealed.