evaluation is subjective and it is based solely on the perceptions of the teacher (p. 73). As such, the expectations of the teacher are derived not from "formal testing of the children as to their academic potential or capacity for cognitive development" but rather on the basis of the students' "behavioral and cultural characteristics" (Rist, 1970, pp. 81-82). Dusek & Joseph (1983) conducted an analysis of various studies in order to determine the bases of teacher expectancies. These researchers found that gender and belonging to a one-parent family were usually not determinants of teacher expectations. In addition, they found that sex role behavior, name stereotypes, and the performance of a student's siblings were "at best weakly associated with teacher expectancies" (p. 341). On the other hand, Dusek & Joseph discovered that there are five factors which are definitely related to teacher expectancies. These are: attractiveness (academic and social/personality), student classroom conduct, cumulative folder information, race, and social class (p. 341). The authors note that cumulative information (such as previous test results and comments from previous teachers) as well as classroom behavior are both fairly reliable as sources for teacher expectations. However, the factors of race and social class "reflect stereotypic (perhaps prejudicial) expectancies for social behavior" (p. 341). These are criteria which are based solely on superficial data, and as such they do not provide a true picture of what an individual student is capable of accomplishing.
There are numerous examples in the literature indicating that teachers often base their expectations on this type of information. Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) have pointed out that teachers often form expectations about their students on the basis of whether they are teaching a "slow group" or a "fast group" (p. viii). Oakes (1985) has listed the comments of several teachers ...