Teacher expectation effects in Chinese junior high schools: Exploring links between teacher expectations and student achievement using a hierarchical linear modelling approach

This study aimed to explore and compare individual student-level and teacher-level teacher expectation effects on student academic achievement in the Chinese junior high school context. The participants were 50 teachers and their 1199 students from 10 junior high schools. With differences in student baseline achievement controlled, hierarchical linear modelling was employed to see if early-year teacher expectations predicted student year-end achievement. Results showed that both student- and teacher-level expectations (relative to achievement) positively predicted student academic achievement. Teacher expectations at the student level showed a stronger influence on student-achievement outcomes. The results also indicated that teachers tended to hold higher expectations for girls than for boys and were more likely to underestimate students who were children of migrant workers.