Is Racial Bias Present Among Teachers As Early As Preschool? Yale University Study Claims It Is

Racial bias from teachers is reportedly now present in as early as preschool. A Yale University study has found out that preschool teachers practice implicit racial bias when it comes to what they expect as behaviors of children as well as when disciplining them.

The Yale University Child Study Center said in their findings that 130 educators participated and were asked to watch video clips of children in a classroom setting. After that, they were tasked to look for indications regarding students having challenging behavior.

However, the video clips did not specifically show any misbehavior as the children featured were real actors. Educators were observed by the researchers using advanced eye-tracking technology in order to see which of the students were the teachers more focused on. As per the results, NBC News reported that the educators had the tendency to observe black students more closely when it comes to challenging behavior.

Among the black students shown in the video clip, black boys were closely surveyed as 42 percent of the educators said they required most of their attention when anticipating challenging behavior. Around 34 percent said the same thing for white boy students and 13 percent for white girl students. Interestingly, 10 percent said most of their attention are required for black girls when watching out for any misbehavior.

It was also found out in the research that the race of the educators contributed to the implied racial bias. It was revealed that black teachers tend to discipline black students harsher than white educators as they believe that black children have to be disciplined harsher than white students in order to prepare them for a harsh world. White educators, on the other hand, might be imposing more compassionate standards towards black students because of their stereotypical belief that black students are more likely to misbehave.

As per the 2013-2014 Civil Rights Data Collection, black preschool children are 3.6 times more likely to receive out-of-school suspensions rather than white counterparts. Black children accounted 19 percent of all preschool enrollments but were part of 47 percent of out-of-school suspensions.

Yale University child psychology professor, Walter S. Gilman, said that the findings are now linked to the national problem regarding fatal shooting of black men by authorities. Gilman said, "Implicit biases do not begin with black men and police. They begin with black preschoolers and their teachers, if not earlier," ABC Action News reported.

Funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the study willbe presented to the federal and state officials. It was requested by the Department of Health and Human Services.