The aim of the current study was to examine mean-group differences on behavior rating scales and variables that may predict such differences. Sixty-five teachers completed the Clinical Assessment of Behavior-Teacher Form (CAB-T) for a sample of 982 students. Four outcome variables from the CAB-T were assessed. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze variance components across three levels; examine mean-group differences across outcome variables for student gender, race/ethnicity, and free or reduced-price lunch status; and examine whether teacher variables predicted teacher-specific differences in ratings. Results revealed that a significant amount of variance was attributable to teacher-and school-level variables. Several mean-group differences emerged, and some teacher-specific differences in ratings across groups were predicted by teacher self-efficacy for behavior management and teacher age, but not for teacher race/ethnicity, gender, or years of experience. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mean-Group Differences in Behavior Ratings
453rating scales as part of the evaluation. Within recent years, many researchers have examined the completion of behavior rating scales in an attempt to assess the possibility of teacher bias (Cohen, DuRant, & Cook, 1988). Several studies indicate that African American students tend to be rated as exhibiting more problematic behavior than Caucasian students do. On the Conner's Teacher Rating Scale (Conners, 1973), for example, African American students were rated significantly worse than were Caucasian students on the conduct disorders subscale (Cohen et al., 1988). Similar results were found in studies by Epstein, March, Conners, and Jackson (1998) and Sbarra and Pianta (2001).Some researchers have examined the interaction of teacher and student race/ethnicity on teachers' ratings of student behavior (Cullinan & Kauffman, 2005;Rayfield, 1997;Rong, 1996). Results of this research have been mixed, with some studies indicating the presence of teacher bias toward racial/ethnic minority students and other studies showing no difference in ratings between Caucasian and racial/ethnic minority teachers. For example, Rong (1996) examined the interaction of student and teacher gender and race/ethnicity on social behavior ratings on the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC;Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). After controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), Rong found that African American teachers produced similar ratings for African American and Caucasian students on all of the BASC subscales. Caucasian teachers, however, rated African American students significantly lower than Caucasian students on several of the prosocial subscales. Downey and Pribesh (2004) also found that African American students received less-favorable ratings than their Caucasian peers did. However, when teachers' race/ethnicity was taken into account statistically, they found that African American students were rated more favorably by African American teachers than were Caucasian students by Caucasian te...