Teacher expectation and West Indian underachievement

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Abstract
The Interim Report of the Rampton Committee (1981) claimed that unintentional racism is widespread within the teaching profession and contributes, via the self‐fulfilling prophecy, to the relative academic failure of West Indian children. This paper examines both aspects of the claim, dealing with the latter in terms of the model of teacher expectations advanced by Brophy and Good (1970). The relevant evidence and the theoretical framework upon which it rests are discussed, and it is concluded that further research into West Indian underachievement, to be productive, must relinquish the premise that teachers’ expectations are chiefly responsible.