Professional development targeting teacher expectations and behavior to impact (un)equal opportunities: A systematic review

Abstract

Educational inequality can persist when students face low academic expectations, often shaped by teachers’ implicit biases related to their socioeconomic status or ethnic background, regardless of intent. Professional development (PD) interventions targeting teacher expectations and differential behavior can support educational equality. This systematic review, using the I/M/T/P framework, provides an overview of 59 recent PD intervention studies. Results indicate the effectivity of various PD interventions including varying mechanisms on teacher expectations, differential behavior, and students’ cognitive outcomes. This underscores the necessity for further research to identify the most impactful (combination of) mechanisms. Additionally, incorporating awareness besides the I/M/T/P mechanisms is recommended for future PD interventions to enhance their effectiveness. © 2025

Keywords

Author Keywords

Systematic review Professional Development Teacher differential behavior Teacher expectations

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

ATO Scholenkring, Rosmalen, Netherlands, Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

Fontys Education, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands, Fontys Education, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Netherlands, Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands

Funding & Acknowledgements

ASML, ASML

Grant: 2022.087

This work was financially supported by ASML (Fontys project number 2022.087).

ASML, ASML

This work was financially supported by ASML (Fontys project number 2022.087).

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Professional development targeting teacher expectations and behavior to impact (un)equal opportunities: A systematic review

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