A new international study revealed that principals in American schools vastly overestimate the proportion of their students who come from socioeconomically disadvantaged homes.

The New York Times reviewed the results of the survey, which asked principals whether 30 percent of their students were socioeconomically disadvantaged.

According to principals, "almost 65 percent of classrooms in the United States have at least 30 percent of their students disadvantaged." Yet the United States actually has a smaller share of disadvantaged children—13 percent—than most other countries, according to an index that measures disadvantage based on income, parents’ education and other factors.

The article said a possible consequence of perceiving student socioeconomic disadvantage (regardless of whether that disadvantage actually exists) is having lower expectations for these students--and that these expectations, in turn, can affect student learning. 

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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor