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The weight of school grades: Evidence of biased teachers' evaluations against overweight students in Germany.

ABSTRACT: Discrimination and prejudice against overweight people is common in Western societies. In this article we aim to understand whether these attitudes reverberate into the school setting, by investigating whether teachers grade overweight students more severely than comparable normal weight students. By relying on the Attribution-Value Model of Prejudice (AVMP) and previous studies, we test a series of hypotheses using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS SC3) on a sample of students enrolled in the 7th grade (lower secondary education). We used hierarchical ordered logit regression to assess whether overweight and obese students receive systematically lower grades by their teachers in German and mathematics, adjusting for subject-specific competences measured with a standardized test, and a rich set of socio-demographic and socio-psychological students' characteristics (e.g. the "big five"). Results suggested that overweight and obese students were more severely graded in both subjects. The penalty for overweight students, and especially for obese students, was slightly larger in German and in the lowest part of the grade distribution. There was also indication of heterogeneous penalties by gender, with overweight male students being especially penalized in math. Possible ways to help teachers in assigning grades in a fairer way are discussed at the end.

SUBMITTER: Dian M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7869982 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The weight of school grades: Evidence of biased teachers' evaluations against overweight students in Germany.

Dian Mona M Triventi Moris M

PloS one 20210208 2

Discrimination and prejudice against overweight people is common in Western societies. In this article we aim to understand whether these attitudes reverberate into the school setting, by investigating whether teachers grade overweight students more severely than comparable normal weight students. By relying on the Attribution-Value Model of Prejudice (AVMP) and previous studies, we test a series of hypotheses using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS SC3) on a sample of ...[more]

PMID: 33556097

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Project description:BackgroundDeterminants affecting children's physical activity (PA) at an early age are of particular interest to develop and strengthen strategies for increasing the levels of children's PA. A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the views of primary school-aged children, their teachers and parents regarding barriers and facilitators to engage in PA.MethodsFocus groups were conducted separately with primary school children, parents and teachers in a city in Northern Germany between October 2021 and January 2022. The semi- structured focus groups with children and teachers took part in person within school, whereas the focus groups with parents took place online. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. During analysis, the socio-ecological model was identified as useful to map the determinants mentioned and was consequently applied to organize the data.ResultsTeachers (n = 10), parents (n = 18) and children (n = 46) of five primary schools in Germany participated in the focus groups. Participants of the three groups identified similar barriers and facilitators of PA in primary school-aged children, ranging across all four layers of the socio-ecological model. The barriers encountered were the preferences of children for sedentary activities (individual characteristics), the preference of parents to control their child's actions (microsystem), a lack of financial resources from parents and long sitting times in class (mesosystem), and barriers related to rainy weather and Covid-19 restrictions (exosystem). Facilitators mentioned were the childrens' natural tendency to be active (individual characteristics), involvement and co-participation of parents or peers in engaging in PA, support provided by teachers and the school (microsystem), living in rural areas, having sufficient facilities and favorable weather conditions (exosystem).ConclusionA range of determinants promoting and hindering PA, ranging across all layers of the socio-ecological model were identified by children, parents and teachers in this study. These determinants need to be kept in mind when developing effective PA intervention programs for primary school-aged children. Future interventions should go beyond individual characteristics to also acknowledge the influence of childrens' social surrounding, including parents, peers and teachers, and the wider (school) environment.

Project description:BackgroundThe entire school community contributes to the safety of students with food allergy. We sought to determine the food allergy perceptions and education needs of parents, students and school staff, with the goal of enhancing food allergy education in schools.MethodsWith ethics approval from the University of Manitoba and participating school divisions, elementary school principals emailed SurveyMonkey® Questionnaire Links to their parent/caregiver contact list and school staff. We compared anonymous responses of parents of children with and without food allergy, students with and without food allergy, and parents and school staff using chi-squared tests.ResultsParticipants included 561 parents of school-age children (ages 7-12 years, 19% with food allergy), 61 students (23% with food allergy), and 203 school staff (62% teachers, 88% with experience managing food allergies in the classroom). Parents of children with and without food allergy considered food allergy when sending food to school (98% vs. 96%, p = 0.39). More parents of children with food allergy thought that greater information and awareness about food allergy was needed (74% vs. 44%, p < 0.0001). Students with food allergy were most interested (100%) in having other students learn not to bully and how to help during a reaction. Students without food allergy were most interested in learning how to prevent a reaction (70%). Fewer parents than school staff thought that food allergies in the classroom impacted teachers' time (2.1% vs. 21%, p < 0.0001) and that teachers knew how to treat allergic reactions to foods (34% vs. 94%, p < 0.0001). More parents than school staff thought that banning foods from classrooms kept allergic students safe (65% vs. 34%, p = 0.006) and that having a Food Allergy Educator speak at school would be helpful (99% vs. 67%, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsFood allergy education is necessary for the entire school community and should include parents of school-aged children with and without food allergy, students with and without food allergy, and teachers and school staff. These members of the school community recognized their own and others' needs for increased food allergy education and awareness in the school setting.

Dataset Information

The weight of school grades: Evidence of biased teachers' evaluations against overweight students in Germany.

Publications

The weight of school grades: Evidence of biased teachers' evaluations against overweight students in Germany.

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