Stress-adapted teachers pave the way for stress-adapted students: a potential benefit of in-group bias in k-12 educational contexts

Teachers’ perceptions of students’ academic risk are influenced by a variety of factors. This study draws on the hidden talents framework as reported by Ellis (The hidden talents framework: Implications for science, policy, and practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2023) to test how K–12 teachers’ evaluations of students’ academic risk change if students with equivalent backgrounds are labeled as “stress-adapted” (a hidden talents framework label) or “high-risk” (a deficit model label). We also tested if evaluations of academic risk were influenced by in-group gender bias or teachers’ self-identification bias. Participants included N = 284 K–12 lead teachers and teaching assistants from the United States who were randomly asked to evaluate the academic risk of students in vignettes who were labeled “high-risk” or “stress-adapted.” A subset of the vignettes also included the gender of the student. Results showed significant differences in teacher evaluations of academic risk among teachers who did and did not self-identify with the target student based on their label. When teachers indicated they identified with both the “stress-adapted” and “high-risk” students, they gave significantly more positive evaluations of academic risk than teachers who identified with neither student. Furthermore, when teacher self-identification matched the target student, teachers gave significantly more positive evaluations of academic risk. There were no significant differences in the mean evaluations of academic risk based on the gender of the target student or teacher. Our study shows how the hidden talents framework can be applied in educational settings to positively impact the academic success of “stress-adapted” students.