Class Environment and Teacher Support for US Minority Students: Education Longitudinal Study Outcomes

The study analyzed nationally representative U.S. data to examine the effects of class environment and teacher support on high school students, with particular focus on their differential impacts on racial and linguistic minority students. Leveraging a large sample, the study conducted a series of preliminary analyses—including one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis tests, independent samples t-tests, and Mann-Whitney tests—followed by a full structural equation model. The results indicated that class environment was negatively associated with math performance. Unexpectedly, teacher support also showed a negative association with math performance. Among White students, those from higher-SES families reported greater teacher support than their middle-SES counterparts. However, in three minority groups—Asian, Black, and Hispanic—higher-SES students reported lower teacher support than middle-SES White students. Additionally, two linguistic minority groups, Black and Hispanic LOTE (Languages Other Than English) dominants, reported higher teacher support scores than White English-dominant students.