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September 11, 2007

No wonder Napoleon had a complex

NapoleonFile this tidbit from Education Week under Huh? It turns out, according to a report in the Journal of Educational Research, "Kindergarten teachers typically underestimate the intellectual abilities of boys who are shorter than their classmates." As if being really short wasn't bad enough.

All kidding aside, the report ...

... found that kindergarten teachers systematically perceived boys who were shorter than average—or even just shorter than the other boys in their class—to be less skilled in reading, mathematics, and general knowledge than their test results indicated.

What’s more, the gap between teachers’ perceptions and pupils’ test scores remained even after the researchers attempted to account for the children’s other background characteristics that could also lower teachers’ expectations for pupils, such as whether the boys were younger or poorer than average.

Try telling that to such diminutive dynamos as Danny DeVito (5'), Prince (5'2"), Paul Simon (5'2"), and Willie Shoemaker (4'11").

Posted September 11, 2007 4:40 PM | Students | Teachers

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