The forgotten role of teachers in students' educational aspirations. School composition effects and the buffering capacity of teachers' expectations culture

Research on students' aspirations, an important predictor of educational attainment, is mostly focused on individual-level determinants, reflecting the classical status attainment model. Studies have suggested a school composition effect, but ignore school processes. Inspired by new insights in school effects research looking at teachers' expectations at the school level, we investigate the mediating and moderating role of teachability culture in the relationship between SES composition and aspirations. Multilevel analyses of data (2013-2014) from 2.354 students and 502 teachers across 30 Flemish secondary schools show that teachers' shared expectations can compensate for the detrimental effects of low SES composition on aspirations. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.