Ethnic composition of the primary school and educational choice: Does the culture of teacher expectations matter?

The authors investigate whether teachers' expectations (TE) at the school-level mediate the relationship between ethnic school composition and educational choice at the transition from primary to secondary education in Flanders. The link between TE and pupils' educational choices is explored without neglecting school-level variables. Hierarchical logistic models were tested using data of May 2015. Results show that pupils' educational choices are more ambitious at ethnically diverse schools. These ambitions are tempered by TE at the school-level, which are lower in these schools. The importance of TE for the educational progress of students in the increasingly diverse Flemish landscape is demonstrated.