Students of all races prefer teachers of color.

• Position: Minorities - Brief article

Middle and high school students, regardless of their race and ethnicity, have more favorable perceptions of their black and Latino teachers than of their white instructors, according to a study at New York University.

"Minority teachers may be perceived more favorably by minority students because they can serve as role models and are particularly sensitive to the cultural needs of their students," says study author Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, assistant professor of international education. "However, in our study, we were surprised to find that minority teachers are not just viewed more highly than white teachers by minority students but, in many cases, by white students as well."

The findings, published in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C., underscore the importance of having a diverse workforce of teachers.

The demographic divide between teachers and students...