Self-fulfilling prophecy affects student achievement.

Is it true that Self-fulfilling prophecy affects student achievement?

Partly. Several reviews and one experiment indicate that teacher or instructional expectations can affect student achievement, though one review describes the empirical status of the teacher-expectation effect as equivocal and another limits major effects to a minority of teachers. The evidence covers only part of the general claim.

Verdict: CONTESTED PARTIAL · 4 sources for, 1 against · Last checked 18 Oct 2026

The private library was unavailable for some searches in this check. Missing library results are not evidence against the claim.

Self-fulfilling prophecy. (n.d.). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy

Wineburg, S. S. (1987). The Self-Fulfillment of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x016009028

E., B. J. (1983). Research on the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Teacher Expectations.. eric.ed.gov. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ292503

Joseph, Z. (2019). Research on Discrimination and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Schools Globally. eric.ed.gov. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1224556

Self-fulfilling prophecies in media-based learning: Content relevance moderates quality expectation effects on academic achievement. (2010). doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.07.002