Teacher Implicit Bias, Differential Feedback Patterns, and Student Achievement in North West Nigerian Secondary Schools

This study examines the relationships among teacher implicit bias, differential feedback patterns, and student academic achievement in secondary schools in North West Nigeria. Implicit biases, unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that shape behaviour, can manifest in teachers' instructional interactions, affecting the quality and quantity of academic feedback received by different student groups based on gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. The study employs an observational mixed-methods design, involving 60 teachers and 480 students from twelve secondary schools across Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina States. The Implicit Association Test for academic stereotypes, a structured classroom observation protocol for feedback coding, and end-of-term academic scores were used as instruments. Quantitative data were analysed using multilevel modelling, and observational data underwent interaction analysis. Results indicate that teachers with stronger implicit gender-academic stereotypes provide significantly more elaborated academic feedback to male students in science and mathematics subjects, while female students receive more procedural and less conceptual feedback. This differential feedback pattern partially mediates the relationship between teacher implicit bias and the gender achievement gap in science subjects. Teacher professional development participation moderated implicit bias scores, with recently trained teachers showing weaker stereotypic associations. These findings advance the implicit bias and teaching literature to the North West Nigerian context. Teacher training institutions are advised to incorporate implicit bias awareness modules and structured feedback equity monitoring into pre-service and in-service programmes. Keywords: teacher implicit bias, feedback patterns, academic achievement, gender equity, North West Nigeria.