Most students prefer teachers of color

NPR - A study sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation...looked at a group of 1,700 sixth- through ninth-grade teachers from more than 300 schools in cities around the country. Cherng and Halpin ... found that the students, including white students, had significantly more favorable perceptions of Latino versus white teachers across the board, and had significantly more favorable perceptions of black versus white teachers on at least two or three of seven categories in the survey.

Asian-American students had very rosy views of their black teachers.

The relationship persisted after controlling for students' age, gender, their free and reduced-price lunch status and their academic performance. The researchers also controlled for other factors like the teacher's level of experience and education, their gender, and even outside expert ratings of the teachers' effectiveness, based on classroom observations.