The paper describes a study to measure the relationship of teacher expectations to student characteristics and academic achievement. Specifically, the study assessed the validity of principles regarding teacher expectations set down by sociologists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. Bowles and Gintis maintained that teacher expectations are substantially affected by students' personalities, social and family backgrounds, presentation of self, and cognitive skills. Data were taken from 1,825 eighth grade students in 18 desegregated junior high schools in Washington, Texas, and California. Teachers rated students with regard to personality characteristics, cognitive skills, and students' presentation of self. Ratings and predictor variables including ethnicity and sex were analyzed by standard regression techniques. Findings indicated that the Bowles and Gintis model was not entirely upheld because teachers' expectations were much more powerfully influenced by teacher perceptions of cognitive skills than by students' presentation of self, personality characteristics, or ascriptive characteristics. Additional research is suggested on processes of development and change in areas of personality characteristics, skills regarding the presentation of self, student educational and occupational expectations, cognitive skills, academic success, and teacher expectations. (DB)