MMM--Expectations

A teacher’s beliefs about students’ chances of success in school influence the teacher’s actions with students, which in turn influence students’ achievement. If the teacher believes students can succeed, she tends to behave in ways that help them succeed. If the teacher believes that students cannot succeed, she unwittingly tends to behave in ways that subvert student success or at least do not facilitate student success. This is perhaps one of the most powerful hidden dynamics of teaching because it is typically an unconscious activity.

R. J. Marzano (2007, p. 162)

Perhaps our true calling in education is to hold ourselves and all our students accountable for superior performance. 

             Expectations are a critical component of what we do in Harney County schools. Truthfully, unbelievably great students like many in our schools stand out as exceptional young people in every way. Although we have all helped them grow, they succeed primarily as a result of loving parents who hold their own lofty expectations for their children. Although not every student will realize that level of success, we can and should expect each of our students to succeed at the very highest level possible for them as individuals—even knowing that, in many instances, we are the best adult role models and parents they may have in their lives.

Anyone who has spent a large amount of time talking with me about education knows that my core charge to educators is simply this: we must clearly establish high expectations for students and then set about building relationships with them such that they will want to meet our expectations. Although this is just an educated guess based on fourteen years of teaching experience, as opposed to any massive research I have conducted on this topic, I suspect that nothing influences how well our students perform in terms of academics and behavior as much as the expectations we hold for them and the old adage of firm, fair, and consistent. Probably the most famous study in the area of teacher expectations for students is Rosenthal and Jacobson’s Pygmalion in the Classroom (1968) in which teachers were told at the outset that 20% of their students (randomly selected) were identified as “spurters” whose academic performance would likely grow dramatically during the year. Sure enough, at the end of the year, these 20% significantly out gained the 80% who were not identified as “spurters” on an academic achievement test.

            Marzano (2007) discusses two categories of teacher behaviors that communicate expectations to students: affective tone and quality of interactions with students. Affective tone refers to the extent to which teachers establish positive emotions in classrooms. In terms of quality of interactions, research shows that teachers differ in their interactions with high- versus low-expectancy students. To avoid differential treatment in terms of affective tone, Marzano suggests examining whether we treat “low-expectancy” students differently by:

§  Making less eye contact

§  Smiling less

§  Making less physical contact or maintaining less proximity

§  Engaging in less playful or light dialogue

Relative to quality of interactions, he suggests examining whether we treat low-expectancy students differently by:

§  Calling on them less

§  Asking them less-challenging questions

§  Not delving into their answers as deeply

§  Rewarding them for less-rigorous responses

There is no doubt that as I reflect on my teaching career, I have fear that I was guilty of several of the above differences in my treatment of students for whom I held lower expectations. My intentions were not malicious; rather, I thought I was doing “lower” students a favor by letting them off the hook at times or by making them deals. Of course, as Marzano suggests, this thinking—though well-intentioned, perhaps—was folly. We must work to communicate high expectations for all students.

          

          Blackburn (2007) also addresses expectations and suggests there are three ways to incorporate high expectations in your classroom: (a) through your words; (b) through your actions; and (c) through your expectations of one another in the classroom. The language we use with students clearly reflects our beliefs. Students will follow our model when they hear us using excuses or saying we can’t do something. Even more important, our actions must show that we expect all students to learn. By calling on all students and making all students demonstrate their understanding of the content, we are communicating our expectations through our actions. Finally, we must cultivate a classroom culture whereby students expect each other to learn, participate, and behave properly. Through our modeling, students can learn to reinforce positive learning and behavioral actions for each other.

            Many students at our school have absolutely no vision of anything other than where they are right now. We can help our kids create a different vision for themselves through our words (including affective tone) and actions (including quality of interactions). Many teachers at our school are obvious masters at expecting their students to perform in a certain way and holding them accountable for doing so. In a matter of days, their students are well on their way to learning more than they ever thought possible. If you have a chance, try to stop by classrooms for a peer observation visit soon or invite others to see how you use expectations to influence outcomes in your own classroom. Understanding that our expectations for students influence outcomes and acting accordingly is another way we commit Getting it Done! at our school each day.

 Have a Great Week!

Post modified and quoted from Jeff Zoul post E is for Expectations

Articles you may enjoy: 

Blogging PD

School Leaders as Readers

Highly Productive Rural Districts

Who is it really for?

@

Videos to Check out

Phone booth with Shaq and Hugh Jackman (9min)

Showed this at Rural inservice--just a reminder!!! (4 min)

Lyrical DOK explanation  (4min)

Calendar of Events:

Webinar: Training for Cumulative ADM Exit Adjustment--Oct 13, 2pm
PST/NmSQT Testing--Oct 14/28

Public release of report cards and detail sheets--Oct 15
Collection Window for IUID--Oct 15 opens
NAEP Coordinator Deadline to provide school info--Oct 16
SBAC/OAKS online practice tests available--Oct 20
K Assessment testing window closes--Oct 22

Number Sense Training Opportunity--Oct 23-24 @ Harney ESD
K Assessment collection window closes--Oct 30

DTC Training online from ODE--Nov 3-5
E-RATE TRAINING @ Harney ESD--Nov 20 9AM-4pm
Deadline to distribute Report Cards to Parents--Jan 15