EXPECTING AND GETTING THE BEST FROM OUR STUDENTS

EXPECTING AND GETTING THE BEST FROM OUR STUDENTS

Educators know that “high expectations” is a mantra for effective schools. Having high expectations for student behavior and achievement sounds great, but rhetoric isn’t enough; teachers’ actions must demonstrate that they believe in the power of expecting results.

This chapter is adapted (with permission) from: Hindman, J., Stronge, J., & Tucker, P. (2003). Raising the bar: Expecting—and getting—the best from your students, more effective with their students. In particular, we offer a few thoughts regarding:

1.      Expecting student success,

2.      Communicating high expectations for students,

3.      Striving for high expectations with all students,

4.      Focusing on the success of individual students, and

5.      Accepting responsibility for student success.

Expecting Student Success

Effective teachers do indeed maintain high expectations for all of their students (Wharton-McDonald, Pressley, Hampston, 1998). Yet, holding high expectations is not a generic, one-size-fits-all concept. Rather, realistic expectations for student success describe the growth or improvement that individual students should make during the school year (Brown, 2002). A teacher may expect that all students complete assignments and contribute in class, but those expectations begin with early planning, continue with monitoring student performance, and then proceed with providing clear, concrete feedback to students.

Communicating High Expectations

For Students Teachers communicate not only a multitude of facts and skills, but also in a multitude of ways. Teachers need to clearly communicate their expectations to students. However, communication needs to be both one-way and two-way. When teachers use one-way communication, it is like a radio broadcast: Some listeners will tune in and others will tune out. One-way communication should be accompanied by two-way communication in which teachers talk with, not to, their students and their families. Effective teachers communicate by:

1.      Using standard written and oral grammar;

2.      Listening to the students and their families to refine and clarify expectations;

3.      Making clear their expectations for learning (e.g., posting them in the room, sending them home to families, discussing them with students);

4.      Offering clear explanations;

5.      Involving students in the discussion of the expectations;

6.      Providing opportunities for reinforcing the expectations;

7.      Writing lesson objectives that tell what they will do;

8.      Sharing these lesson objectives with students in such a way that the students will know how they are expected to demonstrate their knowledge and skills;

9.      Modeling their expectations (Teachers need to model the expectations they hold for their students.

10.  Offering timely feedback to students and their families on how the students are meeting the expectations.

Yet, researchers have found that the top students receive more attention and higher expectations from their teachers than students in the bottom third of their class (Good & Brophy, 1997).  One key aspect of effective teachers is that they are perceived as caring about the success of their students (Peart & Campbell, 1999). Their caring needs to be felt by all the students in the classroom through encouragement, interest, and high expectations. Effective teachers support students striving to meet their learning expectations by:

1.      Offering encouragement to all students at all levels of academic need;

2.      Avoiding and eliminating biases and misconceptions when it comes to culture, ethnicity, or gender;

3.      Seeing the differences in students as strengths, not liabilities;

4.      Seeking opportunities for professional development that improve their work with student populations or subject areas that influence teachers’ ability to support all students, and

5.      Being aware of the power of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Focusing on the Success of Individual Students

Teacher with high expectation let each student know that they value good work and will do their part to ensure that student are provide with learning experiences that  support students doing their best (Fuchs et al.,1994). These teacher believe in their ability to make a difference for every student and consider that class is a collection of individual as opposed to one entity, so the effective teacher will make an effort to interact with student early in the school year, analyze students’ data (cumulative records, strength and weakness, education plans), plan with student by considering student interest, providing support remediate deficiencies while encouraging student learning, stretch some students and allow others to shine, and supporting learners’ needs,

Accepting Responsibility for Student Success

Educators know that economics, family background, mobility, student ability and a host of other factors influence student achievement. Besides, teacher’s beliefs about their own ability and responsibility for student learning are able to increase student learning dramatically. Teacher who had high expectations for their student met with increased levels of success, conversely, while the low expectation performs lower levels of achievement. Teacher who accepted responsibility for student success were taking the first step toward promoting that success. Four ways to demonstrate that teachers are responsible are have students complete all assignments, require student to produce high quality work, monitor student progress, and go the extra mile.

Establishing high expectation for students is not a simple matter and should not be approached with a one size fits all mentality. Quality learning experiences for all students require quality teachers, it means that teacher success equals to students success.

Reference:

James H. Strong et.al. 2004. Handbook of Qualities Effective Teachers. Virginia USA : ASCD