Avoid lowering expectations out of misguided sympathy, concern or respect for students’ lives / What it looks like to do students “favors” that actually lower expectations of them:
- “Sheela has to work in the evenings so I should just let her sloppy homework slide.”
- “Juan comes to school hungry—of course he’s not going to focus during morning meeting. I can live with that.”
- “Three of my students are just not meeting the minimal standards for 5th grade, but they try pretty hard. I’m going to see what I can do to make sure they pass to 6th grade.”
- “Visiting LaNiesha’s home was really eye-opening for me. It’s just so different from my own experience. It doesn’t feel right for me to come in and push her at school when there’s so much going on at her home.”
- “It’s just unreasonable to expect as much out of these students as we expect from those in the wealthy district across town.”
Recognize that problems outside of a teacher’s control do not necessarily mean a lack of achievement-related solutions / For example, a student’s home arrangement may not be conducive to homework, but there are many creative ways to get that student quiet time and space elsewhere.
Maintain convictions about the value of working hard for academic achievement despite (possible) unfamiliarity with students lives and lifestyles / As opposed to:
“Elena’s family has such a rich Navajo culture and tradition. Who am I to come in here and push her to achieve academically by standards set by our non-Native culture and government?”
Challenge others’ statements of lowered expectations swiftly and with real-world evidence / Demonstrate the fallacies of these comments by introducing the speaker to your students’ success—even if (and especially if) that speaker is your student.
Consider your own hidden biases that might lower expectations for student performance / You must believe in students’ abilities and be willing to examine the possible effects of your personal biases and societal stereotypes. Passive acknowledgment of stereotypes and prejudices alone will not counter their effects on behavior.
What stereotypes about your students that you see and hear on a daily basis might impact your perspectives? Possible biases might include those based on:
- Race
- Class
- Gender
- Nationality
- Language
- General Background
- Orientation
- Disability
- Family/Home Life
- Prior academic performance
- Having lower expectations for low-income students than for higher income students.
- Assuming boys are better in math/science than girls.
- Assuming girls are better in language arts than boys.
- Assuming that students and/or family members who are non-native English speakers are less capable than those who speak English as a first language.
- Making assumptions about students who “look” a certain way.
- Making assumptions about students’ abilities based on the realities of their home life.
- Making assumptions about students’ abilities based what their former teachers tell you.
Teach at thenexus of challenge and ability to enable students to prove to themselves that hard work makes them smarter / Students are most motivated to strive for success when the work is challenging but also ultimately doable.
Build student confidence by starting at a child’s current performance level and teaching just above what students already know and can do.
Never celebrate mediocrity (without discouraging students’ best efforts) / Consciously work to discourage low effort, praise progress and truly celebrate achievement.
“I don’t want to say that none of what they do is ever good enough because it is, and we celebrate our successes. But I never celebrate mediocrity. I acknowledge improvement and I celebrate progress but I don’t celebrate mediocrity. This is the goal we set for ourselves, this is what we’re going to meet and you’ll do it to the standard we’ve already talked about and I won’t be satisfied until you do.”
Rob LoPiccolo (Louisiana ’99, High School Science)