Corrected: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect name for the research company evaluating the program. The evaluator is Westat, based in Rockville, Md.
Researchers and policymakers agree that teachers鈥� expectations of what their students can do can become self-fulfilling prophecies for children鈥檚 academic performance.
Yet while the 鈥渟oft bigotry of low expectations鈥� has become an education catchphrase, scholars and advocates are just beginning to explore whether it is possible to prevent such expectations from taking root by making teachers and students aware of their beliefs about students.
鈥淎 lot of what we do is built on a belief system,鈥� said Stefanie Rome, the director of professional development for the New York City-based . 鈥淲hat beliefs do we have about how students learn? How do we approach students鈥� learning?鈥�
The alliance, which works with school districts to train teachers to give students of all income levels and all racial and ethnic groups the same enriched instruction that students receive in gifted education programs, this year launched a program in Bridgeport, Conn.; Greene County, Ga.; San Francisco; and, as of last week, here in Newark, N.J., to bring students and teachers together for lessons on cognitive development, instructional strategies, and lesson planning, with the students then modeling the instruction in a classroom for the teachers.
The joint professional development course is intended to teach students to think critically about how they learn and are taught, while at the same time countering what the alliance鈥檚 chief executive officer, Yvette Jackson, called a 鈥渇ocus on weakness.鈥�
Prior research shows that teachers, particularly those who are white middle-class, tend to overemphasize academic and social challenges for poor and ethnic-minority students, sometimes overlooking students鈥� potential to succeed.
The idea behind involving students in professional-development workshops, she said, is to help teachers look at their students in a new way鈥攁nd vice versa.
New Program Brings Kids to The Head of The Class
By including students in professional development, the Hawthorne Avenue School of Science and Technology in Newark raises expectations of both teachers and students.
鈥淚f kids are working with teachers鈥攏ot on a totally equal basis, but with common things that both are learning at the same time鈥攖hen you have a new experience that you can both talk about,鈥� Ms. Jackson said. 鈥淪o teachers ultimately say: 鈥業 can鈥檛 automatically judge kids based on my frame of reference. They鈥檙e not coming up with a different answer because they鈥檙e stupid, but because they have a different lens that they see the world out of.鈥欌��
鈥楶ygmalion鈥� Study
The importance of teacher expectations in students鈥� academic-achievement trajectories was made clear in a famous 1964 led by Robert Rosenthal, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside. In it, 18 teachers were told that a test predicted strong growth from several students (chosen at random) in the next year. Eight months later, Mr. Rosenthal found children expected to grow had actually improved on an intelligence test, and their teachers found them to be 鈥渋nteresting, curious, and happy.鈥�
The alliance on Mr. Rosenthal鈥檚 work, as well as that of Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck and others. For example, Ms. Rome noted that teachers discuss one of Ms. Dweck鈥檚 studies that found teachers expect more, and students perform better and take more risks, when they believe that achievement comes from students鈥� effort and education, rather than from innate intelligence.
The alliance only recently began including students in the sessions, but their participation 鈥渉as changed the discourse between students and teachers tremendously,鈥� Ms. Jackson said.
Reaching Out
One such workshop was under way last week at one of the alliance鈥檚 partner schools, the K-8 Hawthorne Avenue School of Science and Technology in Newark. Over two days, teachers and middle school students learned new teaching techniques鈥攆rom mnemonics to help remember children鈥檚 names to a pedagogical flowchart to improve pacing of lesson plans. The teachers helped students understand a few tricks of the trade, such as creating a call-and-response to focus class attention, while students related their class experiences to teachers.
Bruce Fryer, an 8th grade literacy and social studies teacher, got into an animated discussion of class planning with a trio of 8th grade girls. Shatiana Hilarski, one of them, expressed surprise that Mr. Fryer said he works eight hours on a lesson. She said she would be more engaged in class, knowing now how much time had gone into planning it.
Mr. Fryer said that learning alongside students has made him think about how he treats students, particularly boys, in class. 鈥淲hen I have a time like this to reflect, I think I haven鈥檛 been doing a good job of this,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ave I really been connecting?鈥�
Stepping Up
The next day, Mr. Fryer and the other adults had a chance to step back and observe as the students used their new tools to create and team-teach a writing lesson on the theme of 鈥渞elationships鈥� for a 5th grade class.
Pairs of students walked the class through activities, from developing a taxonomy of words about relationships to writing about them and discussing their writing with classmates.
鈥淣ormally [class] can get a little chaotic, but this is so structured, it鈥檚 amazing,鈥� said Marjorie Kahiga, a 6th grade teacher, as she watched the 5th graders listen to the older students.
鈥淢ost of these urban kids feel so lost,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey need to see this, to see what they can achieve.鈥�
When younger students looked confused, the other student-teachers started to fan out among the desks, answering questions and helping. Among the student-teachers was 6th grader Marc Manasse, an intent boy who entered late and was quiet during the initial work sessions. He hovered over one table, clarifying instructions and even urging the lead student-teacher to call on one of 鈥渉is鈥� students during the class discussion.
Ms. Kahiga watched but stayed back. She was, as she put it, amazed.
鈥淢arc is a handful, a real handful,鈥� Ms. Kahiga said. 鈥淣ormally, in class every day I鈥檓 saying, 鈥榃hy are you doing that?鈥� I鈥檓 always correcting him. Now when I see him in this opportunity, I can see what a leader he is.鈥�
The second day ended with a debriefing in which both teachers and student-teachers discussed how the students had taught and what they had learned. Marc, the 6th grader, after working with the younger class, said he decided he wants to become a teacher. 鈥淚 learned that teaching is not that easy, because you have to stay on task,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just walk away from the students and expect them to learn; you have to keep on them and make sure they get things done.鈥�
It remains to be seen whether the program, which will cover 10 such workshops with different students this year, will lead to improvements in student performance. The alliance introduced the change in the fourth year of a five-year grant through the federal program, and the Rockville, Md.-based , the grant鈥檚 evaluators, have yet to review it.
But participating teachers said including students in the session was eye-opening. 鈥淗onestly, as teachers, we can shut them out of the learning process,鈥� Ms. Kahiga said. 鈥淭hey need to be part of the learning process.鈥�
