Educational Leadership - September 2010

tions: Students cannot know what teachers are thinking, but they do observe how teachers behave—and they make inferences on the basis of these behaviors.

In general, there are two ways that teachers treat low-expectancy students differently. One involves the general affective tone established between teacher and student. With low-expectancy students, teachers tend to make less eye contact, smile less, make less physical contact, and engage in less playful or light dialogue.

The second way involves the type and quality of interactions regarding academic content. Teachers tend to call on low-expectancy students less often, ask less challenging questions, delve into their answers less deeply, and reward them for less rigorous responses.

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Teachers can determine their differential treatment of low-expectancy students simply by noting and recording their behavior toward those students.

Step 4: Treat low-expectancy and
high-expectancy students the same.

It is fairly easy to establish a positive affective tone with all students. Teachers simply make sure that they exhibit the same positive behaviors to all students—smiling, involving students in good-natured discussions, and engaging in appropriate physical contact. All students will typically respond well to this type of behavior.

Providing equal treatment is more
difficult when it comes to academic
interactions, however, particularly
when questioning students. Students
for whom teachers have low expecta-
tions become accustomed to the teacher
asking them fewer and less challenging
questions than other students. When
teachers change this behavior, some
students might feel uncomfortable. They
will probably need to go through this
uncomfortable phase, however, to arrive
at a place where they will risk putting
forth new ideas and asking questions
that disclose their confusion about
certain topics. Because this is the goal—
for all students to embrace complex and
challenging issues and for the teacher to
acknowledge and respect their ideas.

Out in the Open

Addressing the issue of low expectations and differential treatment is a powerful strategy to enhance the achievement of those students who traditionally do not do well in the K– 12 system. One of the