Raising teacher expectations, changing beliefs and enhancing

student achievementAn intervention study

Introductions◦ Teachers◦ Researchers

Outline of the project◦ Questions◦ Understandings/expectations

Welcome to the project

9.45 – Research background: ◦ Rosenthal◦ Teacher behaviours◦ Student characteristics: Gender, social class, ethnicity

10.30 – Morning tea 11.00 – Characteristics:

◦ Student characteristics: ethnicity◦ Teacher characteristics: Babad, Weinstein, Rubie-Davies

12.15 – Lunch 1.15 – Whole class expectations:

◦ The evidence◦ View/analyse own videos◦ Areas for development: grouping and learning experiences, motivation

and evaluation, class climate and student responsibility for learning◦ Identification of areas for growth

Plan for the day

Rosenthal and Jacobson◦ Rosenthal and rats◦ Experimenter effects◦ Expectations in classrooms◦ Pygmalion in the classroom◦ Conclusions◦ Controversy

A ground-breaking study

Formation of Class

Expectations

Student Outcomes:

Social/Academic

Instructional Practices

Opportunities to Learn

Teacher Beliefs

Socioemotional Environment

Instructional Environment

A Model of Teacher Expectations

Formation of expectations Personality correlates of teachers Transmission of differential expectations Student perceptions Educational and social outcomes

Research directions after Pygmalion

Formation of expectations Greater influences Lesser influences

Portfolio information Gender Ethnicity Social class Diagnostic labels

Attractiveness Siblings Names Language style Personality and social

skills Teacher/ student

background

1. Wait time less for lows2. Give lows the answer/ ask

someone else3. Inappropriate

reinforcement4. Criticising lows for failure5. Praise lows less for

success6. Fail to provide feedback to

public response of lows7. Pay less attention to/

interact less with lows8. Call on lows less

frequently9. Seat lows farther from the

teacher10. Demand less from lows

11. Teachers interact more in private with lows; monitor and structure activities closely

12. Differential grading of tests13. Less friendly interaction

with lows14. Less informative feedback

to lows15. Lows receive less eye

contact and nonverbal communication

16. Less intrusive instruction of highs

17. Less use of effective instructional methods with lows

Transmission of differential expectations (Brophy, 1983)

Some specific teacher differential behaviours

Brophy (1985) behaviours towards low expectancy students

Good and Weinstein (1986) teachers provided less capable students with:

not helping enough to improve students’ answers

praising incorrect answers or inappropriate behaviours

demanding less of them shorter and less informative

feedback less intrusive instruction less use of time-consuming

instructional methods

less opportunity to perform publicly

less opportunity to think and analyse

less choice on assignments/ tasks

less autonomy and more frequent monitoring

more gratuitous and less contingent feedback

Development of research into teacher differential behaviour

Positives and negatives related to teacher differential behaviour

Importance of teacher differential behaviour

Climate

Feedback

Input

Output

Rosenthal’s four-factor theory

Stronger effects for affective climate and instructional input

A smaller effect for output

A practically negligible effect for differential feedback behaviours

Harris and Rosenthal (1985) meta-analysis

1. What are the specific types of differential behaviours?

2. What is the ideological legitimacy and educational desirability of each type of differential behaviour?

3. Which group of students receives an advantage from each type of teacher differential behaviour?

4. What is the teachers’ natural tendency and how would they wish to deal with particular students and different groups of students?

5. To what extent are teachers able to control their specific verbal and non-verbal behaviours?

Operationalising teacher differential behaviour

The components of the theory clash

Affective displays and actual feelings

Controlling affective displays: verbal and non-verbal

The affective domain

Do students perceive teacher differential behaviour?

Interpreting behaviours differently

Perceptions of teacher interactions

Students’ perceptions of teacher differential behaviour

Is there agreement in relation to degrees of learning support?

Is there agreement in relation to degrees of emotional support?

Comparison of student and teacher perceptions

Effects on students

Classroom climate and morale

Fairness and equity

Social comparison process is powerful and prevalent in schools

The social/ emotional effects of teacher differential behaviour

Adams (1965) ◦ Balance between what we put in and what we get

out◦ Influenced by others

Sense of justice

Equity theory

Teacher’s pet: a special case of teacher differential behaviour

Student characteristics◦ Ethnicity

Teacher characteristics◦ High bias and low bias teachers: Babad◦ High differentiating and low differentiating

teachers: Weinstein◦ High expectation and low expectation teachers:

Rubie-Davies

Characteristics

Student characteristics - labelling

Gender Ethnicity Social class Diagnostic labels

Physical attractiveness

Language style Personality and

social skills Teacher/student

background Names Other siblings

Gender Primary school girls Secondary school boys – maths, science Ability/effort Teacher interactions PE Reading and language Social behaviour

Social class Middle class students are expected to

perform at higher levels than lower social class

Low social class are vulnerable to teacher expectations

Some evidence teachers’ assessments for lower class are accurate but over-rate middle class

But what about NZ?

Rubie-Davies

Diagnostic labels Expectations vary according to whether or

not a child has a label, e.g. ADHD

Stinnett (2001): 144 preservice teachers◦ ADHD, no label; Ritalin, in Special Ed◦ Description of child; vignette

Rubie-Davies

Other factors Physical attractiveness Language style Personality and social skills Teacher/student background Names Siblings

Rubie-Davies

Ethnicity African American/ White students Hispanic/ White students Vulnerability UK But what about NZ?

◦ St George (1983) academic◦ Stoddart (1998) social skills◦ Rubie-Davies, Hattie, Hamilton (2006)

Rubie-Davies

A New Zealand study Rubie-Davies (2006) British Journal of

Educational Psychology 21 teachers

◦ 540 students 261 NZ European 88 Maori 91 PI 94 Asian

Rubie-Davies

Measures Expectation survey

◦ 1-7 Likert scale Teacher judgement of student achievement Running records

Rubie-Davies

Expectation and achievem ent by e thnicity

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

NZ European Maori Pacif ic Island Asian

Student e thnicity

Expe

ctat

ion

and

achi

evm

ent

Expectation

Achievement 1

Rubie-Davies

Teacher judgem ent and student achievem ent by e thnicity

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

NZ European Maori Pacif ic Island Asian

Ethnicity

Teac

her j

udge

men

t and

stu

dent

ac

hiev

emen

t

Judgement

Achievement 2

Rubie-Davies

Effect Size Gain by Ethnicity in Reading

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8

Teacher Expectation

Stu

dent

Effe

ct S

ize

Ach

ieve

men

t Gai

n

NZ European

MaoriPacific Island

Asian

Rubie-Davies

Conclusions Teacher expectations

◦ Ethnicity or social class? Societal stereotypes Lowered expectations

◦ Effect on pedagogy Lesson pace Structured environment Ability

Self-fulfilling prophecy effect/ sustaining expectation effect

Prejudice (bias) is a negative attitude

A stereotype is a generalisation, a belief

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/iat/

Bias, prejudice and stereotype

A belief about the personal attributes of a group of people

Stereotypes are sometimes over-generalised, inaccurate and resistant to new information

Stereotypes are shortcuts Stereotypes are biased Problems with the use of stereotypes Prejudice: A set of negative stereotypes loaded

with aggression and strong emotions carrying the idea that ‘we’ are better than ‘them’

Stereotypes

Often based on commonly held stereotypes What is teacher bias? Objectivity appears to be difficult Experimental vs naturalistic studies? Reversed bias Reducing bias

Teachers’ bias

Babad (1998) Draw-a-Person Intelligence test◦ One-sixth of teachers objective◦ One half mildly biased◦ One-quarter highly biased◦ A small proportion reverse biased

Personality correlates of susceptible teachers

In theory

In practice

Personality questionnaire

Classroom behaviour

Profile of the biased teacher

Elisha Babad

Rhona Weinstein

Christine Rubie-Davies

Exploring teacher personality and beliefs

Preferential affect is at the heart of the teacher expectation issue

Identified high and low bias teachers

Elisha Babad

Video clips

Ten-second exposure

Babad’s studies in elementary and secondary schools and at university

Teacher differential behaviour in teachers’ non-verbal behaviour

Students as judges Babad et al, 1989; 1991; Babad & Taylor,

1992◦ Adult judges of teacher non-verbal behaviour◦ What young students perceived in teachers’ non-

verbal behaviour◦ Students from different grade levels◦ In Israel and New Zealand◦ Students made guesses about the student the

teacher was talking to or about◦ Results

Students live different lives in one classroom

Student perceptions of differential treatment in the classroom

Rhona Weinstein

Student perceptions (Weinstein): the Teacher Treatment Inventory

High achievers Low achievers

Favoured in teacher interactions

Higher expectations

More opportunity and more choice

Receive more frequent negative feedback

More teacher-directed treatment

Teacher is the defining agent of ability not themselves, peers or parents

Public incidents Importance of nonverbal cues Children relate smartness to conforming

behaviour and fast completion of work Effects on children’s feelings

Interviews

Ways in which students are grouped for instruction

Materials and activities through which the curriculum is taught

Evaluation system that teachers use to assess learning

Motivational system used to engage students Responsibility that students have in directing and

evaluating learning Climate of relationships within the class, with

parents and with the school

Gleaning information about ability

High and low differentiating teachers (Weinstein, 2002)

Ability grouping Highly differentiated

curriculum Intelligence is fixed Learning for external

reward Teacher as director Teacher as academic

instructor

Variety of grouping Challenging learning

experiences Intelligence is

malleable Learning for

personal growth Teacher as facilitator Teacher as socialiser

The question is not, what is it about students that mean teachers have high or low expectations for them; the question we should be asking is, what is it about teachers that means some have high or low expectations for all their students?

Christine Rubie-Davies

What do we portray in our verbal and non-verbal behaviour?

Lie to Me video clip

Projecting messages

What kinds of messages are you delivering to students? Verbally/ non-verbally?

Is there any evidence of bias?

What is it like for students to be in your class?

What does your body language tell students?

Analysis of your teaching video

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Mean expectation and achievement

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Teacher number

Teacher Expectation and Student Achievement

Reading expReading ach 1

Effect Size Gain vs Expectation in Reading

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Teacher Expectation

Stud

ent E

ffect

Siz

e A

chie

vem

ent G

ain

HiEx GroupLoEx Group

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

Reading HiE x Reading LoE x Maths HiE x Maths LoE x

Student sel f per ceptions by teacher type

Student Self Perceptions in Reading and Maths

Beginning yearE nd year

7

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8

8.2

8.4

8.6

8.8

Means

High LowTeacher Expectation of Students

Student Perception of Teacher Opinion of their Performance

Beginning of YearEnd of Year

Teacher interviews Luke: “A lot of repetition, every day…until

they can start recalling their basic number facts.”

Hannah: “They need activities that are challenging so they are motivated. If I don’t make them independent as well [as the high ability students] they won’t learn to run by themselves. They’ll always need the teacher.”

Classroom observations

Teaching statements: orienting students to the lesson, introducing and explaining new concepts, using student prior knowledge

Feedback to students Open and closed questions Positive and negative behaviour

management Procedural statements

Teaching Approaches High expectation teachers: a facilitative

approach

Low expectation teachers: a directive approach

Classrooms of High Expectation Teachers Mixed ability groupings Worked with a variety of peers Well-defined learning goals Responsibility for learning Choices in learning experiences Intrinsically motivated Frequent feedback Answering open questions that challenged

thinking Extended explanations of new concepts Positive social climate

Classrooms of Low Expectation Teachers Teacher defined activities Extrinsically motivated Worked in ability groups Little mixed ability interaction Less ownership of learning Unsure of learning direction Answering closed questions Limited explanations of concepts Plenty of procedural directions Negative social climate

Grouping Learning activities Classroom climate Student responsibility Motivation Evaluation

Intervention areas

Teacher journals◦ Comments on the day – how are you feeling?

Did you learn anything? Did anything surprise you? Did you enjoy the day? What will you take back to your class? Anything you are thinking about changing?

◦ Possible areas for development?

Evaluation of the day