High Expectations Matched by Support for High Achievement

4. Teachers at this school expect all students to achieve at high levels and provide them the needed support to do so.

5. Teachers and administrators openly reject the idea that students cannot achieve academically because of conditions in their homes and communities.

6. Teachers and administrators believe that they can significantly influence students' motivation to learn.

That a culture of high expectations for all students accounts for school effectiveness is one of the most consistent findings in educational research (cf. Newmann and Wehlage, 1995). Research also shows that the influence of teacher expectations on student achievement is substantial—and that, overall, teachers have lower expectations for students of color (Miller, 1995, pp. 224-241). The exception to this is the tendency of some teachers to view some students of Asian descent as the "model minority." This, of course, stereotypes students of Asian descent who vary greatly in their levels of academic achievement and interests (Louie, 2004).

Teacher expectations are shaped by their own dispositions and experiences with people of different races and ethnicities, but their expectations are also influenced significantly by principals and their teacher colleagues (Diamond, 2008).

Robert Slavin makes the case that high expectations for student learning need to be matched by high levels of support to achieve those goals:

Dorothy Strickland cautions educators to be wary of focusing on students' "learning styles," because it can limit opportunities to learn:

Sonia Nieto argues that deficit views of student motivation and their capacity to learn should be replaced with an asset view:

Read an influential study of the effects of teacher expectations on student learning.

Holding struggling students of color to high expectations without providing them substantial support is counterproductive. Explore research by Ronald Ferguson on this point.