Lists | ARN-L: December 2003: [no subject]

Subject: The Truth About Low Expectations


> A study published in the December issue of the J of Ed. Psych by Penny
> Hauser-Cram and Selcuk Sirin (of Boston College) and Deborah Stipek (of
> Stanford) begins with a very thoughtful discussion of the low-expectations
> phenomenon.  That phrase, of course, has been appropriated by the
> accountability crowd to the point that some people forget how poor and
> minority kids are trapped in a real vicious circle that doesn't refer
> primarily to test scores.
>
> The authors proceed to report two intriguing findings from their study of
> very poor kindergarteners:  (1) "Teachers with observed student-centered
> practices reported placing relatively more emphasis on the development of
> children's higher-order thinking strategies" than did those using
> curriculum-centered practices (r=.30, p<.001) -- yet another confirmation
of
> the intellectual benefits of what's usually thought of as progressive
> teaching.
>
> (2)  "Teachers in classrooms that were teacher dominated and driven by
> curriculum were more likely to expect less of students from families with
> discrepant values ... [whereas] the children in student-centered
classrooms
> were less likely to be disadvantaged by low expectations based on
teachers'
> perceptions of parents' value differences..."  In other words, anyone
> sincerely concerned about the problem of low expectations should be
fighting
> against the sort of uniform, direct-instruction teaching that's imposed
> disproportionately on poor and minority kids in the name of *eliminating*
> low expectations.
>
>
> -- Alfie Kohn
> www.alfiekohn.org
>
>
>