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Re: Chapter 11- Expectations -- Tish Colvin, 19:36:55 04/16/07 Mon
Miriam, Your comment made me think of the famous Pygmalion study. If I remember correctly, teachers were told that certain students were honors students when in fact they were average achievers. The teachers did exactly what you mentioned - engaged and challenged the students more than they normally would, treating them as though they were high achievers. The average students subsequently performed at a higher level. In essence, the students rose to the challenge and met the higher expectations.
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Re: Chapter 11- Expectations -- Derwin Sisnett, 07:28:12 04/18/07 Wed
I feel somewhat indifferently about the matter. During my observations I noticed that one of the teachers kept the same level of enthusiasm and motivation for all of her classes; though she admitted that one of the classes had slower learners. I do not think she lost passion for that class, but she did have to go over material more in depth. I think if the students in this class were peppered throughout the other classes--especially the one that appeared to have fast learners, it could be a disservice to everyone. The attendance in the more challenged class was already low, and it could decrease if the pace was increased. I understand that some teachers tend to fulfill false prophecies, but, in this case, the teacher seemed to be just as motivating for both classes. Do we slow down for everyone at the risk of not challenging everyone's potential, or do we speed up for everyone at the risk of losing students altogether? An anomaly of sorts . . .
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Re: Chapter 11- Expectations -- Jessica Roesch, 11:28:52 04/19/07 Thu
I agree. It seems that senior year is almost a year lost in terms of educational achievement. I think that if students would be better prepared, the dropout rate of college freshman would be lowered tremendously. I also think this mentality needs to be applied to the student's home environment. If parents let their kids slack off during their last year of high school, they will not be academically or emotionally mature enough to handle the demands of college. This being said, i also think it depends on the college in which the student will be attending. Obviously some do get by with putting forth little effort in highschool and still seem to get through college in the same manner. This goes back to the authors opinion that higher education in American ill-prepares students for their future careers.
>I think this is very true -- if we have low
>expectations for our students, they will live up to
>them. I saw this first hand when I was doing my
>observation for our paper. I talked with two
>different history teachers at the school. Each of
>them talked about how "the next class isn't very good,
>they don't really care and don't perform well because
>they are the regular class, not the AP class." Sure
>enough, in observing, the teachers expected much less
>out of the regular class students and probably got
>even less than they expected. Whereas the in AP
>classes the teacher kept the students much more
>engaged and challenged them much more. With that in
>mind, I wonder if having honors or AP classes are
>actually harmful to those students not in the classes.
> Rather, should we have the same high expectations for
>all of our students?
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Re: Chapter 11- Expectations -- Lauren McAdams, 20:09:29 04/18/07 Wed
I agree completely that seniors in high school are not challenged at all. It seems like once they are accepted into college, then the rest of the year does not matter much. I think that seniors also feel like going to college is going to be the same experience as high school and these students are in for a big awakening. Since many high school seniors are not challenged enough their senior year, once they get to college they seem to fail, not because they are not smart enough, but because they don't know how to motivate themselves or how to study. I think this is a very important issue with high schools and needs to be addressed with the school systems because it is making perfectly good students do bad once they reach the college level.
>Chapter 11 states that one improvement that needs to
>be made in high schools is higher expectations for
>student achievement. Senior year is looked at as a
>time for students to have fun and party, esspecially
>for students who have been accepted into college. I
>think students might have an easier first year of
>college if they are more productive their senior year
>and use their time more wisely. The book says students
>are getting high grades without studying much and 20%
>of college track seniors did not take a math course in
>their final year of highschool. I think schools really
>should be challenging seniors more.
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Re: Chapter 11- Expectations -- Bradley Kovach, 21:45:38 04/18/07 Wed
I completely agree with this (even though as a senior I was accepted for early admission into my #1 choice school and thus put forth zero effort the entire year). I think a large part of this attitude is that the students see the classes as useless if they do not directly deal with their intended major area of study in college. I think by offering classes that deal with time management and study habits as well as some advanced level electives in some of the more popular subjects (health science, law, engineering) they might be able to keep the seniors' attention.
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Re: Chapter 11- Expectations -- Missy Flinn, 17:38:56 04/19/07 Thu
My senior year of high school was definitely more socially focused than academically focused. In place of a test calendar, we had a social calendar so that every person could schedule their graduation party on a day that wouldn't conflict with another party. Although our classes were still challenging, teachers were more lenient and were quick to give extensions without penalties to seniors who had not done their work. We did not have exams our senior year, either. I think that maintaining rigorous academics throughout the senior year would definitely help in the transition to college.
>Chapter 11 states that one improvement that needs to
>be made in high schools is higher expectations for
>student achievement. Senior year is looked at as a
>time for students to have fun and party, esspecially
>for students who have been accepted into college. I
>think students might have an easier first year of
>college if they are more productive their senior year
>and use their time more wisely. The book says students
>are getting high grades without studying much and 20%
>of college track seniors did not take a math course in
>their final year of highschool. I think schools really
>should be challenging seniors more.
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