EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS RESEARCH

Research indicates that a child’s success in school is significantly influenced by having:

TEACHERS WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS AND WHO ENCOURAGE HABITS OF POSITIVE SELF-REGARD.

Teachers who set and communicate high expectations for all their students obtain greater academic performance from those students than teachers who set low expectations. Students tend to learn as much (or as little) as their teachers expect. Teachers with high expectations for all students can structure and guide behaviour and can challenge students beyond what students themselves believe they can do. They highlight their strengths. They are student-centered. They use the students’ own strengths, interests, goals, and dreams as the beginning point for learning and they tap into the students’ natural curiosity and desire to learn.

Remedial programs often contribute to a child’s learning problems. Students in special, low-ability classes often received watered-down curricula, including less instruction in higher-order skills, comprehension, and problem-solving. Once students see themselves in such settings and begin to believe they have failed because they lack ability, they tend to lose hope for future success.

The research also indicates that the practice of placing students in low-ability classes tends to perpetuate social inequities based on race and economic class.

Benard, 1997.
Wang, 1997.
What works: research about teaching and learning, 1987.