Teacher Expectations Essay -- Education

The intervening years since court-mandated desegregation of schools have not eradicated the existence of transaction disparities for ethnic children, especially for Latin American and African American students (McKown & Weinstein, 2008). In fact, there is an extensive body of research that suggests that students from minorities do not fare well in the current American public school arrangement (Tyler, Boykin, & Walton, 2006). McKown and Weinstein (2008) note that one often cited contributor to the achievement gap is teacher expectations.The use of the term teacher expectations has been a source of consternation and offense for some educators because of its connection to the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy (Jussim & Harber, 2005). These prophecies are erroneous teacher expectations that may lead students to perform at levels consistent with those expectations (Brophy & Good, 1974 Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968) (Jussim & Harber, 2005, p. 131). Jussim and Harber (2005) deta il the careen that has gone on for more than 40 years over self-fulfilling prophecy. They assert that, in general, educational psychologists have tended to stress the limited efficacy of teacher expectations to influence students while, social psychologists have taken the opposite position which asserts both the substantial power and pervasiveness of self-fulfilling prophecies (p. 138). Two of their major conclusions in this regard (a) Self-fulfilling prophecies do exist, and (b) their affects are typically small (Jussim & Harber, 2005).This would seem to be a groom conclusion to a prolonged controversy the answers, however, are not so simple or straightforward. There are other issues that complicate matters and must(prenominal) be considered whe... ...3McKown, C., & Weinstein, R. S. (2008). Teacher expectations, classroom context, and the achievement gap. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 235-261. Retrieved from http//www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-school-psychology/Th omas, J., & Stockton, C. (2003). socioeconomic status, race, gender, & retention Impact on student achievement. Essays in Education, 7. Retrieved from http//www.usca.edu/essays/archives.htmlTyler, K. M., Boykin, A. W., & Walton, T. R. (2006). Cultural considerations in teachers perceptions of student classroom behavior and achievement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 998-1005. Retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/tateZehavi, N., Bouhadan, R., & Bruckheimer, M. (1987). A model of relating teacher expectations and student difficulties. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 13, 185-192. doi 10.1016/50191-491X(87)80032-9