How Teachers Communicate Expectations to Students

Teacher expectations are an important part of teaching culturally diverse students. Below is a list of behaviors teachers display that communicate to students that the teacher holds low expectations. Opposite of what is listed below should be expected from an effective teacher.
•Waiting less time for low achievers to answer a question (before giving the answer or calling on someone else)
•Giving low achievers answers or calling on someone else rather than trying to improve their responses (by giving clues or repeating or rephrasing questions)
•Inappropriate reinforcement: rewarding inappropriate behavior or incorrect answers by low achievers
•Criticizing low achievers more often for failure
•Praising low achievers less often for success
•Failing to give feedback to the public responses of low achievers
•Calling on low achievers less often to respond to questions, or asking them only easier, no analytical questions
•Generally paying less attention to low achievers or interacting with them less frequently
•Seating low achievers farther away from the teachers
•Demanding less from low achievers (e.g., teaching less, gratuitous praise, excessive offers of help)
•Interacting with low achievers more privately than publically, and monitoring and structuring their activities more closely
•Differential administration or grading of tests or assignments, in which high achievers but not low achievers are given the benefit of the doubt in borderline cases
•Less friendly interactions with low achievers, including less smiling and fewer other nonverbal indicators of support
•Briefer and less informative feedback to questions from low achievers
•Less eye contact and other nonverbal communication of attention and responsiveness (forward lean, positive head nodding) in interaction with low achievers
•Less use of effective but time-consuming instructional methods with low achievers when time is limited
•Less acceptance and use of low achievers' ideas
•Exposing low achiever to an impoverished curriculum (overly limited and repetitive content, emphasis on factual recitation rather than on lesson-extending discussion, emphasis on drill and practice tasks rather than application and higher-level thinking tasks).

Source: Good, T. & Brophy, J. (2008). Looking in classrooms (8th ed.). New York: Longman