High Expectations

G.U.T. Check for Early Career Teachers: Do I believe that all students can be successful? How do I demonstrate my belief through words, actions, and interactions with students? 

G.U.T. Check for Administrators: Do I believe that all students can be successful? How do I demonstrate that through words, actions, and interactions with students and teachers?  

If you have gotten this far as an early career teacher or school administrator, you have probably been asked if you think all children can learn. I assume you said, “yes”. Your words, on some level, communicated to someone that you have sufficiently high expectations for students, and your journey as an education professional continued.

Having high expectations for student learning is a reflection of your beliefs, your stated values, your creed. When it comes to high expectations for student learning, what matters most is DEEDS not CREEDS. The real question is, “How do your beliefs compel you to act and interact with the world?”

Consider this quote from Martin Haberman (2011):

It is the power of teachers’ beliefs - deeply held commitments which they act upon - which control their receptiveness to teacher training,  the nature and extent of the knowledge and skills they develop, their effectiveness as teachers of children and youth and the nature of their development over time. I am not here using the term “beliefs” as some catchall basket of opinions and attitudes that exist on only a verbal or superficial level, but to the deep-seated ideas that define a person as a human being with a heart and soul as well as a mind.

If early career teachers and school administrators are not compelled by their beliefs to act in ways that lead to successful outcomes for students, no amount of training, coaching, or mentoring can remedy that. (Sidenote: reflecting on practice that is less than successful, and pairing that reflection with a commitment to learn more and do better is, in and of itself, a demonstration of high expectations! Do you immerse yourself in professional learning? Then, YOU, my friend, most likely have high expectations for students!)

Having high expectations, and demonstrated commitment to act on them is a great start. However, teachers and administrators must also be skillful in communicating those expectations, and unwavering in sticking to them.

Here is an outstanding example of communicating expectations and holding others to them. This example doesn’t take place in a classroom at all, but on an airplane. On a recent flight to Minneapolis to attend a conference, I observed a flight attendant named A.J. give a master class in accountability.

As I boarded the flight and looked for a seat, I was happy to grab one in an emergency exit row. (Let’s be honest, in the event of an emergency, I am someone who is likely to go into what I call “school administrator mode” and take care of business anyway, so I might as well enjoy the extra legroom until duty calls!) Before the flight took off, A.J. stood in front of the row rows of passengers associated with the emergency exits, and let us know he was going to give us directions. “Please shut off your music, and take out your earbuds,” he began. He then scanned the two rows to check for compliance. I saw A.J. look at the man in the row ahead of me. He then said, “I need you to take out your earbuds,” to which the passenger replied, “I can hear you.” A.J. then said, “If you are going to sit in an exit row, I need to be sure you can follow directions.” The man removed his earbuds and A.J. proceeded to give a brief tutorial. He then addressed the man in front of me again, and with a totally genuine delivery, he said, “Thank you so much.”

Why was this such a powerful example of expectation setting? Break it down for me, fellas.

Flight Attendant A.J.:  Please shut off your music, and take out your earbuds. Expectation was clear and communicated succinctly. He then scanned the group to ensure expectations were met.

Flight Attendant A.J.:  (Referring to passengers who did not comply). Please take out your earbuds. Expectation reiterated. 

Passenger: I can hear you. Passenger challenged the expectation, attempting to negotiate a different standard.

Flight Attendant A.J.: If you are going to sit in an exit row, I need to be sure you can follow directions. Clarified the expectation without lowering it. Waited for full compliance. Did. Not. Negotiate. Why? It was not in the best interest of the individual passenger, or of the plane-full of other passengers, to lower the expectation in any way. If you sit in an emergency exit row, you are accountable for a safe, although unlikely, emergency deplaning. It is reasonable to assume that you will follow directions, and accept some inconvenience. And A.J.’s use of the word “if” also implied logical consequences. “If you are going to sit in an exit row, I need to be sure you can follow directions….” The other side of that coin is, “If you cannot follow directions, you will be reseated. Your choice. Let me know which one you decide. I will wait for your response, and then take action accordingly.”  

Passenger removed earbuds. 

Flight Attendant A.J. Thank you so much. Keeps the relationship intact.

This is what I call the Flight Attendant A.J. Approach: The expectation is clear, and it is not going to change. A.J. can choose his response based on the passenger’s readiness to meet the expectation, but the expectation itself will not change.

Let’s take the Flight Attendance A.J. Approach and apply it to administrators setting expectations for staff.

Administrator: It is important that teachers follow the daily instructional schedule. Please post your daily instructional schedule outside your classroom, and follow it as closely as possible. High expectation for meeting daily instructional minutes. Expectations clearly communicated.

Teacher Thought (possibly): All my principal cares about is this schedule. Doesn’t she know that sometimes, lessons go long? This is so annoying. Whatever. If math runs long today, and I go into reading time, I will make up the time eventually. Reaction akin to, “I can still hear you with my music off and my earbuds in, so why bother taking my earbuds out?” This too is an internal validation for setting/negotiating a different standard.

Administrator (after visiting a classroom where the posted daily schedule wasn’t being followed): It is my expectation as well as that of this school that we adhere to the posted instructional schedule, as closely as we can. I am concerned because based on my observations I can see that your schedule varies. This expectation is important for several reasons. One, it is my job, as principal, is to provide oversight into the quantity and quality of instruction. It is difficult to do that when I can’t reasonably know who is teaching what and when they are teaching it. Moreover, you work in concert with related service providers who rely on you maintaining predictability in your schedule so that their pull-out or push-in services can take place reliably.  Also, we have students who attend an accelerated math class in a classroom down the hall, so it is imperative that your schedule for math is aligned with your colleague’s schedule. The impact of varying your schedule is that learning time is being wasted and your colleagues become frustrated. (Continues to spot-check that teacher is meeting the expectation for adhering to the instructional schedule. If there is continued difficulty in doing so, the administrator provides support or a consequence.) 

See how it works? Like Flight Attendant A.J., the expectation is clear, and it is not going to change. The administrator can choose her response based on the teacher’s willingness to own the expectation, but the expectation itself will not change.

Let’s also take this Flight Attendant A.J. approach and apply it to high expectations for students. This time, let’s read this as internal dialogue, with the associated behaviors communicating the expectation. 

Kindergarten Teacher (unspoken): It is my expectation that all kindergarten students leave my classroom at the end of the year, decoding emergent reader texts with accuracy and comprehension. Implements a research-based reading program with fidelity, and plans to collect data to monitor progress.

Five Year Old Child (unspoken) But I came to kindergarten with no preschool experience, so I only knew a few letters and no sounds when I started. I am easily distracted by peers, and I am really only interested in Spiderman. I am five years old, and your letter-sound thing really isn’t my thing. How about I do me this year and you send me on to first grade?

Kindergarten Teacher (unspoken) (noticing that the child is not progressing towards reading proficiency at the same rate as other students.) It is my responsibility to ensure that all students in my class end the school year decoding and comprehending at an emergent reader level. Even though this student came to my classroom with some initial barriers, I cannot allow those barriers to prevent this expectation from being met. How can I connect with this child better? My behavior must communicate that I have no intention of defaulting on this expectation for learning. I will speak to the instructional coach and ask her to observe my classroom to see if she has any suggestions for how I can incorporate more intentional interactions between peers so this child’s natural inclination to be more interested in what other students are doing can be leveraged. I will also find ways to use the child’s interest in Spiderman to help him be more interested in learning letters and sounds. Maybe the library has an alphabet book about superheroes? Maybe I can use Artificial Intelligence to generate an image of Spiderman teaching the alphabet and display it during small group time when I work with this student? I already have a match activity where students pair pictures of letters with words that start with that letter sound. Can I modify that activity in a Spiderman theme? Can I make a “spiderweb" out of yarn, and when the children find a match, they can take a clothes pin and hang the pairs on the spider web? I will call the child’s caregivers and see what they think of these ideas. Maybe they can also implement these strategies at home.

Just like Flight Attendant A.J., the kindergarten teacher has a high and specific expectation for student learning. The student may or may not initially be on track to meet that expectation, so the teacher might have to change her response, but she doesn’t change the expectation.