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Have you ever had a student who wasn’t successful the previous year, but turned out to be an active learner – even a leader - in your classroom? What made the difference? What were your expectations for the student?

It’s a subject that comes up often when I visit schools and talk to principals and teachers. I’m encouraged to hear so many of you say that teacher expectations, both negative and positive, influence how engaged – and even how successful - students will be.

Now, you and I know student preparedness and attitudes play a role as do other factors, such as home environment, poverty and language proficiency. But researchers consistently cite the impact that you, the teacher, have. Some say as much as 70 percent of student learning is directly linked to what you say and do in the school setting. With that in mind, let me ask you:

• What do you expect from your students this year?
• Do you believe all of them can learn at levels that will prepare them for graduation from high school and college and career opportunities?
• What about students in special education? What about the LEP child?  What is your role in preparing them to be successful?

I’m not asking you for the politically correct response (you know – “all children can learn”), but what do you really believe?

For my generation of educators, the prevailing notion has been that each student has a certain amount of intelligence. This “inherent intellect” supposedly determines what students can accomplish and how much we should expect from them. In effect, it guides how much pressure we place on them to succeed.

Those thought to have high IQs are pushed for excellence, placed in honors classes and recruited for leadership positions on campus. After all, they are the brightest hope for our future - and our future leaders.

For others, we develop a softer set of standards. We push them to perform at their perceived capacity and not much beyond. At best, we believe they, too, can contribute, just to a lesser degree (think self-contained special education classes).

Let’s be honest - haven’t we all accepted that kind of thinking to some degree? Well now there’s evidence this “limited intellect” notion actually shortchanges students and teachers. And recent studies, backed up by brain research, provide greater hope for all. When we give students the right kind of educational opportunities, they can all succeed at higher rates.