Holding the highest of expectations for EVERY single student matters!
In addition, communicating those standards of excellence directly to students is a necessary link between the expectations themselves and the students’ success. This is especially important for students whose demographics indicate that they are more likely to be on the unfavorable end of the persistent achievement gap.
Researchers looked at the effect of giving feedback that communicated high expectations (eg. “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know you can reach them”) versus more commonly used types of feedback that do not underscore the teacher’s commitment to the student (e.g. “I’m giving you these comments so that you’ll have feedback on your paper”). This feedback was given to 7th graders on an essay about their heroes as a note written directly on the work. The students were then offered a chance to revise their essays and turn them back in.
While all students that received explicitly communicated high expectations feedback were more likely to revise their essay, and therefore improve their grade, the finding from the African-American students was the most striking. Only 17 percent of the African American students receiving the control, or more common, feedback message took the opportunity to revise, compared to 72 percent of those who were given the message instilling a vote of confidence. In comparison, white students returned the essay at a rate of 62 and 87 percent, respectively. The white students’ were already significantly more likely to give their work another try.
It turns out that the increased likelihood of giving an additional effort to what was an already completed assignment, albeit mediocre, seems to be related to trust. Among the African-American students, the subgroup that showed the most propensity to revise and resubmit their paper, was also the subgroup that had previously reported trusting their teachers the least. Data from white students showed no relationship between trust and likelihood to revise. In other words, by 7th grade, white students, much more so than African-American students, seem to already understand that trying again is valued by their support systems and that they can generally trust that their educators treat them fairly.
This data provides educators with compelling rationale for reflecting upon how we communicate our expectations and commitment to our students, staff and mentees. In our 3 part series on Beating our Biases so far we have talked about our unconscious errors and how relationships can be used to overcome these cognitive bugs. Finally, we are making the case that for those that are the most likely to be on the receiving end of these negative biases providing messages that hold these students to high standards, radically boosts their motivation and ultimately their success.
Getting to know your students and their families will build connection and trust. Ensuring that your students know that you believe in them will allow each one of them to take advantage of their incredible, plastic brain. The student that tries again, like the students that revised their essays, is the student that has a growth mindset, is more resilient in the face of obstacles and learns more.
Stay tuned as next month we talk about the latest findings on the power of the growth mindset.