| Chandra Muller
University of Texas
The mismatch of teacher and student expectations: Circumstances and consequences
FINAL REPORT:
Study 1: Investing in Teaching and Learning: Dynamics of the Teacher-Student Relationship from Each Actor's Perspective (Co-Authors S.R. Katz and L.J. Dance)
This paper integrates findings from three independent studies (one quantitative and two qualitative) to analyze two aspects of the teacher-student relationship: 1) how teachers and students each view their relationship with the other, and 2) how this relationship and views affect students' subsequent academic performance. Both teachers and students evaluate future opportunity when assessing the relationship; however, what is viewed as important differs. All three studies corroborate the significant finding that teachers base their educational expectations heavily on students' test scores, whereas the students shape their own educational expectations largely from their perceptions of their teachers' expectations. Teachers' reliance on test scores masks racial differences in expectations which students may perceive as racism.
Study 2: The Minimum Competency Exam Requirement, Teachers' and Students' Expectations and Academic Performance
This paper analyzes whether the minimum competency exam requirement for high school graduation affects students' academic performance directly or affects the educational process by moderating the effect of teachers' and students' expectations on students' mathematics test score gains, proficiency levels and high school graduation. Tenth grade students and their mathematics teachers from NELS are analyzed. No associations between the minimum competency exam requirement and any of the outcomes are found. In the case of mathematics achievement, teachers' expectations are always a more important predictor of learning gains and proficiency than are students' expectations. When students are subject to the requirement, students' expectations better predict high school graduation. When there is no requirement, students' grades are highly associated with obtaining a high school diploma, and the expectations of teachers and students have no independent association with graduation.
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