Self-Fulfilling+Prophecy

** Overview **
A longstanding goal in the education world has been to close the achievement gap that is widening between low income and high income students. To succeed in closing the achievement gap the stakeholders in the education world such as policy makers, administration, teachers, parents, and even students need to understand the basic contributors to this gap and attempt to remedy them. There are many different theories about why this achievement gap exists based on socioeconomic status, unequal opportunities, teacher experience, and even school faculty turnover. An interesting theory comes from Principal Kafele regarding the achievement gap in education; he believes that an attitude gap contributes to the achievement gap in education.

__ Attitude Gap __
A descriptive definition of the attitude gap comes from Me. Bernia, “The attitude gap is the gap between those who have the will to strive for academic excellence and those who do not.” (Bernia, 2013)

According to Principal Kafele closing the attitude gap requires: (Bernia, 2013) media type="youtube" key="H14bBuluwB8" width="412" height="194" align="right"
 * 1) The right climate and culture of a school are vital to closing the attitude gap. In looking at climate and culture, we must ask “what do students see, hear, feel, and experience” in their school.
 * 2) ** To close the attitude gap, we must examine our attitude toward students, our relationships with students, our compassion for students, our environment for learning, and the relevance in our instruction **
 * 3) We must ask ourselves three questions: “who am I?” “what am I about?” and “what is my recent evidence showing who I am and what I am about?”
 * 4) ** You must articulate that you believe in your students. **
 * 5) Know the difference between rules and expectations.
 * 6) Post your mission statement. Say it daily.
 * 7) You must know your students stories.


 * Grit ** is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth et al., 2007).  Grit is a component seen in hard working and persevering people and is a contributing factor to closing the attitude gap which attributes to the achievement gap. Keeping a positive attitude about your potential achievements and productively struggling are traits that mostly come from within, part of a person’s self efficacy. However, grit can be modeled and inspired in any person.

__ Achieveme ____ nt Gap Fast Facts __


Education Week definition for the Achievement Gap: // The “achievement gap” in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, am ong other success measures. It is most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-American and Hispanic students, at the lower end of the performance scale, and their non-Hispanic white peers, and the similar academic disparity between students from low-incom //// e families a //// nd those who are better off. (Yettick, 2015) //

An interactive map exploring the subgroups of students’ graduation rates in each state can be found at this link: Graduation Rates by Subgroup & State

**“The causes of achievement gaps are multiple and complexly interrelated, and they vary from school to school, district to district, and community to community.”** **(National Education Association)**

__ Factors That Contribute to Achievement Gaps __
===Note: Adapted from [|__http://www.nea.org/home/17413.htm__] === Other Factors
 * Within Schools' Control || Outside Schools' Control ||
 * Schoolwide Factors
 * Low expectations for student achievement;
 * Lack of rigor in the curriculum;
 * Large class size;
 * Tracking groups of students into a less demanding curriculum;
 * Unsafe schools;
 * Culturally unfriendly environments; and
 * Poor, or no, instructional leadership. || Factors in the Local Community
 * Economic opportunity for students' families;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Access to health and social services;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Community safety;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Access to libraries, museums, and other institutions that support students' development; and
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Access to childcare and after-school programs and facilities. ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Teacher- and Teaching-Related Factors
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Uncertified and inexperienced teachers;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Insensitivity to different cultures;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Poor teacher preparation;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Low expectations of students; and
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Inadequate materials, equipment, and resources, including technology-based resources. || <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' Background
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Families' income level;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' diet and nutrition at home;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' mobility; and
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' primary language (if other than English). ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Student-Related Factors
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' interest in school;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' level of effort;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' feeling that they are, in part, responsible for their learning. || <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Education Funding Shortfalls
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">State budget deficits;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unfunded federal mandates; and
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Inequities in funding among school districts. ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Families' Support of Students' Learning
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Families' participation in school activities;
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Families' skills to support and reinforce learning; and
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students' TV watching and at-home reading. || <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Families' Support of Students' Learning
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Time family members are able to devote to support and reinforce learning.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3d3d3d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Societal bias (racial, ethnic, poverty and class) ||

= Trend or Issue? = The achievement gap in education is an issue that has several different factors that experts have not been able to completely agree on. Working to understand and close the achievement gap has become a trend in the education world but there are so many factors affecting the achievement gap that even though the trend is to close the gap, the gap seems to only be growing.

One factor that experts are noticing to be consistently tied to the achievement gap is demographics. Sean Reardon stated that, “the socioeconomic status of a child’s parents has always been one of the strongest predictors of the child’s academic achievement and educational attainment.”(2011, p. 3) An ASCD Infobrief, The Achievement Gap: An Overview (2006), commented on this factor and another factor, race...

According to TIMSS, the gap between highest and lowest 8th grade scores in the United States is one of the largest among advanced countries. Whether one considers high school graduation rates, course selection, grades, or dropout rates, the pattern is the same: black children, Hispanic children, and poor children consistently achieve at lower levels than their peers (OECD, 2005).

This achievement gap based on socioeconomic status is not an unfamiliar issue in education. Reardon provided statistics and a historical element,

//The achievement gap between children from high- and low income families is roughly 30 to 40 percent larger among children born in 2001 than among those born twenty-five years earlier. In fact, it appears that the income achievement gap has been growing steadily for at least fifty years, though the data are less certain for cohorts of children born before 1970.// (Reardon, 2011, p. 4)

Another element of the achievement gap in education that is being noticed that could be related to demographics is expectations. Cotton (1989) discussed a study conducted to identify the critical components in effective schools and low-achieving schools. She stated that the presence of high expectations for student learning are among the essential variables identified in the list of essential elements for effective schools identified in the study (Cotton, 1989). A trend that has been identified as a contributor to student success is expectations of student achievement. Hanover Research (2012) discussed this variable,

//One primary trend seen across decades of research is that students are more likely to meet expectations than not, regardless of whether these expectations are good, bad, correct, or misguided.// (High Expectations and Student Success, 2012, p. 2)

Sonia Nieto further explained this factor of the achievement gap as a “self-fulfilling prophecy”(1996). This term was actually coined by Merton in 1948 and is defined to mean that students perform in ways in which teachers expect. In 1964, Robert Rosenthal performed an experiment and “found that expectations affect teachers' moment-to-moment interactions with the children they teach in a thousand almost invisible ways. Teachers give the students that they expect to succeed more time to answer questions, more specific feedback, and more approval: They consistently touch, nod and smile at those kids more.”(Spiegel, 2012)

Hanover Research discussed how we, as teachers, can play a part in closing the achievement gap in our students,

//We believe that we, as teachers, have the power to overcome the achievement gap with our students. And we believe the central tool in your most immediate control is high expectations. Our students, very often, do not believe they can succeed. They do not believe that their hard work will lead to the academic success that they readily admit that they want.// (The Power of High Expectations: Closing the Gap in Your Classroom, 2012, p. 36)

Even though there is no wonderful quick fix or agreement to the cause of the issue in education of the achievement gap there are research and models that have been focusing on a basic cause of low and high achievers, expectations. Principal Kefele promoted closing the attitude gap by having teachers examine their attitudes toward students, their relationships with students, their compassion for students, their environment for learning, and the relevance in their instruction. This attitude gap comes directly from the expectations that they have of themselves and that they get from others. We need to make sure that we are not part of the self fulfilling prophecy that we know as the attitude gap or basis of the achievement gap in education.

As a teacher ask yourself:

 * Do I believe in my students?
 * Do I care about my students?
 * Do I provide my students with an environment of excellence?
 * Do I know my students?
 * Do I realize who my students are?
 * Do my students have grit?
 * Do I model grit?


 * Proposal addressing this issue: [[file:McMunn_proposal.docx]]**

Bernia. (2013, October 19). What I’ve Been Reading: Closing the Attitude Gap. Retrieved from https://mrbernia.com/2013/10/19/what-ive-been-reading-closing-the-attitude-gap/ This blog summarized Principal Kefele's theories about the attitude gap. It shed light on some of the most important aspects of the attitude gap.
 * Annotated Bibliography**

Cotton, K. (1989, November). Expectations and Student Outcomes. //School Improvement Research Series,// 7. Retrieved from: http://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/expectations-and-student-outcomes.pdf This article spring boarded off of a Pygmalion study conducted by giving teachers false information about the learning potential of certain students in a San Francisco elementary school. The author explains expectations and how expectations are a major contributing factor to actual achievement.

Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D. & Kelly, D.R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087-1101. Retrieved from https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/images/Grit%20JPSP.pdf This article defined grit and describes its history while also shedding light on how it impacts achievement with research to back up their hypothesis..

Hanover Research. (2912, November). High Expectations and Student Success. Retrieved frrom http://danhaesler.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/High-Expectations-Mindset.pdf This brief report highlighted the role that expectations play in student learning, achievement, and goal-setting.

Poliakoff, A. R. (2006, January). Closing the Gap: An Overview. //Infobrief, 44.// Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/policy-priorities/jan06/num44/toc.aspx This article deconstructed the achievement gap in education describing factors that affect it and identifying steps that can be taken to close the gap.

Reardon, S. F. (2011, July). The Widening Academic Achievement Gap Between the Rich and the Poor: New Evidence and Possible Explanations. Retrieved from: https://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/reardon%20whither%20opportunity%20-%20chapter%205.pdf This article described the history of the achievement gap and provides research to back up theories of socioeconomic status and other factors contributing to the gap.

Spiegel, A. (2012, September 17). Teachers' Expectations Can Influence How Students Perform. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/09/18/161159263/teachers-expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform In this post the author explained how expectations affect achievement and backed up their hypothesis with research.

The Power of High Expectations: Closing the Gap in Your Classroom. Retrieved from http://teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/DCA_Ch2_2011.pdf This document not only explained how how expectations affect achievement but also explained how educators have the power to affect the achievement gap by just raising expectations; believing in your students so that they have a chance to believe in themselves.

Zhang, Y. ( 2014, April). Educational expectations, school experiences and academic achievements: A longitudinal examination. //Gansu Survey of Children and Families Papers.// Retrieved from: http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=gansu_papers This document examines a longitudinal study conducted on whether expectations affected academic achievements. I ties the idea of achieving only what is expected of you to self fulfilling prophecies.

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