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The Longitudinal Relations of Teacher Expectations to Achievement in the Early School Years

Authors:
Ben Hinnant at Auburn University
Ben Hinnant
Marion O’Brien
Marion O’Brien
Marion O’Brien
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Sharon R Ghazarian at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
Sharon R Ghazarian
  • Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
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Abstract

There is relatively little research on the role of teacher expectations in the early school years or on the importance of teacher expectations as a predictor of future academic achievement. The current study investigated these issues in the reading and mathematic domains for young children. Data from nearly 1,000 children and families at first, third, and fifth grades were included. Child sex and social skills emerged as consistent predictors of teacher expectations of reading and, to a lesser extent, math ability. In predicting actual future academic achievement, results showed that teacher expectations were differentially related to achievement in reading and math. There was no evidence that teacher expectations accumulate but some evidence that they remain durable over time for math achievement. Additionally, teacher expectations were more strongly related to later achievement for groups of children who may be considered to be at risk.
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... Teachers join the teaching career with different expectations in terms of performance in teaching (Bicaj & Buza, 2020;DeLosa, 2016;Hinnant et al., 2009;Johnston et al., 2019;Khattab, 2015;King-McKenzie et al., 2017). On the one hand, qualitative evidence shows that teachers expect high performance in teaching upon entry into schools in England and Kosovo (Bicaj & Buza, 2020;DeLosa, 2016;Hinnant et al., 2009). ...
... Teachers join the teaching career with different expectations in terms of performance in teaching (Bicaj & Buza, 2020;DeLosa, 2016;Hinnant et al., 2009;Johnston et al., 2019;Khattab, 2015;King-McKenzie et al., 2017). On the one hand, qualitative evidence shows that teachers expect high performance in teaching upon entry into schools in England and Kosovo (Bicaj & Buza, 2020;DeLosa, 2016;Hinnant et al., 2009). This means that teachers expect their efforts and commitments in teaching to cause a high positive performance on the side of students, let alone the high socioeconomic returns to teachers on reciprocity. ...
... Despite the expectations teachers enter into the job with, there are real achievements. Evidence shows that the expectations teachers have on entry may differ from achievement experiences on retention as teachers may change in attitude and character, and their high expectations may dissipate (Hinnant et al., 2009;Sun, 2021 The findings from research by Hinnant et al. (2009) in the USA indicate strong correlates between teachers' expectations levels and their perceived performance in terms of students' academic achievements. The implicit reality of the decline in expectations is the reciprocity in students' academic achievements and vice versa. ...
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At the start of their careers, teachers often hold high expectations for their professional achievements, yet the realities they encounter may not always align with these initial aspirations. This study, grounded in a constructivist paradigm, investigated secondary school teachers’ career entry expectations and their subsequent achievement experiences. A case study approach was employed, utilising semi-structured interviews with secondary school teachers and unstructured interviews with educational leaders to gain insights into how teachers’ expectations are perceived and discussed in their settings. The findings reveal that good performance in teaching is a key professional expectation for teachers entering the field. While teachers initially hold high expectations for their work performance, their actual experiences range from high achievement to average, low, and even failure. The study recommends fostering corporate social responsibility in schools as a means to enhance teachers’ performance experiences and support their professional growth.
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... In other words, if teacherreported EF behaviors are discordant with directly assessed EF skills, and those discordances are systematically associated with other student characteristics, then there is evidence of biased reports. Previous studies have found evidence of biases in teacher ratings of academic achievement, cognitive skills including EFs, and classroom behaviors on the basis of children's race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, and gender (Brandmiller et al., 2020;Garcia et al., 2019;Hinnant et al., 2009;Ready & Wright, 2011). These biases may carry significant consequences for students-research has shown that students whose teachers overestimate their academic skills in turn gain more academic skills over the year (Baker et al., 2015;Ready & Chu, 2015) and vice versa. ...
... Parental education in years was included as a proxy for family socioeconomic status and included in analyses due to evidence that children from lower-socioeconomic status families have lower EFs (Hackman et al., 2015) and that teachers' perceptions of students are shaped by socioeconomic status (Ready & Chu, 2015). Moreover, child race/ethnicity (Black/African American, Hispanic/Latine, Asian/Pacific Islander, White [omitted group], and other race or ethnicity/ multiracial) was included as a covariate because of prior literature demonstrating that teachers' perceptions of students are influenced by students' racial/ ethnic identity Hinnant et al., 2009;Ready & Wright, 2011). Child age was included as a covariate, due to prior literature demonstrating age-related differences in EFs (Soto et al., 2020). ...
... Third, these results may be due to biases or halo effects in teachers' perceptions of students' behaviors that affect both their ratings of EF behaviors and relationship quality. These biases could be based on children's demographic characteristics or other non-EF behaviors in the classroom such as their academic or social skills (Brandmiller et al., 2020;Garcia et al., 2019;Hinnant et al., 2009). ...
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... Unfortunately, evidence indicates the contrary. Teacher expectations are biased by students' social and migration backgrounds, to the detriment of students with migration backgrounds and low socioeconomic status (SES;de Boer et al. 2010;Gentrup et al. 2018;Hinnant et al. 2009;Shifrer 2013). ...
... In line with previous studies (de Boer et al. 2010;Gentrup et al. 2018;Hinnant et al. 2009;Shifrer 2013), we found that teachers had lower expectations for students with K migration backgrounds, but not for all. Our findings confirm the necessity to consider different migration backgrounds (i.e., nationalities) and show the added value of a typology of nationalities based on the stereotype content model (Fiske et al. 2002). ...
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... Met or unmet expectations determine how productively teachers perform their duties in the schools. Researchers have documented the relationship between students' expectations and achievements and what teachers are expected of, for students to achieve their aspirations [1][2][3]. Little attention has been given to the issue of teachers' own expectations and how they relate to self-efficacy, morale and motivation. On one hand, expectations about the nature of career are a pull factor for persuading prospective teachers to enter the profession. ...
Career progression expectations, achievements, and retention in the classrooms: perceptions of public secondary school teachers in Tanzania
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This article explored public secondary school teachers’ entry career progression expectations and their perceived achievements of the expectations of teachers and school administrators in the classrooms in Bukoba District, Tanzania. The study employed a qualitative approach. Data collected from 62 respondents through interviews were subjected to analyses using UNESCO’s teacher career progression paths framework (in Teacher policy development guide, UNESCO, France, 2015). The results show the majority (44.44%) teachers’ entry career progression expectations were along the dual career progression path; 38.89% and 16.67% were along the vertical (i.e. direct) and horizontal career progression paths respectively. However, most of the participants in the vertical and dual career progression paths rated their perceived achievement of the expectations as low and non-achieving. Some reasons given for their low perceived levels of achievement of expectations were associated with appointments and promotions which were perceived to be effected without regard to transparency, professional impartiality, administrative, policy and legal frameworks. The study concludes that opportunities should be provided for experienced teachers and school administrators to have adequate exposure to the prospects of the progression including hierarchical positions of responsibilities they can aspire to in order not to move out or away from teaching. The article makes a number of recommendations to improve practice of career advancement for further research.
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... In summary, there is evidence suggesting that teacher and parent expectations could predict educational mobility. Additionally, much research has shown moderate but consistent effects of teacher expectations on student achievement and effort, even in the long term (Hinnant et al., 2009;Neuenschwander et al., 2018). Expectations are self-fulfilling (Brophy, 1985;Jussim et al., 1996): high teacher expectations increase student achievement and student effort whereas low teacher expectations lead to lower student achievement and student motivation (Wang et al., 2018). ...
Early Determinants of Intergenerational Upward and Downward Educational Mobility
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  • Jan 2025
Intergenerational educational mobility means that adolescents graduate at a higher level (upward mobility) or lower level (downward mobility) than their parents did. Knowledge about early determinants supports upward and downward mobility at an early stage. Evidence about early determinants of educational mobility allows for the elaboration of educational strategies to minimize the correlation between family socio-economic status (SES) and student upper-secondary education level. In this longitudinal study (N = 2376), we examined the extent to which teacher and parent expectations in 7th grade (mean age: 13.2 years) predict the achievement and effort of adolescents with and without migration backgrounds and the probability of upward and downward mobility at the end of upper-secondary education. The results showed indirect effects of teacher and parent expectations on upward and downward mobility, mediated by student achievement, after controlling for gender and conscientiousness. The effects of parent expectations were stronger than the effects of teacher expectations. Effort predicted downward mobility more than achievement in mathematics and German. No differences were found between adolescents with and without migration backgrounds. In the case of the tracked Swiss education system, parents’ and teacher expectations predicted educational mobility over long periods.
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... Since the publication of Rosenthal and Jacobson's seminal study "Pygmalion in the classroom" (1968), it is generally acknowledged that teachers' expectations and/or perceptions have a profound impact on students' academic progress (Van Houtte & Demanet, 2016;Jussim & Harber, 2005;Hinnant et al., 2009;Rubie-Davies et al., 2006). Moreover, research identified two ways in which teachers might treat students differently, namely through teachers' affect and effort (Rosenthal, 2002). ...
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The high prevalence of delay and non-completion among academic track students across OECD countries raises questions about academic tracks’ effectiveness in successfully preparing students for higher education. Yet, empirical studies addressing academic track students’ college readiness remain scarce. Therefore, this study investigates the long-term effects of cognitive (i.e., ability) and non-cognitive indicators (i.e., self-efficacy, learning skills, transition knowledge, and cognitive strategies) of college readiness on “on-time” progress throughout higher education. Additionally, this study investigates whether shared teacher expectations (i.e., teachability culture) explain differences in students’ college readiness. Results of multilevel analyses based on data from 671 Flemish students across 16 schools (ISCY: 2013–2019), indicated that teachability culture positively affected college-readiness indicators, namely: self-efficacy and cognitive strategies. In turn, self-efficacy positively affected students’ “on time” progression throughout higher education. Given its malleable nature, self-efficacy is potentially an interesting tool to increase college-readiness, and ultimately “on time” degree completion.
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... schools with a high-performance level, whereas they tend to evaluate texts more positively than objectively in classes or schools with a lowperformance level. Under-or overestimation of student performances is unfair to learners and, in particular, underestimations can have an unfavorable impact on students' performance development and motivation (Alvidrez & Weinstein, 1999;Hinnant, O'Brien, & Ghazarian, 2009;Urhahne, 2015;Zhou & Urhahne, 2013;Zhu, Urhahne, & Rubie-Davies, 2018). Conversely, overestimation can positively affect students' development (Bergold & Steinmayr, 2023;Förster, Humberg, Hebbecker, Back, & Souvignier, 2022;Meissel, Yao, & Meyer, 2022). ...
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  • LEARN INSTR
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