CLUSTER 12:

Teacher-Directed Instruction
and Teacher Expectations
Presented By:

Michael Sinram
Chitanya Hanson
Scott Honan
David Gray
 Characteristics
of an
Effective Teacher
 What do you think makes and effective teacher?

Think about the most effective

teacher you’ve ever had?

What were his/her characteristics?

Why was this individual so

effective???
 Characteristics of an Effective Teacher
The most effective classroom teachers are those who:

•Have positive attitudes and behaviors.

•Characteristics: friendly, cheerful, fair, consistent, honest, interested and
interesting.
•Understand the characteristics of the students they teach.
•Characteristics: Recognize the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social
needs of kids.
•Carefully plan learning experiences.
•Characteristics: Think about what is going on and know reasons for using
all activities.
•Establish a receptive classroom environment.
•Characteristics: Friendly, warm unbiased.
•Use a variety of instructional techniques and materials.
•Characteristics: Get students actively involved and excited about learning.
•Evaluate both teaching and learning
•Characteristics: Use alternative assessment with students; reflect and
self-evaluate their own teaching.
•Are skilled in the use of a variety of discipline strategies.
•Characteristics: Fair, consistent, always make punishment fit the “crime.”
•Show respect for a student's ability to think and reason.
•Characteristics: Value students’ minds and expect students’ best.
 The Effective Teacher
Researchers identified nine characteristics shared by outstanding first-grade teachers in five states. In these classrooms, most students were reading and
writing at or above first-grade level. The characteristics of these teachers include:

 Ability to Motivate High Academic Engagement and Competence

Most students were engaged in academic activities most of the time, even when the teacher left the room.

 Excellent Class Management

Teachers in the most effective classrooms managed student behavior, student learning, and instructional aides and specialists well, using a
variety of methods.

 Ability to Foster a Positive, Reinforcing, Cooperative Environment

 These classrooms were positive places. The rare discipline problems were handled constructively. Students received a lot of positive
reinforcement for their accomplishments, both privately and publicly, and students were encouraged to cooperate with one another.

 Teaching Skills in Context

Word-level, comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, and writing skills were typically taught in the context of actual reading and writing tasks.

 An Emphasis on Literature
The students selected books from extensive classroom collections. The teachers read literature and conducted author studies.

 Much Reading and Writing
Teachers set aside 45 minutes for language arts, providing long, uninterrupted periods for reading and writing. Both the students and teacher
read daily to themselves, to a buddy, to a group, to an adult volunteer, or to the class as a whole. Everyone wrote daily in journals.

 A Match between Accelerating Demands and Student Competence

The teachers set high but realistic expectations and consistently encouraged students to try more challenging (but not overwhelming) tasks.

 Encouraging Self-Regulation
Teachers taught students to self-regulate, encouraging students to choose appropriate skills when they faced a task rather than wait for the
teacher to dictate a particular skill or strategy.

 Connections across Curricula

Teachers made explicit connections across the curriculum—providing students with opportunities to use the skills they were learning. Reading
and writing were integrated with other subjects.

 More information at The Effective Teacher

What is Direct
Instruction?
 Direct instruction is a systematic instruction for
mastery of basic skills, facts, and information.
 Basic skills are clearly structured knowledge that is needed
for later learning and that can be taught step by step.
 In other words it refers to a rigorously
developed, highly scripted method for teaching
that is fast-paced and provides constant
interaction between students and the teacher.

 http://www.jefflindsay.com/EducData.shtml
•In other words it refers to a rigorously developed,
highly scripted method for teaching that is fast-
paced and provides constant interaction between
students and the teacher
•This framework includes four major stages: (1) you explicitly show students
how to use the skill or strategy, (2) students practice the skill under your
supervision--and you give frequent corrective feedback and praise, (3)
students use the skill independently in real academic situations, and (4)
students use the skill in a variety of other settings or situations
("generalization").

http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/rdngcompr/dirinstr.shtml
 Features of Direct Instruction
 Teacher’s classroom management is especially effective
and the rate of student interruptive behavior is low.
 include time at the end of the period for students to do activities of their
choosing. The teacher may finish the description of the hour’s activities
with: “And I think we will have some time at the end of the period for
you to chat with your friends, go to the library, or catch up on work for
other classes.”

The teacher is more willing to wait for class attention when he knows
there is extra time to meet his goals and objectives. The students soon
realize that the more time the teacher waits for their attention, the less
free time they have at the end of the hour.

http://www.honorlevel.com/x47.xml
Features of Direct Instruction cont.

The teacher insures that as many students as

possible achieve good learning progress by
carefully choosing appropriate tasks
Teacher maintains a strong academic focus
and uses available instructional time intensively
to initiate and facilitate students’ learning
activities.
 What are some ways teachers
communicate their expectations?
Two kinds of Expectation Effects

 Pygmalion effect or Self-fulfilling prophecy: a

groundless expectation that is confirmed
because if has been expected.
 Sustaining expectation effect: student
performance maintained at a certain level
because teachers don’t recognize improvements.
 Sources of Expectation
 Intelligence test scores  Student’s attractiveness
 Gender  Socioeconomic class
 Previous Teachers  After school activities
 Medical/Psychological  Extra Curricular
reports activities
 Ethnic background  Previous behaviors or
 Brothers/Sisters performances
 Do Teacher Expectations
Really Effect Student
Achievement?
 Hard to say
 Very hard to measure and set up an ethical study
 Teachers do form beliefs about students
 Depends on age (younger more at risk)
 Low expectations can lead to inadequate
teaching
 So What Do We Do?
 Use cumulative folder
information carefully  Be fair in discipline
 Be flexible in grouping  Communicate that all
strategies
students can learn
 Make sure all students are
challenged  Involve all students in
 Be careful how you respond learning task and
to low achieving students privileges
 Use materials for a wide  Monitor your nonverbal
variety of ethnic behavior
groups
 Don’t stereotype
 How can Teacher
expectations affect
student learning?
Two Kinds of expectation effects:
Pygmalion effect: Self fulfilling prophecy : students behavior
becomes to match that of the teachers expectations.

Sustaining Expectation Effect: Teachers don’t recognize

improvement therefore sustaining student’s achievement at one
level.
Expectations Teachers may have
for Students…

 Intelligence and IQ tests

 Sex – many teachers expect higher behavior problems
from boys and higher academics from girls – higher
expect from attractive students
 Notes/records from previous teachers
 SES – expect less of lower class students
 Extra Curricular activities – teachers expectations are
higher of students who do more
Do Teacher expectations really affect
Achievement?
 Studies show teachers do form beliefs about student’s
capabilities and favor certain students. (Babad
1995,Rosenthal 1997)
 Teachers tend to overestimate students they find
interesting and independent
 Teachers tend to underestimate students they find
immature and anxious
 Now student is facing low expectations and
inadequate teaching
 Teacher Behavior & Student
Interaction…
 Ability grouping can have negative affects –
“blue group will find this hard”
 Teacher is telling the students that they lack
ability and “not understanding” is the goal they
interpret.
 Teachers may not give certain work because they
think some students can’t handle it – sustaining
effect.
 Teacher/Student Interactions…
 Quantity and quality of student/teacher interaction is
important.
 Teachers ask higher expectation students - harder
questions, give more prompts, give benefit of doubt
when almost right.
 Lower expectation students – ask easier questions, less
time for response, less prompts, less praise
 Guidelines for avoiding these problems: Be flexible, be
fair, challenge everyone, believe in all students…..Page
450
 Work Cited
 http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/educators_effteach.html
 http://www.jefflindsay.com/EducData.shtml
 http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/rdngcompr/dirinstr.shtl
 http://www.honorlevel.com/x47.xml