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Failure in the classroom: A study of differentiated expectations for children in two urban elementary schools
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes key factors which influence the negative expectations that classroom teachers hold for certain students whom they perceive to be low achievers and whom they refer for placement in special education. An examination of bias and differentiated expectations in classrooms is conducted in two urban elementary schools and is based on the hypothesis that the children who fail are most often those who differ from their teachers in social class, ethnicity, socioeconomic level, learning style and behaviors, and gender. The first target school is identified as having a low rate (16%) of referral to special education, while the other school is identified as having a high rate (32%) of referral to special education. Twelve regular education teachers from each school complete questionnaires about their experiences with and attitudes towards low-achieving students. Each identifies successful and unsuccessful students and then describes him/herself as a learner. Student records are examined also to determine commonalties in the traits of those students referred to special education for remedial or compensatory instruction. Finally, comparisons of school philosophy and school climate are made between the two target schools. The findings of this study indicate that the misperceptions and life experiences of classroom teachers are important influences on the negative stereotyping and lowered expectations directed toward certain students. In the target schools, veteran as well as less experienced male and female teachers respond more favorably to students who resemble themselves ethnically, socioeconomically, and in learning style, and less favorably to those students who differ. Statistical significance is found when matching the learning characteristics selected by teachers to describe their successful students with learning characteristics they select when describing their own traits as learners. Of the students identified as unsuccessful and referred to special education, a disproportionate number are minority and male and are described by teachers as having problems with motivation, temperament, and need for direction. These and other reasons for referrals cited by teachers in both schools are similar and reflect poorly understood bias toward ethnic, racial, and linguistic minority children as well as misinformation about the developmental differences between boys and girls.
Subject Area
Special education|Teacher education|Educational sociology
Recommended Citation
Bisbicos, Marilyn Evelyn, "Failure in the classroom: A study of differentiated expectations for children in two urban elementary schools" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9316624.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9316624