High Expectations

Table of Contents

Correlates of Effectiveness

This factor indicates the school staff is dedicated to having each student learn at the highest possible level. Challenging experiences are conducted to have students contribute their best work. Values less than 2.0 show increasingly positive support, while values over 2.0 indicate declining support for an element or correlate.

Analysis of the perception data for the HIGH EXPECTATIONS correlate indicates all three groups meet the 2.0 level. The values given to the correlate by each group are:

• Parents: 1.831
• Teachers: 1.644
• Administrators: 1.901

Overall Patterns:

All three groups perceive element I as not being in place in the district:
I: Test scores on standardized tests exceed expected scores for comparable schools.

Administrators identify element F as not in place:
F: Students are actively engaged with learning activities throughout most of the class time.

Areas of Greatest Effectiveness:

All groups give one of their lowest mean scores to the following elements:
B: Rules regarding attendance and promptness are made explicit in class.
D: Students are expected to be fully prepared for their classes.

Areas of Greatest Concern:

All groups give one of their highest mean scores to the following three elements:
F: Students are actively engaged with learning activities throughout most of the class time.
G: Classroom learning activities and materials are at a demanding cognitive level, e.g., materials require analysis, generalizations and evaluation over memorization and recall.
I: Test scores on standardized tests exceed expected scores for comparable schools.

Conclusions:

Overall, responses to the elements of the High Expectation correlate are positive. However, there is clear agreement regarding areas that may require attention.

All groups express concern that students may not be actively engaged in learning activities most of the time (element F) and that classroom activities and materials may not be demanding enough (element G). Taken together with perceptions in the Monitoring correlate that learning goals and standards for measuring improvement may not be clear, this finding suggests that greater attention needs to be given to the connections between classroom activities and materials, and effective learning.

All groups also strongly agree that scores on standardized tests do not exceed expected scores (element I). This perception is borne out by student achievement data (see discussion on page 18 and the data charts beginning on page 58). The clear congruence of perceptions among district constituents, and with the performance data, indicate this is an area deserving of immediate attention.

Indicators of School Effectiveness: HIGH EXPECTATIONS This factor stipulates that the school staff is dedicated to having each student reach his or her potential in terms of learning and personal growth. Challenging experiences are conducted to have each student reach this goal.
	Parents	Teachers	Administrators
Mean scores by responding group:	1.831	1.644	1.901
A. Teachers regularly require learning beyond the classroom, e.g., homework assignments.	1.828	1.465	1.714
B. Rules regarding attendance and promptness are made explicit in class.	1.673	1.490	1.500
C. Rules regarding attendance and promptness are applied consistently in class.	1.789	1.624	1.762
D. Students are expected to be fully prepared for their classes.	1.586	1.426	1.667
E. During classroom instruction, teacher-student interaction is the dominant instructional mode.	1.702	1.600	1.850
F. Students are actively engaged with learning activities throughout most of the class time.	1.962	1.667	2.211
G. Classroom learning activities and materials are at a demanding cognitive level, e.g., materials require analysis, generalizations, and evaluation over memorization and recall.	1.889	1.690	2.050
H. Students are held responsible for missed work.	1.690	1.540	1.810
I. Test scores on standardized tests exceed expected scores for comparable schools.	2.415	2.303	2.667