Students spend most of their waking hours with their teachers and peers, who are considered to be the significant others, that influence their learning motivation and school life. Whether a student likes to go to school or not, whether she can adjust in school and engage in all learning activities, whether she can get good grades or fail depend not only on herself, but on the significant others. In this study, the aim is to find out how and in what ways teachers and peers influence adolescents in their academic life. Forty-one articles were reviewed to discuss around four research questions: What kinds of influences do peers have on adolescents in the academic context? In what ways do teachers’ high expectations affect the students? What kind of teacher-student relationships do students perceive in order to have positive attitudestowards school and have satisfying outcomes? What aspects in adolescents’ academic life are influenced by teachers’ self-efficacy? Teachers and peers are important motivators in students’ academic life. When the school, teacher and parents are aware of the influences from peers and teachers, they are given a chance to improve the factors involved so that students can learn best in a supportive atmosphere and environment.

Through the years, educational theorists and researchers have been interested in a possible relationship between teachers' effectiveness and their beliefs and expectations. Three concepts underpinned this work: teacher effectiveness, cultural diversity, and teachers' beliefs and expectations. The premise of the study was that the beliefs and expectations of effective secondary choral teachers are related to the social-cultural contexts in which they teach. The study implemented critical discourse analysis as the theoretical framework and the in-depth phenomenological long interview for data collection. Three secondary choral teachers were selected to participate in the study based on the researcher's criteria. The study revealed how each teacher conceptualized student cultural diversity during the teaching experience. Teacher beliefs about effective teaching in culturally diverse settings were described as developing over time in phases along a continuum. The study also confirmed that teachers' beliefs about students can be changed through experiences and reflection. The study revealed effective teachers focused on three different types of expectations in the teaching and learning context and affirmed diverse cultural identities and backgrounds. Recommendations included the development of stronger mentorship programs to increase effective teaching strategies for the secondary choral classroom. The findings of this study support my previous work, which introduces a sequential learning framework for teaching music in culturally diverse schools.

In recent years, states in the United States have developed assessment testing to help ensure that schools meet academic standards. This study investigated an educational problem of low student academic achievement and low scores on a state test in a middle school in the southeastern United States. It specifically queried whether expectations for student achievement had a positive influence on students' academic success. The research questions were designed to investigate parents, teachers, and administrators' expectations for the academic achievement of students. The conceptual framework guiding this study used the ecological model of human development, which postulates that personal development is influenced by proximal processes. Key findings focused on expectations, academic performance, and ways to help students meet academic standards. This information was used to create a parent-teacher professional development seminar, which presented strategies to urge academic achievement and encourage student engagement with content. The seminar also provided parents and teachers with information about the impact that their expectations may have on students. Recommendations for improvement include careful review of current critical inquiry strategies that are used to increase student engagement and academic achievement. Implications for social change include using the professional development project and other appropriate opportunities with parents and educators to inform them about the importance of their role and the expectations they have for student academic achievement.

In the United States, there are currently over seven million high school athletes, all of whom are required to take four years of core classes as well as elective classes. Core subject areas consist of math, science, social sciences, and English language arts. Of the four core subject areas, both national and state education committees place emphasis and scrutiny on English language arts. The research within this thesis, conducted in the form of an interview, is meant to explore English language arts teachers' possible attitudes and expectations of their student athletes in concern to their writing abilities. Special emphasis will be placed on secondary English language arts teachers' perceptions of student-athletes' use of the standard conventions of English, such as spelling, punctuation, syntax, and grammar, within their writing. The results of four interviews with secondary English language arts teachers revealed that these secondary English language arts teachers did not hold different perceptions of their student-athletes writing abilities as compared to their non-athlete peers. All four participants revealed that they believe that the student-athletes in their classroom have the same writing abilities as non-athletes, and that being labeled as a student-athlete does not give way to either positive or negative perception of their writing. This exploratory study is beneficial to both student-athletes and English language arts teachers, as it may have the ability to affect change in the way that teachers approach and teach their student-athletes.

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Social Foundations of Education (SFE) courses have long been a staple of traditional teacher preparation programs. However, with the rise of alternative pathways to teacher certification, a debate has emerged around the usefulness of SFE courses, particularly as it relates to the development of pre-service teachers into effective educators. Employing a mixed methods design, this study explores the impact of SFE courses by examining how these classes affect pre-service teachers’ critical awareness and teacher expectations. Data for this study was collected through pretest and posttest surveys and interviews during the Fall of 2017 at two mid-Atlantic universities. In total, 132 individuals participated in the quantitative portion of the study, with 18 of these subjects also comprising the study’s focal sample. Results of this research show that SFE courses significantly increase pre-service teachers’ critical awareness but do not have an effect on teacher expectations. However, in analyzing the data by institution, this study found that SFE courses are capable of raising pre-service teachers’ expectations when course instructors adopt certain pedagogical and rhetorical practices. / Urban Education

This study examines factors that affect student motivation and achievement in the middle school eighth grade science classroom, including, teacher-student relationships, student-peer relationships, teacher expectations in science, student preference of instructional delivery (labs vs. lecture), teacher demographics (experience at local school, professional experience, qualifications, age range), and student perceptions of teacher expectations in science. One hundred fifty survey participants were used in this quantitative study which included an analysis of the independent variables affecting student motivation and academic achievement. The findings of this study determined that there is a statistically significant relationship between student motivation and student perceptions of teacher expectations, actual teacher expectations, teacher’s age, teacher’s highest level of education, and whether or not a student received free or reduced lunch.

The thesis deals with the profession of school psychologist. We are wondering if there are any reasons that prevent or encourage the introduction of psychologists into schools. The first part of the thesis deals with the concepts of school psychology and school psychologist from the present and historical point of view. We are dedicated to the legislative anchoring of this profession and its ethical standards. We uncover the complex network of the school psychologist, including aspects that can be partaking of teachers' expectations of school psychologists. The second part of the thesis deals with the questionnaire survey which was carried out at the school, where the institution of the school psychologist is already established and where it is not. The data analysis was conducted the analysis. Through her, we found five areas of interest which affect expectations. The first area concerns the role of the school psychologist. The second area concerns of his work. The third is the idea of teachers about the " ideal " school psychologist. The fourth deals with the concerns of teachers and the fifth area concerns the financing of school psychologists. The main findings introduce together with the direct quote. In another part of the main findings offer a comparison between schools, which complement the...

Teachers of foreign languages typically encourage their students to speak in the target language (TL) often, but due to various factors, this is not always achieved. Some reasons might include insufficient vocabulary, lack of topic knowledge, embarrassment, or simple unwillingness. Much of the existing research observes uses of the TL or native language (L1). The purpose of this study was to examine how often students use the TL in paired interactions and whether that amount has any relationship to the students' oral proficiency at the end of the course. In a SPAN 105 course at Brigham Young University, 27 students participated in this project by recording themselves during six in-class, paired interactions, after which they provided comments via questionnaires. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach, with both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data revealed information about the time spent in the TL, as well as the time spent in the L1, and what relationship these variables had with listening comprehension and oral proficiency. The qualitative data exposed emergent findings related to TL/L1 use: helpful tools, effects of task type, pitfalls the students experienced, struggles and benefits of partnering, effects of recording, and student perceptions about the L1. The results of the study indicate a need for teacher strategies to encourage TL use in the classroom.

A local and national concern in education is the persistent achievement gap between African American and Caucasian middle school students. Despite numerous reforms, the gap continues to show African American middle school students performing lower in reading. The purpose of this mixed methods study, framed in the theoretical perspective of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, was to examine teachers' expectations and the relationship between those expectations and the educational outcomes of African American middle school children. Data were collected to identify pedagogical practices, examine teacher expectations, and determine the relationship between those expectations and student Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores. Nineteen middle school teachers volunteered to take the Regalla Adaptive Teachers' Expectation Survey, which quantified teachers' expectations for student achievement using items rated on a 5-point Likert scale (5 = strongly agree with high expectation statement). Pedagogy was examined through 12 classroom observations and archival data provided CRCT scores for 650 African American students. Based on survey results, the mean score for teacher expectations was 4.47 out of 5.00. Observations established that 8 out of 12 teachers were rated proficient in terms of instructional plans. Correlation analysis determined a significant and direct relationship between teachers' expectation scores and middle school students' scores on the CRCT (p < .05). The results highlight the importance of teacher expectations for student achievement. The implications for social change include using the findings at the local site to communicate to teachers the importance of having high expectations for all students to improve the achievement levels of all middle school students and close the achievement gap.