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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Natalie Munroe, a Pennsylvania teacher has been suspended because she wrote some nasty comments about her students (for example, “rude, disengaged whiners”) on a secret blog. You can read all about it here. The article is mainly on about whether the teacher should be fired or disciplined. But there is an aspect of this case that is not being considered.
This is a teacher who thinks her students are jerks and losers and there they have no chance at success. The teacher thinks it unfair to blame her for her students’ failure, since their learning problems are their fault, not hers.
Strangely, though, this is not the attitude of the teachers at 99 KIPP schools who all teach students with enormous problems - with terrific results. Could it be that Ms Munroe’s students are living down to her expectations?