Scenario 1: The Parent-Teacher Conference

Kari Steiner has been teaching fourth grade for eight years in an affluent neighborhood. It is the first month of school and parent-teacher conferences begin today. Ms. Steiner creates notes about each student to prepare for conferences. The notes contain at least two bullet points that highlight topics for discussion. She finds that this is a good strategy for keeping herself and parents on target during the conference. When the focus of the discussion strays, she uses the bullet items to re-focus.

In her early days as a teacher, Ms. Steiner was frequently frustrated by the inefficiency of her parent-teacher conferences. Particularly for students who were experiencing difficulties, many parents entered conferences with their own stories, which wasted valuable time and allowed parents to avoid important issues. Ms. Steiner decided that becoming too involved in families' personal situations did not help her students reach their academic goals.

Tyler Clark's mother enters the classroom fifteen minutes late. She appears out of breath. "Hi Ms. Steiner. Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in traffic and I'm having one of those kind of days." She slides into a chair across the table from Ms. Steiner.

Ms. Steiner smiles warmly. "I'm glad you're here. This is probably the most important conference of the entire year! We are going to discuss the results of our beginning-of-the-year assessment and outline goals for the school year."

Tyler's mom nods absently and says, "Tyler seems to like your class. I don't know if you've noticed any change in him, but his father and I are going through a divorce. I was just with my lawyer and it's all very overwhelming."

"This is good information to know. I'm sure you're aware that divorce can have a large impact on children in many different areas, including academic performance. I'll be sure to keep this in mind." Tyler's mom starts to complain about the difficulties and stress of being a single mom. Ms. Steiner calmly redirects the discussion to her first bullet point. "Maybe we can talk more about that later, but first I want to discuss Tyler's assessment score and what it means."

Mrs. Clark starts to speak again, but Ms. Steiner says, "First of all I want you to know that Tyler has adjusted well to the class routines. He is also well-liked by his peers and is able to relate to many different students. Every year during the first two weeks of school, my students take an assessment. Tyler's grade equivalent score is 3.2, and our class average is 4.3. This means that compared to the other fourth graders who took the test, he is performing below average." Mrs. Clark slumps in her chair.

Ms. Steiner leans in and says in a reassuring tone, "This information is not meant to distress you. We feel that it is important for parents to understand exactly how their children are doing in school. Equally importantly, we need to work together as a team to help Tyler improve. Fourth grade is a very important year for him to grasp these reading and math skills so that the years ahead do not frustrate him."

"But you don't understand," Mrs. Clark snaps. "I am going through a very difficult time right now and I am depending on this school, on YOU to teach him." Ms. Steiner says slowly, "Yes, you can depend on me to teach Tyler. However, in order to meet the goals for the year, I will also need to depend on you for certain tasks."

"Such as?" Mrs. Clark asks. Ms. Steiner continues the discussion by giving Mrs. Clark a sample homework packet for a typical week in school. She offers Mrs. Clark tips for helping Tyler with homework and finding time to read. "Students in the fourth grade are capable of handling greater responsibility and accountability," Ms. Steiner says. "I see that ability in Tyler, and it's just a matter of encouraging it and modeling it at home." Each time Mrs. Clark attempts to offer an excuse, Ms. Stein calmly redirects her back to the goals for Tyler.

After the conference, Ms. Steiner is not convinced that she will receive the support she wants from Mrs. Clark. But she is satisfied with the topics she covered during the discussion. "Stay focused on the child," she thinks to herself.

1			Ms. Steiner exhibits many attributes of an effective teacher. In the scenario, she demonstrates all of the following attributes EXCEPT:
			A)	warmth.
			B)	humor.
			C)	high expectations for success.
			D)	goal-oriented.
2			Throughout the conference, Ms. Steiner redirects Mrs. Clark's attention to topics and tasks that are most likely to help Tyler learn. Which of the following BEST describes Ms. Steiner's demeanor?
			A)	Businesslike
			B)	Enthusiastic
			C)	Flexible
			D)	Knowledgeable
3			Ms. Steiner most likely does not want to spend significant time talking about families' problems and personal lives due to:
			A)	her lack of empathy and caring.
			B)	her lack of time.
			C)	her desire for affiliation and control.
			D)	her clear academic goals and objectives.

Scenario 2: High Expectations

Scott is an eighth grader with a fourth grade reading ability. His interest in school dropped sharply when he watched his classmates surpass him. Scott's hometown is in a rural, farming community with few resources. He needs a reading specialist to develop individualized instruction for him; however, the school was forced to cut its resource personnel due to budget reductions.

Scott's teacher, Mrs. Harper, is a fifteen-year veteran in the school. She has seen many students like Scott slip through the cracks and go on to struggle in low-paying jobs or worse. She sees the dull look in his eyes and is determined to put the spark back. The mix of relationships, hormones, and a lack of self-esteem can present many obstacles for middle school students. "My classroom will be a safe haven," Mrs. Harper says to herself.

At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Harper read past teachers' anecdotal comments about Scott and waved them aside. "No one in my class is going to amount to nothing! Everyone is going to amount to something!"

Scott drags himself into class, eyes on the floor. He slides into an empty chair and sighs. Mrs. Harper thinks she smells cigarette smoke. The smell is strong near Scott's desk. His thick, canvas camouflage jacket drapes heavily over his small frame.

After the bell rings, Mrs. Harper draws a Venn diagram on the board. She writes "Elementary School" in the left circle and "High School" in the right circle. In the central, overlapping space, she writes "Middle School." She talks to the students about middle school being a bridge from childhood into adolescence. For some, it can be a rickety old bridge, threatening to snap at any given moment. Or it can be strong and sturdy like the Golden Gate. "In my class," she says, "We are all going to cross this bridge together. No one goes alone, and no one is left behind." Most students watch, interested. Scott picks at the rings on his notebook.

"Do you see how small this space is?" Mrs. Harper asks, pointing to the small, overlap area. "Middle school points you in a particular direction. In my class, there is only one direction. We are all moving ahead over that bridge. No one goes backwards. No one goes sideways or crooked. No one goes down. Everyone moves ahead as a team." After she makes her last comment, she looks directly at Scott. She sees that he is watching her.

Mrs. Harper's class is working on a mythology unit. Several students are working in pairs. A group of three is creating a PowerPoint presentation. Scott works with a partner, Violet, on a model of Mount Olympus. They work quietly and cooperatively. Scott gradually conquered his embarrassment over his reading ability when Mrs. Harper partnered him with Violet and located books easily comprehensible for them. Violet reads at a similar level and she and Scott help each other. When grouped with others, Scott either gave up completely or caused friction in the group.

Scott stops to look in the index of a book and reads for a moment. The book is large print, appropriate for an upper elementary student. He takes a few notes and continues working on the model.

Throughout the year, Mrs. Harper made references to crossing the bridge from childhood into adolescence. She gave students greater responsibility and made them accountable for themselves to help prepare them for high school and beyond. At the end of the school year, Mrs. Harper gave one, final assignment.

"Each of you will write a graduation speech," Mrs. Harper says. "At the end of high school and college, students with the highest grades are selected to write speeches. In here, I look around at each of you, and I see that we all made it. We ALL crossed that bridge. And each of you has something to say. So write about it — write about how you crossed your bridge."

4			Mrs. Harper uses a bridge metaphor to communicate with her students. What does "crossing the bridge" symbolize for the class?
			A)	a classroom management plan
			B)	receiving remedial instruction
			C)	high expectations for success
			D)	high scores on standardized tests
5			The scenario states that Mrs. Harper reads the anecdotal comments of Scott's previous teachers but waves them aside. Scott's previous teachers probably wrote negative comments about his abilities and potential. How did these comments most likely impact Scott?
			A)	Scott entered school unconfident but decided to prove his teachers wrong.
			B)	A self-fulfilling prophecy was created in which Scott fulfilled the teachers' low expectations.
			C)	Scott entered school confident and the teachers' negative comments only slightly impacted his self-esteem and performance.
			D)	Scott learned to set high expectations for himself regardless of his teachers' opinions.
6			Numerous teacher behaviors convey high or low expectations of students. Which of the following teacher behaviors does Mrs. Harper demonstrate in the scenario?
			A)	Plans for and provides remediation when necessary.
			B)	Sets rigid standards.
			C)	Provides praise for incorrect answers to help boost student self-esteem.
			D)	Often interrupts students while they are working.