How to Create High Performance in ALL Students

Here's a true story that I read in a “great” book entitled, Developing the Leader Within You, by John C. Maxwell.

A principal of a school called three teachers together and said, “Because you three teachers are the finest in the system and you have the greatest expertise, we’re going to give you ninety high-IQ students. We’re going to let you move these students through this next year at their own pace and see how much they can learn.”

Everyone was delighted––faculty and students alike.

Over the next year the teachers and the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The teachers were teaching the brightest students; the students were benefitting from the close attention and instruction of highly skilled teachers. By the end of the experiment, the students had achieved from 20 to 30 percent more than the other students in the whole area.

The principal called the teachers in and told them, “I have a confession to make. You did not have ninety of the the most intellectually prominent students. They were run-of-the-mill students. We took ninety students at random from the system and gave them to you.”

The teachers said, “This means that we are exceptional teachers.”

The principal continued, “I have another confession. You’re not the brightest of the teachers. Your names were the first three names drawn out of hat.”

The teachers asked, “What made the difference? Why did ninety students perform at such an exceptional level for a whole year.”

The difference, of course, was the teachers’ expectations.

Reflection by Ken Willers 

Our expectations have a great deal to do with our attitudes. What type of expectations do we have for our students? What kinds of attitudes do we project onto our students? By believing our students will succeed we transmit an attitude that instills in them confidence, discipline, and hope. 

Our attitudes are opportunities to bestow success on our children. In other words: ‘Our Vision for our students becomes their Reality.’