Despite much criticism, nearly all critics of the Rosenthal study admit that teacher performance has an impact on student’s achievement. In "Great Expectations? An Investigation of Teacher Expectation Research," many criticisms are outlined, from the use of the TOGA, which measures IQ and not achievement, to the fact that teachers administered the test themselves, perhaps creating their own expectations watching students test, allowing room for the self-serving bias to potentially confirm these expectations when they received the names of the bloomers [1].
Another part of the article focused on what teachers actually did during the study to impact student performance, the variable that supposedly determined the results of the study and created the effect. Using a series of studies related to the Rosenthal one, the authors of the article outline which behaviors teachers exhibited that later accounted for the difference in their students’ IQ scores, a definition that did not exist when the original experiment was first conducted. The authors goes on to describe how the influence of teacher behavior lies in how it is perceived by the students [1]. Due to this fact, there are uncontrolled variables that are difficult to account for and may skew results: some students may simply be more sensitive than others, more prone to allowing teacher behavior to influence their performance, even if subconsciously.
As seen, there are many flaws in the Rosenthal study [1]. Despite this, the Pygmalion effect sparked a national conversation on the influence of teacher expectations and serves as a powerful reminder of just how sensitive children are to perceived differences in behavior.
[1] Bruns, C., McFall, L., McFall, M., Persinger, T., & Vostal, B. (2000, December 6). Great Expectations? An Investigation of Teacher Expectation Research. Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://www.users.miamioh.edu/shermalw/edp603_group2-f00.html
Another part of the article focused on what teachers actually did during the study to impact student performance, the variable that supposedly determined the results of the study and created the effect. Using a series of studies related to the Rosenthal one, the authors of the article outline which behaviors teachers exhibited that later accounted for the difference in their students’ IQ scores, a definition that did not exist when the original experiment was first conducted. The authors goes on to describe how the influence of teacher behavior lies in how it is perceived by the students [1]. Due to this fact, there are uncontrolled variables that are difficult to account for and may skew results: some students may simply be more sensitive than others, more prone to allowing teacher behavior to influence their performance, even if subconsciously.
As seen, there are many flaws in the Rosenthal study [1]. Despite this, the Pygmalion effect sparked a national conversation on the influence of teacher expectations and serves as a powerful reminder of just how sensitive children are to perceived differences in behavior.
[1] Bruns, C., McFall, L., McFall, M., Persinger, T., & Vostal, B. (2000, December 6). Great Expectations? An Investigation of Teacher Expectation Research. Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://www.users.miamioh.edu/shermalw/edp603_group2-f00.html