The force of teacher expectations is likely to grow as more schools try to mail class schedules before school starts. Not only does it help students prepare mentally for what is to come, school administrators say, but it also leaves more time to make changes if certain student-teacher combinations spell disaster. Ralph Neal, assistant superintendent for student services in the D.C. schools, said he knows of several high schools that have begun mailing their schedules early. When you expect a positive experience, you are more likely to experience it as positive. . . . Teacher-student relationships as perceived by the student is a crucial variable in learning.
Bad vibrations have an equal and opposite effect, educators and students say.
Courtney Shaw, another Yorktown High sophomore, said she had been told her ninth-grade French teacher would be a trial, and to her he was. I almost failed the course quite a few times. Handling such escape attempts is one of the most important duties of guidance counselors in August and September. It is a measure of their maturity when they can adapt to the various personalities of their teachers and continue to achieve at a high level. At Yorktown, director of counseling services Linda Hutchinson tries to convince fretful students that third-hand information is not always accurate.