Expectations The research supporting school reform confirms that expec-tations impact achievement. Children and youth need to know what is expected of them. They are challenged by high expectations and diminished by low ones. Children and youth need activities that are developmentally appropriate and have clear structures and guidelines. Adults need to set high academic and social competency goals and then coach young people to achieve them by focusing on their assets and strengths.
Expectations are a two-way street.
The commu-nity also needs to hold high expectations for the performance of all adult participants in the system including family and community members, youth services, and school personnel, not just children and youth. Engagement Students relish interactive, relevant, developmentally appro-priate learning activities. They rise to academic challenges and get bored when lessons are too easy or rote, or too difficult to handle. When activities are varied individual, group, geared to different learning styles, creative and when they call for critical thinking and problem solving, then children and youth fully engage in learning. Teachers and other adults who work with youth play a pivotal role in stimulating engagement in learning.