Kristilynn Turney, Ed.D.Keynote Speaker, Salem Speakers Bureau · TEDx Ensley Ave ED 2026 I Dynamic Speaker & Presenter I Author I Transforming Schools Through Strategic Planning, Leadership Development, and School Improvement I Results-Driven Educational Leader | E

Shifting Expectations, Shifting Performance #organizationalleadership #teamdevelopment

6 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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Teacher expectations shape student performance, a finding from the 1968 Pygmalion study that still holds in recent research. Leaders who shift what they believe about their teams can shift how those teams actually perform.

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Belief changes performance. In the 1968 study Pygmalion in the Classroom, researchers Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson demonstrated that teacher expectations are like self-fulfilling prophecies, significantly impacting student IQ scores. And the study didn't just stop there. Low teacher expectations led to low student engagement, and low student engagement led to low student achievement. And that has been proven time and time again, including most recently in 2022 with the expectancy-value theory, where it was noted that individuals will behave or act based on how they are expected to. And it proved one powerful truth: belief changes performance.