Silent Sixth-Grade Students: Characteristics, Achievement, and Teacher Expectations

This exploratory study examined student-teacher interactions in a team of 4 sixth-grade teachers and their 101 students in 1 middle school. Student-teacher interactions were recorded, and teachers' rankings of students' predicted achievement, as well as students' achievement test scores, were obtained. 32 "silent" students were identified and interviewed. Results indicated that silent students were not significantly different from other students with respect to gender, race, or achievement. Although teachers tended to distribute their questions equitably across all students, silent students attempted to avoid classroom interactions whenever possible. Silent students appeared to use their silence as a means to control the classroom environment and avoid taking risks.