Teach to the Top! The 80/90 Rule: How Focusing Resources on the Most Motivated Students Could Transform School Performance

Teaching to the Top: How Focusing on Motivated Students Can Improve Overall School Performance

What does teach to the top mean?

- Teaching to the top refers to a teaching strategy where teachers focus instruction, resources, and academic rigor on the highest-achieving students in a class. The goal is to maximize the potential of top students to improve overall achievement.

What is teach to the top theory? 

- Teach to the top theory holds that prioritizing the most capable and motivated students will allow them to realize their full potential and create a rising tide that lifts the achievement of all students through positive modeling and peer effects.

What is teaching to the top and scaffold down?

- Teaching to the top and scaffolding down involves challenging the top students while providing sufficient supports, accommodations, and differentiation to ensure struggling students can also access and engage with the material.

What are the 5 methods of teaching?

- The 5 main methods of teaching are:

1. Direct instruction 

2. Discussion/seminar

3. Small group work 

4. Problem-based learning

5. Online/digital instruction

Abstract

Many schools face the challenge of low academic proficiency, with a majority of students failing to meet grade-level standards in core subjects like reading, writing, math, and science. This phenomenon has complex causes, but one contributing factor may be too much attention and resources focused on the "squeaky wheel" students who act out or struggle, at the expense of the quieter, more motivated students. This article explores the concept of "teaching to the top" - putting greater emphasis on reaching top-performing students - as a strategy to raise schoolwide academic performance. It reviews research on the 80/20 principle, differentiated instruction, growth mindset, and positive peer effects to demonstrate why teaching to the top can create an ascending spiral of achievement. Practical steps for administrators and teachers to implement this approach while still supporting struggling students are outlined. Teaching to the top emerges as an underutilized way to dramatically improve outcomes at underperforming schools.

"It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." - Mark Twain

This quote captures the spirit of never giving up, even when facing challenges. It emphasizes the importance of heart and determination over physical size or other limitations.

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." - Mary Anne Radmacher 

This quote highlights that perseverance isn't always loud and flashy, but can be the quiet inner resolve to keep trying in spite of setbacks. It speaks to the quiet strength and resilience of heart.

"The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need tomorrow." - Robert Tew

This perspective focuses on the hidden benefits of persisting through difficulties, recognizing that the effort to overcome builds inner fortitude and courage to take on future challenges. It's about finding meaning and growth in the struggle.

"Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence." - Ray Kroc 

The simplicity and directness of this quote makes it an emphatic reminder to continue striving with heart and grit no matter what stands in your way. It emphasizes persistence as a virtue in itself.

"Courage is not having the strength to go on, it is going on when you don't have the strength." - Napoléon Bonaparte

This quote recognizes that true courage is not about feeling brave and strong, but finding inner resolve to keep trying when all feels lost. It's about heart lifting you when all strength seems gone.

Introduction

A chronic issue in many schools across the United States is that an alarmingly high percentage of students fail to reach proficiency in critical academic subjects. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in 2019 only 35% of fourth graders and 34% of eighth graders were proficient in reading. Similarly dire results were seen in math, with only 41% of fourth graders and 34% of eighth graders demonstrating proficiency (NCES, 2019). Performance in science (NAEP, 2019) and writing (NCES, 2012) is equally troubling. This systemic underachievement suggests schools need new strategies to fulfill their mission. One potential approach is "teaching to the top" - putting greater focus on accelerating top-performing students who exhibit motivation and academic abilities. This technique aligns with research and best practices on differentiated instruction, growth mindset, the 80/20 principle, and positive peer effects. While struggling students still require support, purposefully cultivating top students can catalyze gains across the whole student population.

Literature Review

The 80/20 Principle

The 80/20 principle, also known as the Pareto principle, is the observation that 80% of results often come from 20% of causes. Originally noted by economist Vilfredo Pareto in the 19th century (Koch, 1998), this principle has been found to apply across many domains, with a minority of inputs accounting for the majority of outputs. In business, 80% of revenue tends to come from 20% of customers. In computing, 20% of code often accounts for 80% of program execution time. Applied to education, the implication is that 20% of students may drive 80% of academic gains. This aligns with the notion of "talent hotspots" in schools (Castellano & Ho, 2013). Targeting scarce resources to maximize outcomes from top talent is efficient. As an Italian proverb states, "grass doesn't grow faster if you pull it harder." Pulling the most ready learners up is more effective than pushing struggling students.

Differentiated Instruction

Teaching to the top dovetails with best practices around differentiated instruction, which involves tailoring teaching approaches to each student's readiness level, interests, and learning profile (Tomlinson, 2014). Vygotsky's zone of proximal development theory notes the importance of providing instruction slightly above a learner's current level to stimulate development (Chaiklin, 2003). Top students have a greater "academic ceiling" further above their current achievement, making differentiated instruction pushing their upper zone of proximal development particularly impactful. Without such individualization, top students fail to maximize their potential and adopt passive learning habits - detrimental to their continual growth (Renzulli & Reis, 1997). Teaching to the top is responsive differentiation.

Growth Mindset

Psychologist Carol Dweck's research on fixed versus growth mindsets also supports teaching to the top. Students with a fixed mindset believe intelligence is an immutable trait, creating a deterministic outlook on achievement, while a growth mindset views intelligence as malleable through effort - fostering resilience and higher attainment (Dweck, 2006). Top students overwhelmingly possess growth mindsets (Claro et al., 2016), making them more receptive to academic challenges that stimulate intellectual growth. Praising top students for effort over innate "smartness" and using failure as a learning experience further instills a growth mindset. This contrasts the fixed mindsets exacerbated by remedial interventions for struggling students.

Simon Sinek's Infinite Mindset to Teaching to the Top:

- Simon Sinek describes an infinite mindset as focusing on the potential for unbounded improvement rather than finite measures of success. This aligns with growth mindset theory promoted when teaching to the top students. 

- With an infinite mindset, teachers see top students as having unlimited potential rather than hitting a permanent ceiling. This encourages continually pushing top students into their zone of proximal development.

- Applying an infinite mindset to all students, not just top performers, encourages teachers to focus on nurturing a love of learning rather than remediating deficits. Students feel empowered by possibility rather than restricted by labels.

- Sinek notes that infinite-minded leaders prioritize advancements that serve a just cause. Likewise, teachers must ensure teaching to the top benefits the entire school community, avoiding excessive competition or inequality.

- With an infinite view, schools judge success not by finite metrics like test scores, but by their ability to unleash human potential in all students. Teaching to the top is only worthwhile if it aligns with this higher purpose.

- Sinek advocates "leading by seeing ahead" - imagining future potential then working backwards. Schools also must avoid short-term thinking and keep the big picture of student potential always in view.

- Applying an infinite mindset at the school level, leadership should aim to build an institution centered on continual learning and improvement rather than attaining any permanent ideal state.

Positive Peer Effects

Teaching practices influence the peer culture in a classroom, which can create positive or negative ripple effects on learning. Extensive research highlights how high-achieving students provide positive academic role modeling, raise classroom expectations, and promote a learning-oriented environment (Burke & Sass, 2013). Advanced course placement in particular creates a positive peer "spillover effect" (Imberman et al., 2012). While outlier students may experience anxiety from competitive social comparisons, for most learners appropriate aspirational peers enhance motivation and effort (Elsner & Isphording, 2017). Teaching to the top helps foster a classroom culture of excellence.

Criticisms

Teaching to the top is sometimes criticized as elitist triage that ignores struggling students (Delisle, 2012). However, this is a false dichotomy. Benefits from engaging top students compound to improve outcomes schoolwide, including for disadvantaged students (Burke & Sass, 2013). Trained teachers can still scaffold instruction, nurture growth mindsets, and meet individual needs among less proficient students (Tomlinson, 2014). Done judiciously, teaching to the top can create a thriving school culture lifting all boats.

Recommendations

Teaching to the top is no silver bullet, but research suggests it can significantly improve school performance when implemented strategically alongside other best practices. Specific recommendations include:

- Use diagnostic assessments to identify top students based on ability, motivation, and mindset. Avoid assumptions based on past performance.

- Set ambitious learning goals for top students informed by zone of proximal development. Give recognition for effort over innate talent.

- Accelerate top students through compacted curricula, enrichment projects, and advanced course placement. Prioritize depth over breadth of knowledge.

- Cluster top students strategically to leverage positive peer effects. Limit direct competition and excessive social comparisons.

- Provide leadership opportunities for top students to mentor peers. Structure collaborative learning where they model good practices.

- Ensure teachers are skilled in differentiated instruction able to individualize for all students, including providing scaffolding to struggling learners.

- Use data systems to monitor student growth. Adjust interventions based on response. Continually re-evaluate who is considered top talent.

- Foster growth mindsets schoolwide. Praise effort over fixed notions of intelligence. Evaluate non-cognitive skills and mindsets during admissions.

- Involve parents and the community to reinforce learning mindsets outside school. Align extracurricular programs.

Conclusion

While often overlooked, teaching to the top appears to be a promising strategy to raise overall academic proficiency based on research and principles such as the 80/20 rule, growth mindset, differentiation, and positive peer effects. By focusing efforts on students with high motivation and ability, schools can create a rising tide that lifts all boats. However, this approach must be thoughtfully implemented to avoid potential pitfalls like excessive competition. With integrated policies fostering growth mindsets and data-driven differentiation, teaching to the top can power systemic improvements reaching all students. More research on this strategy is still needed, but preliminary evidence suggests it could dramatically move the needle at schools struggling with low achievement.