I was a new teacher in Russia during the early 90-s. At that time, a new theories came out that suggested that children should be assigned to different classes based on their abilities. That is to say, all the bright kids together in one class, all the average - in another class and so on.
Now, in the Russian system "5" is the highest grade, and "2" - is the lowest, or failing grade. So, according to this theory, the classes in the school where I taught, were divided up.
The least capable class had about 15 student in it, of whom 3 were regular two-level students. The students in all the classes quickly figured out what was going on.
Interestingly, by the end to the school year, all of the students in the least capable class had became regular "2" level students.
Apparently, the students in this class modeled themselves on the 3 who were the worst students at the beginning of the year. The next year this practice was dropped and students of all levels of capability were mixed together in all the classes.
It would appear, that the students "understood" that they were being given a "message" about what was expected of them. The students internalized (accepted) this message and turned it into their own expectations for themselves.
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