Until Recently, Hope Has Had a Consistent Record of High

Essay

Until recently, Hope has had a consistent record of high achievement in all areas of the school curriculum. Now, at the beginning of junior high school, her self-confidence has fallen dramatically. Mr. Lester, her science teacher, sees signs of intelligence lurking under the surface but doesn't know why Hope's self-esteem is dropping. He consults with her math teacher, Ms. Arons, who says, "Hope didn't do very well on the pretest I gave her, so I've been going easy on her and trying not to push her too hard." Drawing on the discussions of sense of self and motivation in Chapter 13, speculate on at least two different reasons why Hope's self-esteem has dropped.