Several beliefs about the teacher expectancy effect are false or half-truths. Current interest in the teacher expectation effect began with the publication in 1968 of Rosenthal and Jacobson's book, "Pygmalion in the Classroom". That book stated that a teacher's expectations for a pupil's achievement function as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rosenthal and Jacobson also implied that this expectancy effect could be used to explain much of the variability among pupils in achievement, but they had no basis for that assertion. Their conclusion led to much research which produced very inconsistent results. Inconsistency came from two sources: serious methodological problems and a simplistic model of the expectancy effect. A more adequate model makes it clear that there is nothing inevitable about the teacher expectation effect. While I believe the formation of expectations is inevitable, sources and accuracy of teacher expectations should be investigated. Recent research indicates that teachers tend to base their expectations on aspects of the pupil's classroom behavior and generally are good judges of the potential and performance of their pupils. As teachers, though, we should be better educated in the use of information about pupils and should be continually critical of our judgments and be willing to change opinions and beliefs about school children. (Author/RH)