ALL CONTENT AREAS Thoughtful Discourse Questions are planned to engage students in sustained discussion structured around powerful ideas. Research-Based Instructional Practices Practice and Application Activities Students are provided with sufficient opportunities to practice and apply what they are learning. Achievement Expectations The teacher establishes and follows through on appropriate expectations for learning outcomes. Scaffolding Students’ Task Engagement The teacher provides whatever assistance students need to enable them to engage in learning activities productively. Curriculum Alignment Aligning all components of the curriculum create a cohesive program for accomplishing instructional purposes and goals. Tutoring Teaching one student or a small number with the same abilities and instructional needs can be effective. Goal-Oriented Assessment The teacher uses a variety of formal and informal assessment methods to monitor progress toward learning goals. Graded Homework Students deepen their proficiency and understanding when they complete homework that is graded, commented upon, and discussed by their teachers. -------------------------- Aligned Time on Task Students learn more when most of the available time is allocated to curriculum-related activities and the classroom management system emphasizes maintaining student engagement in those activities. Direct Teaching Direct teaching is most effective when it exhibits key features and follows systematic steps. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback Clearly established objectives and provision of specific feedback are effective tools to enhance learning. Identifying Similarities and Differences Students deepen their understanding when required to analyze two or more elements in terms of similarities and differences including approaches such as comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies. Summarizing and Note Taking Both skills require students to mentally sift through and synthesize information. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition These strategies focus on students’ attitudes and beliefs and, thus, are likely to affect students’ level of engagement in cognitive processes. Nonlinguistic Representations Generating mental pictures of information enhances recall and understanding. Examples include graphic organizers, pictures and pictographs, mental pictures, concrete representations, and kinesthetic activity. Coherent Content To facilitate meaningful learning and retention, content is explained clearly and developed with emphasis on its structure and connections. SCI ENCE for All Content Areas -------------------------Improving Student Achievement Using Research-Based Instructional Practices Adaptive Education Employing a variety of instructional techniques to adapt lessons to individual students and small groups raises achievement. Cooperative Learning Students in small, self-instructing groups can support and increase each other’s learning. Supportive Classroom Climate Students learn best within cohesive and caring learning communities. Parental Involvement Learning is enhanced when schools encourage parents to stimulate their children’s intellectual development. SOURCES: Cawelti, G. Handbook of Research on Improving Student Achievement (3rd ed.). Educational Research Service. Daniels, H., Hyde, Arthur, & Zemelman, S. Best Practice. Heinemann. Marzano, R. What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Marzano, R., Pickering, D. & Pollock, J. Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. McMurrer, J. & Protheroe, N. Incorporating Research-Based Teaching Strategies. Educational Research Service. Education and Administration Center 1110 Chapel Hills Drive • Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920 Phone: 719-234-1200 • Website: www.asd20.org Kelley Gaskill, Director for Professional Development Jonathan Johnson and Clark Maxon, Administrative Cohort Program “Research cannot and does not identify the right or best way to teach, nor does it suggest certain instructional practices should always or should never be used. But research can illuminate which instructional practices are most likely to achieve desired results, with which kinds of learners, and under which conditions.” –Myriam Met SCIENCE Research-Based Instructional Practices Analogies Using analogies in the teaching of science results in the development of conceptual understandings by enabling the learner to compare something familiar with something unfamiliar. Collaborative communication of scientific ideas Providing opportunities for students to discuss, debate, and defend conclusions, explanations and ideas enhances their conceptual understanding. Collaborative learning Using collaborative learning for classroom and laboratory instruction improves student achievement, attitudes, and on-task behavior. Concept mapping The use of student-generated and teacher-generated concept maps for teaching science concepts results in improved student achievement and more positive student attitudes. Conceptual understanding in problem solving Understanding concepts qualitatively enables students to solve quantitative problems in biology, physics, and chemistry more effectively. Inquiry-based instructional strategies Using inquiry-based instruction and open-ended investigations helps students develop understanding of scientific concepts. Making science relevant Relating science to modern technology and societal issues results in an increase in the number of students taking additional science courses and advanced-level courses, as well as a change in students’ attitudes toward science and their understanding of the nature of science Real-life situations Using real-life situations in science instruction through the use of technology or actual observation increases student interest in science, problemsolving skills, and achievement. Simulations Using models, labs and computer simulations to represent real-world situations enables students to become more reflective problem-solvers and to increase their conceptual understanding. Unexpected events Using unexpected events in science instruction results in cognitive conflict that enhances students’ conceptual understanding as well as their attitudes toward critical-thinking activities. SCIENCE Qualities of Best Practices • Incorporates inquiry both as instructional strategy and as a skill to be learned • Focuses the curriculum on state standards, benchmarks and vertically aligned “power” outcomes • Connects science to other school subjects • Focuses on understanding, not acquisition of information • Includes opportunities for science discussion and debate • Provides activities that investigate and analyze science questions over extended periods of time • Applies results of experiments to scientific arguments and explanations
