Instructional Practices to
Increase Student Learning
New Teacher Series
Session II
November 4, 2010
Stephanie Lemmer
Kalamazoo RESA
Content Developed by John Vail Ed.S
Goals for the day
• Understand factors that impact the success
of any strategy.
• Become familiar with instructional strategies
that have proven effectiveness.
• Understand that fluency with the strategy is
an important prerequisite to the strategy’s
effectiveness.
• Plan for the use of one of the strategies in
your own setting.
• Develop an idea of how to assess the
effectiveness in terms of student learning.
Major Themes for the Day
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Belief
Time
Focus
Management
Teacher Behaviors
Principles of Effective
Instructional
Strategies
• “Classroom
Instruction that
Works”
What are the major beliefs of
the Catholic faith?
What might be the difference of
the impact on people seeking
Catholicism if the leadership and
the members of a congregation
…
Were vibrant and active in their belief?
 … OR had the knowledge but were
nonbelievers?
What might be the difference of
the impact on students seeking
learning if the administration and
the teachers in a school or district
…
Actually believed and expected that ALL
kids would learn at high levels?
Believed that much of student learning
was outside of their control.
Revisiting our educational beliefs
• All Kids Can Learn …
– “to the level of their abilities.”
– “to the extent that they take advantage of the
opportunities we create for them.”
– “and it’s up to us to see that they have
opportunities to grow and develop.”
– “so we will establish high standards that we
expect all students to achieve.”
DuFour and Eaker,1999
But what about … ?
Characteristics of Diverse Learners
Effective instructional strategies for
diverse learners must be constructed
with relevant learner characteristics in
mind.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Retaining information
Strategy knowledge and use
Vocabulary knowledge
Language coding
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Retaining Information
• Numerous studies have documented that
the memory problems associated with
diverse learners are related specifically to
tasks with a verbal component.
• Using the right approach may significantly
reduce basic memory differences between
diverse learners and average achievers.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Instructional Implications for
Addressing Memory Skills
• Explicitly instruct in effective use of rehearsal
and categorization strategies.
• Emphasize long-term retention of underlying
meaning of important content.
• Have learners actively use new information.
• Emphasize connections between pieces of
information.
• Connect new learning to learner’s experiences.
• Systematically monitor retention of information
and knowledge over time.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Strategy Knowledge and Use
• Diverse learners and average achievers
use similar strategies but differ in how
efficiently they use them.
• Teachers should first be prepared to
address seriously the basic skill problems
that frequently underlie students’ poor use
of strategies to solve complex problems.
• Learning effects are strongest when
learning strategies are explicitly taught.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Instructional Implications for
Strategy Knowledge and Use
• Ensure that necessary skills underlying
efficient use of target strategy are firm.
• Provide multiple examples of when to use
and not use particular strategy.
• Make each step in new strategy explicit;
have learners demonstrate proficiency
using each step as well as combining
steps to use whole strategy.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Vocabulary Knowledge
• Vocabulary development must occur in
multiple curricular areas and in the context
of multiple instructional techniques if the
gap between diverse learners and average
achievers is to be substantially reduced.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Instructional Implications for
Vocabulary Knowledge
• Address vocabulary problems early and
comprehensively.
• Match vocabulary goals with instruction.
• Combine direct instruction in word meanings with
techniques to help students become independent word
learners.
• Set goals for students to learn many words at basic
levels, critical words at deeper levels.
• Have students tie new vocabulary to their own
experiences.
• Ensure that a strong beginning reading program is the
primary vehicle for helping students become
independent word learners.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Language Coding
• Average achievers store information
primarily in terms of its phonological
codes…Diverse learners store information
primarily in terms of its semantic features.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Instructional Implications for
Language Coding
• Provide rich and varied experiences
involving the meaning and sounds in
words.
• Provide abundant explicit experiences in
connection between sounds in words and
alphabetic counterparts.
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
All Kids Can Learn…
“The first three responses are entirely acceptable
in a system that believes its primary purpose is
to sort and select students according to their
abilities, and/or willingness to master particular
curriculum challenges… In today’s Information
Age society, however, … it is the purpose of
schools to bring all students to their full potential
and to a level of education that was once
reserved for the very few… Only the fourth
school … offers a viable, modern-day response
to students who are not learning.”
Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998)
“Professional Learning Communities at Work”, p. 61
Belief is so important!
•
•
•
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Individuals
The Leadership
The Organization
YOU
TEACHER FACTORS
• “The impact of decisions made by individual
teachers is far greater than the impact of
decisions made at the school level.”
• “More can be done to improve education by
improving the effectiveness of teachers than by
any other single factor.”
Robert Marzano
The Impact of Teacher Effectiveness
Percentile Ranking
Percentile Ranking
after two years of instruction
Average
School/Average
Teacher
50th
50th
Highly Ineffective
School/ Highly
Ineffective Teacher
50th
3rd
Highly Effective
School/Highly
Ineffective Teacher
50th
37th
Highly Ineffective
School/ Highly
Effective Teacher
50th
63rd
Highly Effective
School/Highly
Effective Teacher
50th
96th
Highly Effective
School/Average
Teacher
50th
78th
Marzano, 2003
Teaching: An art or a
science?
“…but education,
despite efforts to make
it so, is not essentially
mysterious.”
William Bennett
Teaching: An art or a science?
The most effective teachers use their
time very well and monitor the
engagement and progress of all of
their students.
BIG IDEA!! – The entire purpose of time
management and student engagement is to
increase their opportunities to respond and
to receive instructional feedback.
Allocated Time
Actual Time
Engaged Time
Opportunities
To Respond
And Receive
Feedback
Time as a factor on student learning
Use of Time
An Example from the World of Literacy
• Research Findings:
– Maximizing students’ “reading engaged time”
is the biggest single indicator of reading
achievement.
– Time spent with arts and crafts or student
selection of activities during reading
instruction always produced a negative
correlation with reading achievement.
Use of Time
• “In every school, from poor to affluent, we
seldom caught kids reading or writing. … What
we did see was staggering amounts of coloring.”
– (Mike Schmoker – 100’s of classroom observations)
• “…that coloring was the single most
predominant activity in the schools they had
observed – right up through middle school.”
– Learning 24/7 Classroom Observation Study
• “Doug Reeves was similarly dismayed by the
amount of time students spent “coloring, cutting,
and pasting.”
– Making Standards Work
As cited in “Results Now”, (2006), Mike Schmoker
Observations from 1,500
classrooms
• Classrooms in which
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there was evidence of clear learning objectives: 4%
high-yield strategies were being used: 0.2%
there was evidence of higher-order thinking: 3%
students were either writing or using rubrics: 0%
fewer than half of students were paying attention:
85%
– students were using worksheets (a bad sign): 52%
– noninstructional activities were occurring: 35%
Learning 24/7 Classroom Observation Study (2005)
The difference between
experienced and expert teachers
• Expert teachers …
– Can identify essential representations of their
subject(s)
– Can guide learning through classroom
interactions
– Can monitor learning and provide feedback
– Can attend to affective attributes
– Can influence student outcomes
“Teachers Make a Difference: What is the research evidence?” Hattie, 2003
The difference between
experienced and expert teachers
“Teachers Make a Difference: What is the research evidence?” Hattie, 2003
Keeping a focus on learning
• Be very clear about the goals for your students
• Increase skill building and strategy-building
activities
• Increase engaged time
• Increase language rich discussions about the
content
• Increase direct vocabulary instruction
• Increase development of background knowledge
related to learning goals.
Establishing Focus:
Goals, Objectives, Priorities
Goals for student achievement are clearly
defined, anchored to research, prioritized in
terms of importance to student learning,
commonly understood by users, and
consistently employed as instructional
guides by teachers.
Establishing Focus:
Goals, Objectives, and Priorities
Example Statement:
– I have the same expectations for a student’s
skills as my peers who teach the same grade
or the same subject.
Nonexample Statement:
– I am not sure what my fellow teachers are
doing. I assume they do the same things that I
do.
Example and Nonexample Statements:
(Can you tell which are which?)
• I know exactly what my students should be able to do at each point of the
school year and can describe what that looks like to anyone who asks.
• example
• I believe that each student learns differently and that they will all
eventually learn at their own pace.
• nonexample
• I know what to expect a student to be able to do when they enter my room
in the fall and I know what the next year’s teacher expects them to come in
with as well.
• example
• I understand the urgency and importance of having all students reach the
goals at the right time.
• example
• I teach the curriculum but some students are just better than others.
• nonexample
Focus
A Set of Strategic, Research-Based, & Measurable
Goals to Guide Instruction, Assessment, and Learning
• Specific goals that include targeted, measurable,
outcomes with a precise time frame.
• Goals aligned with “critical learning standards”
• Curriculum-based or standards-based 180-day pacing
maps.
• Clear goals and expectations for each grade and subject
• Reliance on research to determine what to teach and
when to teach it
Classroom Management
It’s more than discipline.
Remember the Chaos Factor
• Chaos: “A state or place of total confusion
or disorder” Webster’s II New College Dictionary
– Trainers of a well known and proven effective,
supplemental reading program identify the
“chaos factor” in a classroom before training
the teacher. The trainer can accurately predict
the success of their program in that room
before training even begins.
Teacher Behaviors
Scanning, Movement, Attitude, and Relations
• Teacher scans environment frequently
• Teacher moves through environment in
unpredictable patterns
• Teacher varies instructional position
• Teacher exhibits enthusiasm for the
subject matter
• Teacher makes positive contact with
students regularly
Active Participation
•
•
•
•
READ it
WRITE it
SAY it
DO it
• ALL MEANS ALL! EVERY STUDENT!
EVERY TIME
1: Structure Active Learning in the
Classroom
1
1: Structure Active Learning in the
Classroom
2
Video Segment 1:
Structure Active learning in the
classroom
Focus… As you watch this video,
http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/rlamedia.html
1. Note the active participation procedures
that are directly taught to students.
2. Identify other good instructional practices.
Principles of Effective
Instructional Strategies
Information developed primarily from
“Effective Teaching Strategies that Accommodate
Diverse Learners – Third Edition”
Coyne, Kame’enui, & Carnine, 2007
Six Major Principles of Effective
Instructional Tools
• Big Ideas
– The most important things students should know or be able to use or do
• Conspicuous Strategies (Explicit and Systematic Procedures)
– Clear and obvious methods of learning
• Mediated Scaffolding (Differentiation)
– Differentiation to increase skills for all
• Strategic Integration (Working with the concept of sameness)
– Putting learning into the context of what they have learned before and
what they will need to learn in the future
• Primed Background Knowledge (Ensuring preskills)
– Ensuring the essential base in order to profit from instruction
• Judicious Review (Practice, Practice, Practice)
– Providing adequate practice to make thought automatic and adaptable
Big Ideas
• Highly selected concepts, principles,
strategies, or heuristics that facilitate the
most efficient and broadest acquisition of
knowledge.
The proliferation of objectives has tended to affect instruction in one of two ways:
1. instruction aspires to cover so much material that teachers are forced
to teach for exposure.
2. objectives or other forms of specific learning outcomes are abandoned
in favor of an approach that assumes a rich learning environment will
result in learning …
Big Ideas - Examples
• Writing
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The writing process
Text structure
Peer interaction
Mechanics
Morphology
• Math
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Place value
Expanded notation
Commutative property
Associative Property
Distributive property
Equivalence
Big Ideas - Examples
• Science
– Scientific Inquiry
– Pattern of observations
– Convection
• Social Studies
– Problem-Solution-Effect
– Multiple perspectives
– Factors of Group Success
• Reading
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Phonological Awareness
Alphabetic Principle
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Conspicuous Strategies
(explicit and systematic procedures)
• Sequence of teaching events and teacher
actions that make explicit the steps in
learning. They are made conspicuous by
the use of visual maps or models, verbal
directions, full and clear explanations,
examples and nonexamples, etc.
Extensive empirical evidence suggests strongly that all students in general, and
diverse learners in particular, benefit from having good strategies made conspicuous
for them, as long as great care is taken to ensure that the strategies are designed
to result in widely transferable knowledge of their application.
Conspicuous Strategies
• The purpose of conspicuous strategies is
to take what proficient people do and
make their process transparent.
• Be careful not to make the strategy too
general as this leaves much room for error
and unreliability
• Be careful not to make the strategy too
narrow as this will lead to rote learning and
little transference.
Conspicuous Strategies
Example
Paragraph Shrinking
Five Components of Explicit Teaching
of Comprehension Strategies
1. An explicit description of the strategy and
when and how it should be used.
2. Teacher and/or student modeling of the
strategy in action
3. Collaborative use of the strategy in
action
4. Guided practice using the strategy with
gradual release of responsibility
5. Independent use of the strategy
Mediated Scaffolding
(Differentiation)
• Temporary support for students to learn
new material. Scaffolding is faded over
time.
Ideally the designers of instruction would accommodate the needs of each
child as if each child were their own.
Mediated Scaffolding
• The implication of scaffolding is that
educators must strive to design, select, or
adapt instruction to make the goals
available to all students.
Mediated Scaffolding - Continuum
Conspicuous initial
Instruction for the
naive learner
Scaffolding
removed for the
proficient student
Mediated
Scaffolding
Overt teacherdirected prompted
skills-based
contrived
problems
Covert studentdirected unprompted
integrated
naturalistic problems
Strategic Integration
(Using the Concept of Sameness)
• Planful consideration and sequencing of
instruction in ways that show the
commonalities and differences between
old and new knowledge.
Whenever possible, new strategies should build on what has been taught
earlier…
Strategic integration is the careful and systematic combining of essential
information in ways that result in new and more complex knowledge.
Strategic Integration Rules
• Students must acquire fluency with the
knowledge to be integrated
• Instruction deliberately focuses on the
integration of such knowledge
– Tying together several big ideas and
strategies
– Integrating potentially confusing concepts
– Integrating a big idea across multiple contexts
Primed Background Knowledge
(Ensuring preskills)
• Related Knowledge, placed effectively in
sequence, that students must already
possess in order to learn new knowledge.
…the means by which instructional tools accommodate background knowledge can
be crucial to learning. Even brief and informal assessments can yield useful
information on the extent to which students have the background knowledge that
instruction assumes they have.
Primed Background Knowledge
• Students with diverse learning needs have
less background knowledge than normal
achieving peers.
• Teachers should try to anticipate this
deficit and provide targeted knowledge to
aid in understanding.
Judicious Review
(Practice, Practice, Practice)
• Sequence and schedule of opportunities
learners have to apply and develop facility
with new knowledge. The review must be
adequate, distributed, cumulative, and
varied.
Four Critical Dimensions of Judicious Review
1. The review must be sufficient to enable a student to perform the task
without hesitation.
2. It must be distributed over time.
3. It must be cumulative, with information integrated into more complex
tasks.
4. It must be varied, so as to illustrate the wide application of a student’s
understanding of the information.
Important Note
• Attending to the Six Principles of Effective
Instructional Tools
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Big Ideas
Conspicuous Strategies
Mediated Scaffolding
Strategic Integration
Primed Background Knowledge
Judicious Review
is what makes “Classroom Instruction that
Works” work!
Classroom Instruction that
Works
Robert J. Marzano
Debra J. Pickering
Jane E. Pollock
ASCD
2001
Instructional Techniques
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Identifying Similarities and Differences (.88-1.76)
Summarizing and Note-taking (.62-1.80)
Reinforcing Effort (.52 – 2.14)
Homework & Practice (.36-.65)
Nonlinguistic Representations (.50-1.31)
Cooperative Learning (0-.78)
Setting Objectives (.46-1.37) and Providing Feedback
(.26-1.35)
• Generating and Testing Hypothesis (.04-.79)
• Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers (.26-1.21)
learning
Two levels of teaching
• Teaching the technique/tool such that
students have fluency in using that tool to
learn what they need to learn
– What do I need to do so that the student can
accurately use this technique or tool?
• Making sure that the technique/tool leads
to the student’s learning of the important
concept.
– What is the critical learning objective the
student needs to learn?
Assignment and Preparation
for December 7 Training Day
• Plan to use the instructional strategy you investigated
today for teaching a learning objective that you will be
focused on in the next month.
• Use the instructional strategy daily for at least one week
with the specific intent of improving the student’s
learning on that objective.
• Identify a brief measurement system that will provide you
with feedback on student progress. (You will use that
assessment piece in the “Classroom Assessment”
training.)
• Bring the data with you to the December training day.
• Be prepared to share what you did and your results.