Strengthening Classroom Practice

Outcome: Participants Design and Implement Research-Based Instructional and Education Strategies

Focus: Instruction

Audience: 6-12 Teachers

Description: Educational scholarship indicates that the quality of the individual teacher is the single most important predictor of student achievement. At the same time, research has established significant effect sizes for the impact on achievement of specific instructional strategies when they are properly implemented. The implication of this body of evidence is that much can be done to improve student achievement through improving teachers’ ability to adhere with fidelity to the implementation of certain evidence-based strategies. On the other hand, remaining current with the most recent scholarship is challenging.

During this session, the edInsight consultants focus on all teachers within a given department identified for attention by school administrators. First, the consultants conduct informal, non-evaluative walk-throughs to gain an overview of departmental practices. Second, the consultants conduct walk-throughs that are focused on determining the extent to which teachers are implementing the practices identified as critical by their administrators. Third, walk-throughs are followed by one-on-one debriefings during which teachers and consultants arrive at a consensus about what transpired in each observed class and consultants commend exemplary practices and recommend other research-based, high-yield instructional strategies. Finally, department-wide sessions are conducted promoting collaboration and sharing resources, reinforcing reading and writing across all content areas, and strengthening the areas of greatest need among all teachers. This process is carried out within the framework of the essential instructional shifts for ensuring classroom rigor identified by Robert Marzano and Michael Toth, John Hattie, and Charlotte Danielson:

  • Identifying critical content
  • Previewing new content
  • Organizing students to interact with content
  • Helping students process content
  • Helping students elaborate on content
  • Helping students record and represent knowledge
  • Managing response rates with tiered questioning techniques
  • Reviewing content
  • Helping students practice skills, strategies, and processes
  • Helping students examine similarities and differences
  • Helping students examine their reasoning
  • Helping students revise knowledge
  • Helping students engage in cognitively complex tasks

In addition to assisting teachers to replace certain strategies and to add others, this process will provide teachers with the practice necessary to identify for their supervisors evidence of their proficiency in using research-based practices at the time of their own Educator Effectiveness process.

Associated edInsight System Tool:

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