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Professional Readings includes reviews of recent publications and highlights of reports on current issues that affect schools. Your contributions are welcome. Send them to principal@osu.edu. Please indicate if we may use your name in the “contributor” credits.
Classroom Instruction that Works
Marzano, Robert J., Pickering, Debra J., & Pollack,Jane E. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
When Columbus Public Schools developed its Performance Advancement System, it did so with the realization that if you expect teachers to improve practice, it must be in a climate of support. And teachers, the book firmly states, are “the most important factor affecting student learning.” (p. 3)
Time and money are important sources of support, but they won’t work without knowledge of best practice. Knowledge—acquired, applied, and shared—is BIG.
For a readable, practical compendium of best practices knowledge, Columbus turned to Classroom Instruction that Works. It contains, in the authors' words, the results of a study to “identify those instructional strategies that have a high probability of enhancing student achievement for all students in all subject areas at all grade levels.” (p. 7)
That said, the authors caution that (1) no single instructional strategy can be guaranteed to work with all students, and that (2) they need to be used in concert with solid classroom management and curriculum design (p. 9). Again, effective teachers are key to student success.
How Columbus Uses the Book
You know about changes in the Fourth-Grade Reading Guarantee in Amended Senate Bill 1. Read more >
So, you decide to make reading your accountability area. Once you've collected baseline data on student reading performance, you select building level assessments and a research-based instructional strategy from Classroom Instruction that Works. Read more>
If you liked the book, you'll love the study guide, Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works. This handbook is perfect for self-help or study groups, helping you successfully apply the strategies in the classroom.
According to ASCD, the handbook includes
- Exercises to check your understanding of the strategies
- Brief questionnaires to reflect on your current beliefs and practices
- Tips and recommendations on implementing the strategies
- Samples, worksheets, and other tools to help plan classroom activities
- Rubrics to assess the effectiveness of the strategy with your students
Sounds like a winner. Check it out at http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/101041.aspx.
