Lately, our staff has been examining “High Yield Strategies” for improving student achievement and we’ve discovered that Dr. Robert J. Marzano and his colleagues at the Marzano Research Laboratory actually translate educational research into useful teaching strategies.
Marzano has become all the rage for professional development and his strategies are widely respected by teachers. Recently, I asked thirty five teachers pursuing National Board candidacy for suggestions of resource materials that had transformed their teaching. Among the most popular choices were Marzano’s books.
For reforming our schools he has suggested three critical commitments:
- Develop a system of individual student feedback at the district, school and classroom levels.
- Ensure effective teaching in every classroom.
- Build background knowledge for all students.
Over my past decade of teaching, I have seen a lot of ideas come and go, but I love to see a focus on research-based best practices. Marzano’s ideas not only seem to have potential (like so many flash-in-the-pan PD fads,) but they really are helping districts, schools and teachers focus on goal setting and action to improve student learning.
It seems like a no-brainer that schools seeking to improve will use research to justify their choices for changing instruction. However, it seems to me that often change is distilled to something easily implemented or quickly assessed. Sometimes that just makes busy work for teachers and doesn’t really change student learning.
Marzano’s work reminds us that students are at the heart of what we do, that their feedback is crucial and that their understanding needs a base upon which teachers can build. We must have clear learning targets and make sure students know where they are headed, what they are expected to do, and how they are being successful along the way. Responsibility for learning is shared by both students and their instructors. His classroom strategies connect those important concepts and make them useful for the day to day efforts of individual teachers.
Teachers have a responsibility to be effective. The sad truth for some so-called educators is that our educational system really can't continue to allow weak teachers to waste student learning time. It can and should support new teachers as they develop necessary skills for effective teaching, but it shouldn’t be a life-time career for those who can’t take students where they need to go. Youth is too short and learning is too important. We can’t afford poor instruction.
Irene Smith is a guest blogger and teacher in the Yakima School District.
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