Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

1
An Overview of

• Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student
  Achievement

Classroom Instruction That Works Research-Based
Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement
and What Works in Schools Translating Research
into Action (Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)
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Major Factors Influencing Student Achievement

• School factors
• Guaranteed viable curriculum
• Challenging goals and feedback
• Parental and community involvement
• Safe, orderly, conducive to learning environment
• Professionalism and collegiality
• Classroom factors
• Aligned, viable curriculum
• Classroom management
• Instructional strategies
• Student factors
• Home environment
• Motivation
• Acquisition of knowledge

3

• In teaching it is the method and not the content
  that is the messagethe drawing out, not the
  pumping in.
• - Ashley Montague

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9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

• 1. Identifying Similarities and Differences

2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
4. Homework and Practice
5
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

• 5. Nonlinguistic Representation

6. Cooperative Learning
7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback
8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses
9. Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers
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1. Identifying Similarities and Differences

• Generalizations from research
• Explicit guidance in identifying similarities and
  differences enhances students understanding of
  and ability to use knowledge.

- Students independent identification of
similarities and differences enhances students
understanding of and ability to use knowledge.
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Identifying Similarities and Differences

• Generalizations from research (cont.)
• Representing similarities and differences in
  graphic or symbolic form (e.g. Venn Diagram)
  enhances students understanding of and ability
  to use knowledge.

- Identifying similarities and differences can be
done in a variety of forms.
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Forms for Identifying Similarities and Differences

• Comparing
• What are the important characteristics of these
  topics/ideas that you want to compare?

• Classifying
• What are the rules that govern group
  membership?

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Forms for Identifying Similarities and Differences

• Metaphors (Love is a rose)
• What is the abstract or nonliteral connection
  between the ideas?

• Analogies (Oxygen is to humans as carbon dioxide
  is to plants)
• What is the relationship between the
  relationships?

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Identifying similarities and differences
11
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)
1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
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2. Summarizing and Note Taking

• Generalizations from research on summarizing
• To effectively summarize, students must delete,
  substitute, and keep some information.

- To effectively delete, substitute, and keep
information, students must analyze the
information at a deep level.

• The structure of the information can
• aid summarizing.

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Classroom Practice in Summarizing

• Rule-based Summarizing
• Delete the trivial.
• Delete the redundant.
• Substitute generic terms for listing.
  (e.g. dogs for labs, spaniels, and boxers)
• Select/create a topic sentence.

• Summary Frames
• Create a series of questions to highlight
  critical elements to guide students in
  summarizing information.

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Classroom Practice in Summarizing (cont.)

• Reciprocal Teaching (Student leader)
• Summarize
• Generate questions
• Clarify
• Encourage predictions

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Summarizing and Note Taking

• Generalizations from research on note taking
• - Verbatim note taking is least effective.

- Notes are a work in progress.

• Notes should be used as study guides
• for tests.

- The more notes taken, the better.
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Classroom Practice in Note Taking

• Teacher-prepared notes
• Highlight important points.
• Model note taking for students.

• Formats for notes
• Informal outline
• Webbing
• Combination

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Summarizing and note taking
18
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

• 1. Identifying Similarities and Differences

2. Summarizing and Note Taking
19
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing
Recognition

• Generalizations from research on reinforcing
  effort
• - Not all students realize importance of
  believing in effort.

- Students can learn to change their beliefs to
an emphasis on effort.
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Classroom Practice in Reinforcing Effort

• Keep track of effort and achievement.
• Effort and achievement rubrics
• Effort and achievement chart

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Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

• Generalizations from research on providing
  recognition
• Rewards increase intrinsic motivation if measured
  as students attitude toward the activity.

- Reward is most effective when attached to
attaining a performance goal.
- The more abstract/symbolic the reward, the more
powerful it is (e.g. verbal recognition).
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Classroom Practice in Providing Recognition

• Personalize recognition
• Recognize personal best.

• Pause, prompt, praise
• Use during demanding task.

• Concrete symbols of recognition
• Give tokens (e.g. stickers) for achievement of
  performance goal.

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
24
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking

3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing
Recognition
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4. Homework and Practice

• Generalizations from research on homework
• - Students at lower grades should be given less
  homework than students at higher grade levels.

- Parent involvement in homework should be
kept to a minimum.
- The purposes for homework should be identified
and stated.
- If homework is assigned, it should be commented
on.
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Classroom Practice in Homework

• Establish, communicate, and adhere to clear
  homework policies.
• Purposes (i.e. practice, preparation,
  elaboration)
• Amount assigned
• Consequences for non-completion
• Description of parental involvement acceptable

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Classroom Practice in Homework

• Design homework assignments that clearly state
  the purpose and outcome for the assignments.

• Vary the approaches to providing feedback.
• Manage work load
• Maximize the effectiveness of feedback

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Homework and Practice

• Generalizations from research on practice
• Mastering a skill takes repeated, focused
  practice over time.

- During initial practice of a skill, students
shape their conceptual understanding. The student
should deal with only a few examples during this
phase to support the depth of reasoning required.
Speed is not the focus.
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Classroom Practice in Practicing Skills

• Chart both speed and accuracy.

• Focus practice on specific parts of a complex
  skill or process.

• Provide time for modeling the skill, time for
  guided practice, and time for independent
  practice.

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Homework and practice
31
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

4. Homework and Practice
32
5. Nonlinguistic Representations

• Generalizations from research
• A variety of activities produce nonlinguistic
  representations which enhance student
  understanding of content.

- Nonlinguistic representations should elaborate
on (add to) content knowledge.
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Types of Nonlinguistic Representations

• Graphic organizers
• Descriptive pattern
• Time sequence
• Process/Cause-Effect
• Episode
• Generalization/Principal pattern
• Concept pattern

• Physical models
• Concrete representations of knowledge
• Manipulatives

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Types of Nonlinguistic Representations (cont.)

• Mental pictures

• Pictures or pictographs

• Kinesthetic (movement) activity

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Nonlinguistic representations
36
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
4. Homework and Practice

5. Nonlinguistic Representation
37
6. Cooperative Learning

• Generalizations from research
• Organizing groups based on ability should be done
  sparingly.

• Cooperative groups should be small in size (3-4
  members).

• Cooperative learning should be applied
  consistently and systematically (at least once
  per week), but not overused.

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Classroom Practice in Cooperative Learning

• Five elements of cooperative learning
• Positive interdependence
• Face-to-face interaction
• Individual and group accountability
• Interpersonal and small group skills
• Group processing

• Grouping patterns
• Informal (e.g. turn-to-your-neighbor)
• Formal for more complex tasks (with cooperative
  learning components)
• Base groups (long-term)

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Cooperative learning
40
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
4. Homework and Practice
5. Nonlinguistic Representation

6. Cooperative Learning
41
7. Setting Objectives and Providing
Feedback

• Generalizations from research on goal setting
• Instructional goals narrow what students focus
  on.

• Instructional goals should not be too specific
  (i.e. not stated in behavioral terms).

• Students should be encouraged to personalize the
  teachers classroom goals.

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Classroom Practice in Goal Setting

• Set focused but flexible goals.

• Develop contracts with students for attainment of
  specific goals.

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Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Generalizations from research on providing
  feedback
• Feedback is the most powerful single modification
  to enhance achievement.

• Feedback should be corrective with explanation,
  not just right or wrong. Ask students to work
  at the task until they succeed.

• Feedback should be timely.

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Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

• Generalizations from research on providing
  feedback (cont.)
• Feedback should be specific to a particular
  standard/criterion.

• Students can effectively provide some of their
  own feedback.

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Classroom Practice inProviding Feedback

• Give students feedback in terms of specific
  levels of knowledge and skill instead of a
  percentage score.
• Develop a rubric for information.
• Develop a rubric for process/skill.

• Give students specific feedback.

• Students can be a part of feedback process.

46
Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Setting objectives and providing feedback
47
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
4. Homework and Practice
5. Nonlinguistic Representation
6. Cooperative Learning

7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback
48
8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses

• Generalizations from research
• Hypothesis generation and testing can be
  approached in an inductive or deductive manner.
• Deductive Use a general rule to make a
  prediction about a future action or event
• Inductive Draw new conclusions based on
  information known or given

• Teachers should ask students to clearly explain
  their hypotheses and their conclusions.

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Classroom Practice in Generating and Testing
Hypotheses

• Systems analysis
• Generate hypotheses to predict what might happen
  if some aspect of a system were changed.

• Problem solving
• Generate and test hypotheses related to
  overcoming barriers in obtaining a goal.

• Historical investigation
• Construct plausible scenarios for the past, about
  which there is no general agreement.

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Classroom Practice in Generating and Testing
Hypotheses (cont.)

• Invention
• Hypothesize what might work, develop idea,
  conduct tests to see if it solves the
  problem/meets goal.

• Experimental inquiry
• Generate and test hypotheses for explaining
  something you have observed.

• Decision Making
• Use a structured Decision Making framework for
  analysis of alternatives.

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Classroom Practice in Generating and Testing
Hypotheses (cont.)

• Make sure students can explain their hypotheses
  and conclusions.
• Provide templates for reporting.
• Provide sentence stems for explaining
  conclusions.
• Provide or develop rubrics with students, so
  they know that the criteria on which they will be
  evaluated are based on the quality of their
  explanations.
• Utilize audiotapes for explanations.

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Generating and testing hypotheses
53
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
4. Homework and Practice
5. Nonlinguistic Representation
6. Cooperative Learning
7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses
54
9. Cues, Questions, and Advance
Organizers

• Generalizations from research on cues and
  questions
• Cues and questions should focus on what is
  important as opposed to what is merely
  interesting.

• Questions that require students to analyze
  information produce deeper learning than
  questions that ask students to recall or
  recognize information.

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Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

• Generalizations from research on cues and
  questions (cont.)
• Waiting briefly before accepting responses from
  students increases depth of students answers.

• Questions are effective learning tools even when
  asked before a learning experience.

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Classroom Practice in Cues and Questions

• Explicit cues
• Provide students with a preview of what they
  are about to experience by directly asking about
  prior experiences related to content.

• Questions that elicit inferences

• Questions that analyze or critique information
  presented

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Cues, Questions, and Advance
Organizers

• Generalizations from research on advance
  organizers
• Advance organizers should focus on what is
  important as opposed to what is merely
  interesting.

• Advance organizers that require students to
  analyze information produce deeper learning than
  organizers that ask students to recall or
  recognize information.

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Cues, Questions, and Advance
Organizers

• Generalizations from research on advance
  organizers (cont.)
• Advance organizers are most useful with
  information that is not well organized.

• Different types of advance organizers produce
  different results.
• Expository organizers have the greatest impact
  on student learning.

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Classroom Practice in Advance Organizers

• Expository advance organizers describe the new
  content.

• Narrative advance organizers preview the content
  in a story format.

• Skimming of information provides a general
  familiarity with the content.

• Graphic organizers can help students think about
  new knowledge before experiencing it.

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Checking for Understanding
Strategy Marzanos Definition Your Definition What to Look For Strategy in Action
Questions, cues, and advanced organizers
61
9 Research-based Strategies for Instruction
(Robert Marzano, 2001 2003)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking
3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
4. Homework and Practice
5. Nonlinguistic Representation
6. Cooperative Learning
7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback
8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses

9. Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers
62
Teachers Two kinds the kind that fill you with
so much quail shot that you cant move, and the
kind that just give you a little prod behind and
you jump to the skies.
- Robert Frost