Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

In 2001, Classroom Instruction That Works asked a few simple questions and inspired more than a million teachers to refine their approach to teaching. What works in education? How do we know? How can educational research find its way into the classroom? How can we apply it to help individual students?

 

This all-new, completely revised second edition of that classic text draws on the research and developments of the following decade to reanalyze and reevaluate the teaching strategies that have the most positive effect on student learning:

 

• Setting objectives and providing feedback

• Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

• Cooperative learning

• Cues, questions, and advance organizers

• Nonlinguistic representations

• Summarizing and note taking

• Assigning homework and providing practice

• Identifying similarities and differences

• Generating and testing hypotheses

 

These strategies are organized and presented within a framework that is geared toward instructional planning, which highlights the point that all of the strategies are effective and should be used to complement one another. Each strategy is supported with recommended classroom practices, examples of the strategy in use, tips for teaching, and information about using the strategy with today’s learners.

 

Whether you are coming to this book for the first time or are a veritable expert in the nine strategies, this second edition will help you develop your instructional approach, broaden your influence as a teacher, and enhance the learning potential of all your students. We haven’t reinvented the wheel. We’ve taken classroom instruction that works and made it thrive.

Ceri B. Dean is vice president for field services at Midcontinent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). She is responsible for the development and successful implementation of McREL's professional development, technical assistance, and consultation services. She has served as the director of large-scale projects, including the North Central Comprehensive Center at McREL, a U.S. Department of Education―funded technical assistance center. She is codeveloper of materials to facilitate delivery of McREL's comprehensive approach to school improvement, Success in Sight, and she has coauthored a number of McREL publications. She is a former high school mathematics teacher and holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and an M.S. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University.

Elizabeth Ross Hubbell is a principal consultant at McREL. She conducts workshops and training for K–12 teachers on research-based instructional strategies and technology integration, writes curriculum models for online classes, conducts technology audits for districts, and trains school and district leaders in using Power Walkthrough software. She holds an M.A. in Information and Learning Technologies from the University of Colorado―Denver and a B.S. in Early Childhood/Elementary Education from the University of Georgia. Elizabeth was one of four national finalists in Technology & Learning's Ed Tech Leader of the Year 2003. She is coauthor of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works and The Future of Schooling: Educating America in 2020.

Howard Pitler is a senior director at McREL. He conducts workshops and training for K–12 teachers on research-based instructional strategies and technology integration, conducts technology audits for districts, and works with school and district leaders in using Power Walkthrough classroom observation software. He holds an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from Wichita State University, an M.A. in Music Performance from Wichita State, and a B.A. in Music Education from Indiana State University. Howard is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Smithsonian Laureate, and he was a 1997 National Distinguished Principal. He has been published in several journals, and he is coauthor of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works.

Bj Stone is a principal consultant at McREL. She facilitates learning sessions with teachers and administrators

in the areas of research-based instructional strategies, vocabulary instruction, curriculum development, and

assessment design. Bj was designated as a Teaching Fellow in a large National Science Foundation―funded grant for preservice teachers and has been published in the Journal of Teacher Education. Bj is a former middle and high school science teacher, university instructor, and assistant superintendent. She has a B.S in Biology, a M.S. in Science Education, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Study from the University of Northern Colorado.

About McREL

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) is a nationally recognized, nonprofit education research and development organization, headquartered in Denver, Colorado with offices in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and Omaha, Nebraska. Since 1966, McREL has helped translate research and professional wisdom about what works in education into practical guidance for educators. Our 120-plus staff members and affiliates include respected researchers, experienced consultants, and published writers who provide educators with research-based guidance, consultation, and professional development for improving student outcomes.