Effective Instruction Overview

Active Student Responding (ASR) is a strategy designed to engage all students regardless of class size. ASR avoids the common problem of having only high achievers answer questions while low achievers remain silent, thus escaping detection. ASR strategies include; guided notes, response slates, response cards, and choral responding.

This paper argues that ineffective practices in schools carry a high price for consumers and suggests that school systems consider the measurable yield in terms of gains in student achievement for their schooling effort.

Research recognizes the power of assessment to amplify learning and skill acquisition. This overview describes and compares two types of Assessments educators rely on: Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment. 

In this overview, classroom management strategies have been grouped into four essential areas: rules and procedures, proactive management, well-designed and delivered instruction, and disruptive behavior management. These strategies are devised for use at both school and classroom levels.

This overview describes strategies for how school personnel can respond when disruptive behavior occurs, including (1) negative consequences that can be applied as primary interventions, (2) functional behavior assessment, and (3) function-based, individualized interventions characteristic of the secondary or tertiary tiers of a multitiered system of support.

A summary of the available studies accumulated over the past 40 years on a key education driver, teacher competencies offers practical strategies, practices, and rules to guide teachers in ways to improve instruction that improves student performance and the quality of the work experience.

This analysis examines the available research on effective teaching, how to impart these skills, and how to best transition teachers from pre-service to classroom with an emphasis on improving student achievement. It reviews current preparation practices and examine the research evidence on how well they are preparing teachers

This overview describe Multitiered system of support (MTSS) as a conceptual framework for organizing service delivery to students. 

This overview provides information about teacher evaluation as it relates to collecting information about teacher practice and using it to improve student outcomes. The history of teacher evaluation and current research findings and implications are included.

This paper discusses the search for a “magic metric” in education: an index/number that would be generally accepted as the most efficient descriptor of school’s performance in a district.

This overview examines the available research on the topic of soft skills (personal competencies) and how these proficiencies support the technical competencies required for success in school 

In this chapter we describe systematic instructional practices that are necessary for individuals with disabilities to benefit from educational services.

The usual approach to determining if an intervention is effective for a student is to review student outcome data; however, this is only part of the task. Student data can only be understood if we know something about how well the intervention was implemented. Student data without treatment integrity data are largely meaningless because without knowing how well an intervention has been implemented, no judgments can be made about the effectiveness of the intervention. Poor outcomes can be a function of an ineffective intervention or poor implementation of the intervention. Without treatment integrity data, the is a risk that an intervention will be judged as ineffective when, in fact, the quality of implementation was so inadequate that it would be unreasonable to expect positive outcomes.

This paper examines intervention and instruction failures and describe concrete steps that implementers can take to improve the results of their instruction and intervention in classrooms.

This paper examines a range of education failures: common mistakes in how new practices are selected, implemented, and monitored. The goal is not a comprehensive listing of all education failures but rather to provide education stakeholders with an understanding of the importance of vigilance when implementing new practices.

This analysis looks at the importance of learning styles impact on student achievement.

This reviews looks at the issue, do longer school days and longer school years improve student achievement?

This analysis examines the research on learning styles.

An analysis of math test results compared at the beginning and end of each school year and the impact on learning of summer break by socio-economic status.

This analysis examines an international comparison of the length of the school year and it's impact on student's math and reading achievement.

This analysis compares the effectiveness of differing approaches to teaching science.

This review looks at research on how to effectively teach science.

This paper discusses the search for a “magic metric” in education: an index/number that would be generally accepted as the most efficient descriptor of school’s performance in a district.

This paper examines intervention and instruction failures and describe concrete steps that implementers can take to improve the results of their instruction and intervention in classrooms.

This study evaluated the effects of a problem solving intervention package that included problem-solving information, performance feedback, and coaching in a student intervention planning protocol.

Three 8th grade English teachers participated in this single-case multiple baseline experiment. These teachers were observed daily during classes that were inclusive to students with disabilities. Observations were conducted using the Classroom Teaching Scan (www.classroomteachingscan.com/ctscan/). Within the Classroom Teaching Scan, a checklist of quality indicators for modeling was the primary dependent variable. Additionally, observations were scored using the Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observations (PLATO, 2017). Participating students responded to curriculum-based measurement writing prompts throughout the study.

Minor changes in performance on the PLATO and CBM measures were demonstrated. However, these measures were descriptive in nature, not experimental. Therefore, more research over a sustained period of time is necessary to determine the effect of this professional development package on distal measures of teacher quality and student outcomes.