1. C HESTER U PLAND S CHOOL D ISTRICT N EW T EACHER O RIENTATION August 25, 2009 Chester High School

2. We stand at a unique point in the history of U.S. education – a point at which the potential for truly meaningful school reform is greater than it ever has been. This is not just because we are at the beginning of a new century and a new millenium, although these are certainly noteworthy milestones. Rather, it is because we now have more than 30 years of accumulated research that provides some highly consistent answers to the question of what types of instructional strategies work best to improve student achievement.

3. L EARNING G OALS : P ARTICIPANTS W ILL … gain a foundational understanding of: instructional strategies that research indicates can have a significant influence on student achievement implications of implementing these strategies adapt these strategies as they plan for improving learning

4. R ESEARCH ON I NSTRUCTION 60s 1966 Coleman Report Schools made little difference in achievement 70s Researchers began to look at the effects of instruction on student learning

5. R ESEARCH ON I NSTRUCTION Sanders, Wright & Horn (1994, 1997) Analysis of the achievement of 100,000+ students across hundreds of schools The most important factor affecting student learning is the teacher. There is a wide variation in effectiveness among teachers. More can be done to improve education by improving the effectiveness of teachers than by any other single factor. Effective teachers appear to be effective with students of all achievement levels regardless of the level of heterogeneity in their classrooms. If the teacher is ineffective, students under the teacher’s tutelage will show inadequate progress academically regardless of how similar or different they are regarding their academic achievement.

6. CUSD T HEORY OF A CTION

7. C LASSROOM I NSTRUCTION THAT W ORKS InstructionPercentile Gains Identifying Similarities and Differences 45% Summarizing and Note Taking 34% Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition 29% Assigning Homework and Practice 28% Creating Nonlinguistic Representations 27%

8. C LASSROOM I NSTRUCTION THAT W ORKS InstructionPercentile Gains Using Cooperative Learning 27% Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback 23% Generating and Testing Hypotheses 25% Providing Cues, Questions and Advanced Organizers 22%

9. B LOOM ’ S T AXONOMY Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge Creating Evaluating Analyzing Applying Understanding Remembering

10. B LOOM ’ S T AXONOMY Applying Understanding Remembering execute, implement, use, clarify, demonstrate, construct, record, use, incorporate, revise, reformate, illustrate, interpret, dramatize, practice, organize, translate, manipulate, convert, adopt, research, calculate, operate, model, order, display, integrate, diagram interpret, paraphrase, translate, represent, clarify, exemplify, illustrate, classify, categorize, summarize, abstract, generalize, infer, extrapolate, predict, conclude, compare, map, explain, construct model, report, discuss, show, outline, sequence recognize, identify, recall, name, list, define, label, recite, memorize, repeat, find, record, fill in, recall, relate, describe

11. B LOOM ’ S T AXONOMY Creating Evaluating Analyzing generate, hypothesize, plan, design, produce, compose, invent, construct, formulate, develop, refine, transform judge, predict, verify, assess, justify, rate, value, prioritize, determine, select, decide, choose, forecast, estimate differentiate, discriminate, select, focus, distinguish, organize, outline, compare, contrast, classify, critique, solve, deduce, examine, appraise, experiment, question, investigate, categorize, infer

12. L EARNING I NFORMATION Construct Meaning Link new information to prior knowledge Ex. Link new information to prior knowledge, KWL, informal discussion or inquiry, concept attainment, making and verifying predictions, cues, “in your own words”, Reciprocal Teaching, SQ3R, activate senses, 3-minute pause, etc. Organize Identify patterns in the information Ex. Graphic aids/organizers, anticipatory questions, note-taking with graphic representations, physical and pictographic representations, graphs and charts that identify patterns and representations, etc. Store Consciously store the information in memory Ex. Symbols and substitutes with links, structured systems such as rhyming pegword method (One Bun), mnemonics, pictures and descriptions to recall, games, etc.

13. L EARNING A S KILL OR P ROCESS Construct a Model Develop a rough model of the steps of the process Ex. Written or graphic representation (steps, flow chart, series of pictures or symbols) for reasoning skills, recipe, driving a car, shooting baskets, writing a paragraph, setting up an experiment, think aloud, compare to other skills, mental rehearsal, etc. Shape Modify, adapt and increase understanding of the process Ex. Practice, practice, practice, including variations, point out common errors, work with concrete representations, develop conceptual understanding Internalize Practice to achieve automaticity and fluency Ex. Set up practice schedule, chart speed and/or accuracy

14. SUBJECT Similarities, Differences, Patterns Problem Solving InvestigationDecision Making Experimental Inquiry Logic (Inductive, Deductive) Science 8.3%11.5%22.9%30.1%32.2%21.8% History 32.6%26.1%15.2% 8.7%2.2% Math 17.5%50.0%7.5%0.0%20.0%5.0% Soc St 28.1%6.3%28.1% 3.1%6.3% Arts 46.4%32.1%7.1%14.3%0.0% Civics 23.1%38.5%7.7%30.8%0.0% Work 12.5%54.2%20.8%0.0%4.2%8.3% For Lang 92.9%0.0%7.1%0.0% Geog 30.8%7.7% 30.8%23.1%0.0% Health 46.2%15.4%7.7%30.8%0.0% PE 45.5%18.2%0.0%36.4%0.0% E/LA 50.0%0.0% 10.0%20.0%

15. T OP 4 R EASONING S KILLS History, Social Science similarities and differences decision making problem solving investigation Mathematics problem solving experimental inquiry similarities and differences investigation English Language Arts similarities and differences logic experimental inquiry decision making Science experimental inquiry investigation logic problem solving Arts similarities, differences, patterns problem solving decision making investigation

16. C ATEGORIES OF I NSTRUCTIONAL S TRATEGIES from C LASSROOM I NSTRUCTION THAT W ORKS Identifying similarities and differences (Ch 1) Summarizing and note taking Reinforcing effort and providing recognition Homework and practice Representing knowledge Learning groups Setting objectives and providing feedback Generating and testing hypotheses Cues, questions and advance organizers

17. I DENTIFYING S IMILARITIES AND D IFFERENCES Generalizations from Research: 1. Presenting students with explicit guidance in identifying similarities and differences enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge. 2. Having students independently identify similarities and differences enhances their understanding of and ability to use knowledge. 3. Representing similarities and differences in graphic and symbolic form enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge. 4. Identification of similarities and differences can be accomplished in a variety of ways.

18. I O BSERVATION Identifying Similarities and Differences The teacher provides ongoing instruction and explicit guidance in helping students make comparisons and classifications, and to create metaphors and analogies. Teacher Evidence Model how to create and use: comparison matrix, Venn diagram, T-chart, concept maps, sorting, literal metaphors, abstract metaphors, antonym analogies, synonym analogies, descriptive analogies, part-to- whole analogies, item-to-category analogies, cause- effect analogies, function analogies, and temporal or sequential analogies

19. I O BSERVATION Identifying Similarities and Differences The teacher provides ongoing instruction and explicit guidance in helping students make comparisons and classifications, and to create metaphor and analogies. Student Evidence Identify similarities and differences within and across content areas Represent similarities and differences in graphic, written, or symbolic form within and across content areas Create metaphors and analogies Complete tasks involving comparison and classification within and across content areas

20. I DENTIFYING S IMILARITIES AND D IFFERENCES 1. Comparing 2. Classifying 3. Creating Metaphors 4. Creating Analogies

21. E SSENTIAL Q UESTIONS What is the purpose of asking students to compare, classify, create metaphors, create analogies? What kinds of activities do you use to help students compare, classify, create metaphors, create analogies?

22. B RAINSTORMING Think of a time when you asked students to identify similarities and differences and it went well. What made it go well (e.g., classroom management)? Think of a time when you were not pleased with the results after asking students to identify similarities and differences. Why did it not go well?

23. C OMPARING Superficial comparisons do little to contribute to our learning. Instead, comparisons should use familiar content and connect to prior knowledge, and students should use graphic organizers and be guided as needed, with greater guidance offered at the beginning, in order to achieve a depth of understanding about the content being compared.

24. C OMPARING Identify what you are comparing and decide on a format to organize your information and guide your thinking. Examine the items and decide what characteristics would lead to an interesting comparison. For each characteristic, explain how the items are similar and different. Re-examine your information and state what you learned or thought about by doing this comparison.

25. C OMPARING Take a look at Figure 1.7. Spend a few minutes completing it, and answer the first question at the bottom of the page.

26. C LASSIFYING Classifying involves grouping things into definable categories based on like characteristics. Like comparing, it is something we do in our daily lives.

27. C LASSIFYING Identify the items you want to classify. Select what seems to be an important item. Describe its key attributes and identify other items that have the same attributes. Create the category by specifying the attributes that the items must have for memberships in the category. Select another item, describe its key attributes and identify other items that have the same attributes. Create the second category by specifying the attributes that the items must have for membership. Repeat the previous two steps until all items are classified.

28. C LASSIFYING Take a moment to analyze the three categories listed in Figure 2.5. Briefly answer the questions at the bottom of the page.

29. M ETAPHORS When we create metaphors, we identify a general or basic pattern in a specific topic and then find another topic that seems quite different at the literal level but has the same general pattern.

30. M ETAPHORS Identify the important or basic elements of the information or situation with which you are working. Write that basic information as a general pattern by: replacing words for specific things with words for more general things, and summarizing information whenever possible. Find new information or a situation to which the general pattern applies.

31. M ETAPHORS Examine Figure 3.4. Choose one of the metaphors that you believe best describes the Internet. Then create a metaphor of your own. Notice what the task asks you to do with the knowledge. How does it take you beyond simply recalling information?

32. A NALOGIES Creating analogies is the process of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts (e.g., identifying relationships between relationships). Like metaphors, analogies help us make connections between things that seem very different. Typically, an analogy follows the form A:B::C:D Happy:Sad::Big:Small

33. A NALOGIES Identify how the two elements in the first pair are related. State their relationship in a general way. Identify another pair of elements that share a similar relationship.

34. A NALOGIES Examine Figure 4.4. Complete Set 2 and be prepared to explain your reasoning to a partner.

35. R EFLECTION How has this module affected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner?