1. 1 Accountability & Value-Added Testing

2. 2 Life is a Series of Tests…Some Just Count More Than Others!

3. 3 YES! The book, Classroom Instruction That Works, presents and exemplifies the instructional strategies that have been extracted from the research base on effective instruction from the past 30 years. Marzano & Pickering, ASCD “ What can I do to make sure my students are prepared for THE TEST?” “Can we identify what those highly effective teachers do?”

4. 4 Categories of Instructional Strategies that Affect Student Achievement 1. Identify Similarities and Differences 2. Summarizing and Note Taking 3. Reinforcing Effort/Providing Recognition 4. Homework and Practice 5. Non-linguistic Representations 6. Using Cooperative Learning 7. Setting Objectives/Providing Feedback 8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses 9. Questions, Cues, and Advanced Organizers

5. 5 Note Taking Strategies 1. Note taking and summarizing are closely related. 2.No one correct way to take notes. Teach students a variety of formats. 3. Informal Outlines 4. Webbing 5.Provide students with teacher-prepared notes before exposing them to new content. Categories of Instructional Strategies that Affect Student Achievement

6. 6 Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement Homework and Practice Need a clearly articulated homework policy. Homework should not be “busy work.” Provide timely and specific feedback. Determine which skills are worth practicing. Since practice takes a great deal of time and effort, students cannot afford to practice every skill encountered.

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9. 9 Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement Non-Linguistic Representations Psychologists believe that we store knowledge in two ways: linguistically (words) and non-linguistically (images). The more we use non-linguistic representations while learning, the better we can recall knowledge. Five strategies to help students represent the knowledge they are learning: 1. Graphic organizers 2. Pictographic representations 3. Mental images 4. Physical models 5. Kinesthetic representations

10. 10 Graphic Organizers That Often Appear on TCAP Assessments

11. 11 Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement Using Cooperative Learning 1. Group work doesn’t have to be chaotic! 2. Do not assume that students know how to work in groups. Teaming must be taught. 3. Avoid ability grouping. Resist the temptation to separate the more capable students. Highly skilled students are not necessarily the most creative. 4. Mix boys and girls. 5. Spread out the class leaders (both negative & positive). 6. There is no magic number for group size. In the beginning start with small groups or pairs. Usually 4 is a good size after students have some group experience. Continued next slide

12. 12 Cooperative Learning Group Skills and Responsibilities of Group Members 1. Share ideas and opinions. 2. Ask and answer questions. 3. Keep the group on task. 4. Encourage participation. Teachers must make it very clear that any member of the group may be called on to share what the group did. Any member of the group should always be prepared to share their ideas orally or written!

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14. 14 Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement Reinforcing Effort/Providing Recognition Research has shown that reinforcing effort is effective; HOWEVER  Charting effort and achievement should be done on an individual basis.  Students should compete with themselves.  Have students keep individual graphs of achievement vs. effort. Research has also shown that praise is highly effective when used PROPERLY  Use the Pause, Prompt, and Praise Technique.  Praise should be specific to particular accomplishments, not general.  Beware of symbolic tokens such as stickers or certificates.

15. 15 Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement Setting Objectives/Providing Feedback  Communicating objectives is as important as designing them.  Learning goals should also be communicated to parents.  Give timely feedback.  Explain what was correct and what was incorrect. A positive influence on students’ learning is more likely to occur when they understand what they did incorrectly.

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17. 17 Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement Questions, Cues, and Advanced Organizers  Cues and questions are explicit reminders or hints about what students are about to experience.  Cues and questions trigger students’ memories.  One of the best approaches to eliciting prior knowledge is KWL.  Advanced organizers are organizational frameworks teachers can present to students prior to teaching new content to prepare them for what they are about to learn.  Skimming information before reading can be a powerful form of advance organizer.

18. 18 POINT to REMEMBER No Instructional strategy works equally well in all situations. Instructional strategies are tools. Instructional strategies are a means to an end.

19. 19 Everyday Classroom Strategies to Help Raise TCAP Scores Teaching for Best Test Results  Thinking Skills—70% of the Achievement Test is written on the 3 highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Synonyms  Charts, maps, diagrams, tables—every teacher in every subject area must focus on these.  Webbing  Multi-meaning words and vocabulary  Mirror the Achievement Test Throughout the School Year!  Align Curriculum with State Standards  Make Sure Everyone Understands How to Read, Interpret, and Track Test Summaries  Formulate a Plan of Action (not a blame) by grade level/school level.

20. 20 Teaching for Best Test Results continued Mirror the Achievement Test Throughout the School Year  Teach Time Limits  Can Do/Can’t Do Lists  Practice NOT Helping  Standing Work Stations  Make sure some of your tests “look like” TCAP  Teach students what they need to know; then how they will be tested!

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27. 27 The Critical Role of Vocabulary in Norm- Referenced Testing According research by Marzano, Kendall, & Gaddy, (Essential Knowledge): Teaching and understanding of vocabulary has been shown to increase student achievement by as much as 33 percentile points. They suggest the following 5 step approach. Step 1: At the beginning of the school, year present students with all the words they will be expected to learn. Step 2: Provide students with an initial description of each new term. Step 3: Ask students to elaborate on the teacher’s initial description. Step 4: Have students keep a record of the words they are learning. Step 5: Encourage students to review and use the words and phrases.

28. 28 Critical Role of Vocabulary continued Five-Step Process for Teaching Vocabulary (Classroom Instruction that Works): Step 1. Present students with a brief explanation or description of the new term or phrase. Step 2. Present students with a nonlinguistic representation of the new term or phrase. Step 3. Ask students to generate their own explanations or descriptions. Step 4. Ask students to create their own nonlinguistic representation of the term or phrase. Step 5. Periodically ask students to review the accuracy of their explanations.

29. 29 Teaching for Best Test Results continued Formulate an action plan by school level and by grade level. If test scores are low, and student learning is not satisfactory: Don’t get into the Blame Game!

30. 30 Who’s to Blame The college professor said: Such rawness in a student is a shame. Lack of preparation in high school is to blame. Said the high school teacher: Good heavens! That boy is a fool The fault of course is with the middle school. The middle school teacher said: From Stupidity may I be spared. They sent him in so unprepared.

31. 31 Who’s to Blame continued The primary teacher huffed: Kindergarten blockheads all. They call that preparation—why, its worse than none at all. The kindergarten teacher said: Such lack of training never did I see. What kind of woman must that mother be. The mother said: Poor helpless child. He’s not to blame, His father’s people are all the same.

32. 32 Who’s to Blame continued Said the father at the end of the line: “I doubt the rascal is even mine!”

33. 33 Suggested Reading Books by Robert J. Marzano available from ASCD: Classroom Instruction that Works (2001) What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action (2003) Book by Marzano available from McREL Institute Essential Knowledge: The Debate Over What American Students Should Know (1999) Book by James Stronge from ASCD: Qualities of Effective Teachers (2002)