This document discusses nine best practices for improving student achievement, including finding similarities and differences, summarizing and note taking, providing recognition, assigning homework and practice, and using cooperative learning. Finding similarities and differences can increase achievement by 45% by helping students analyze concepts in a simpler way. Summarizing and note taking increases achievement by 34% by promoting comprehension and processing of information. Providing recognition that is contingent on achievement standards and effort can increase achievement by 29% when it reinforces effort.

1. Classroom Instruction
That Works
Nine Best Practices to Improve Student
Achievement

2. How well do the reading
strategies discussed in this
course reflect Marzano’s nine
best practices that raise student
achievement?

3. Finding Similarities and
Differences
The brain seeks patterns, connections, and
relationships between and among prior and
new learning
The ability to break a concept into its similar
and dissimilar characteristics allows students
to understand and often solve complex
problems by analyzing them in a more simple
way

4. Finding similarities and
differences can increase
student achievement by 45%
Compare
Classify
Create metaphors and analogies

5. Research Findings
Guidance in identifying similarities and differences enhances
students' understanding of and ability to use knowledge.
Independently identifying similarities and differences enhances
students' understanding of and the ability to use knowledge.
Representing similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic
form enhances students' understanding of and ability to use
knowledge.

6. Graphic Organizers for
Similarities and Differences
Work
www.graphic.org/goindex.html
http://www.edhelper.com/teachers/graphic_or
ganizers.htm

7. MIP Strategy
(Most Important Point)
Asking students to identify what is important and connect
it to prior learning enhances understanding.
How do the reading strategies you have used
in this course connect to Marzano’s best
practices of identifying similarities and
differences?

8. Summarizing and Note Taking
increases student achievement
by 34%
These skills promote greater comprehension
by asking students to analyze a subject to
expose what’s essential and then put it into
their own words.
Research shows that taking more notes is
better than fewer notes, though verbatim note
taking is ineffective because it does not allow
time for processing the information.

9. Summarizing
and Note Taking
To effectively summarize, students must delete some
information, substitute some information, and keep
some information.
To effectively delete, substitute, and keep information,
students must analyze the information thoroughly.
Being aware of the explicit structure of information is
an aid to summarizing information.

10. Summarizing
and Note taking
Teach students how to process
information for their own note taking.
Use a variety of organizers to assist
students who learn visually.

11. Tools for Summarizing
and Note Taking
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-
12/Tools/Index.htm - 50 tools to be used to help
students engage in rigorous thinking, organize complex
ideas, and scaffold their interactions with texts.

12. 10-2 Strategy
For every ten minutes of new learning
provide students two minutes to
process the new learning.
Research shows that you can either pay
attention or make meaning. So time to
process is essential to transfer learning to
long term memory.
Take two minutes and reflect on how
summarizing and note taking are integral to
enhancing reading comprehension.

13. Reinforcing Effort and Providing
Recognition increases student
achievement by 29%
Teachers must make the connection between
effort and achievement.
Research shows that although not all students
realize the importance of effort, they can learn
to change their beliefs to emphasize effort

14. Reflection
How does Gradual Release of
Responsibility (session 2) reinforce
effort and provide recognition?
How does having students actively
engaged with reading reinforce effort
and provide recognition?

15. According to reseach, recognition is most
effective if it is contingent on the achievement of a
certain standard.
How can we teach students that effort
improves achievement?
Share personal examples of times that you
succeeded because you continued to try even
when a task was hard or a solution not
immediately apparent
Ask students to recall and describe examples
of times that they did not give up

16. Keep track of effort and
achievement
What ways can students participate in
charting progress in effort and
achievement in your classroom?
Use an effort rubric and achievement rubric
and ask students to chart their progress.

17. Effort Rubric
4: The student works on tasks until completed and continues working
on the task even when difficulties arise or a solution is not immediately
evident. The student views difficulties that arise as opportunities to
strengthen understanding.
3: The student works on tasks until completed and continues working
on the task even when difficulties arise or a solution is not immediately
evident.
2: The student puts some effort into the task but stops working when
difficulties arise.
1: The student puts very little effort into the task.
0: Not enough information to make a judgment.

18. Achievement Rubric
4: The student exceeded the objectives of the task or lesson.
3: The student met the objectives of the task or lesson.
2: The student met a few of the objectives of the task or lesson but did
not meet others.
1: The student did not meet the objectives of the task or lesson.
0: The student did not do the task.

19. Effort and Achievement
Chart
Student
Joe Assignment Effort Achievement
Smith
Complete the
graphic organizer
10/20 identifying three or 2 1
Student keeps chart more main ideas
with sub topics
Each week sets new goals
Add reflection component

20. Student Graph of Effort
and Achievement

21. Think it, Ink it, Link it
Strategy
Can student participation in charting progress in effort
and achievement be effective in helping the student
you are following?
Think it - Provide time to process new learning
Ink it - Reflect in writing
Link it - Application to prior learning, new situations

22. Provide Recognition
Rewards can be powerful motivators if they
are contingent on a stated goal or standard.

23. Recommendations for
Providing Recognition
Establish a rationale - explain to students you
will recognize them when they have achieved
an identified level of performance, but
recognition is not automatic.
Students also need to understand that they
have not failed if they do not receive
recognition.

24. Which is effective
praise?
1. Numbered Heads Together - number students, ask
question, students collaboratively generate answer
being sure each member of group can answer
question, teacher then calls a number at random
Teacher responds, “Good Job, Jackson. Keep it up.”
2. Teacher circulates as student are working in small
groups. He pauses at station 1 and comments, “Nice
work on your summaries.” At Station 2 he says, “
Your details demonstrate how closely you read.”

25. What are characteristics of
Effective Praise?
Example Three: “You really did a good job reading through all of the
steps before beginning the assignment. I know you’ve had difficulties
with multistep calculations before and sometimes settled for getting any
answer down on paper, even if it wasn’t correct. Your determination with
this task really shows.”
What characteristics make this praise the most effective?

26. Effective Praise
Specifies the particulars of the accomplishment
Provides information to students about their competence or the value of
their accomplishments
Is given in recognition of noteworthy effort or success at difficult tasks
Attributes success to effort and ability

27. Reflection
How does recognition that is given
effectively support the student you
followed through this course?

28. Assigning Homework and Practice
increases student achievement
by 28%
Homework provides students with the opportunity to
extend learning outside the classroom.
Research shows that the amount of homework
assigned should vary by grade level and have
minimal parent involvement. Parent involvement
should include facilitating the process but not solving
problems for their children.

29. Homework and Practice
Establish a homework policy with advice - such as keeping
a consistent schedule, setting, and time limit.
Communicate the purpose of homework, if students know
why they are doing an assignment it won’t seem like busy
work - practice to increase their speed at reducing
fractions, accessing prior knowledge for tomorrow’s
introduction to the Civil War, extending what they have
learned about food webs

30. Reflection
How do you use homework to
extend the learning of the reading
strategies or to enhance critical
thinking?

31. Using Cooperative Learning Increases
Student Achievement by 27%
Research shows that organizing students into
cooperative groups yields a positive effect on
overall learning.

32. Slate Share
Recording ideas on a slate and then sharing with the
class provides all students the opportunity to process
information
Students may draw a diagram of how something
works, answer questions with a partner and share
with class, etc.
Shower board can be purchased inexpensively and
cut into desktop size slates to be used with dry erase
markers and an old sock for cleaning the board.

33. Numbered Heads
Together
1. Students number off in groups of 3 or 4
2. Teacher announces a questions and sets a
time limit
3. Students put their heads together
4. Teacher calls a number
What are the components of cooperative
learning?

34. Think Pair Square
Pose problem
Think time
Pair discusses
Pair squares with another pair to share
This provides about 6 times more participation than partners sharing
with the whole class. Providing students multiple opportunities to
respond enables them to process and better commit learning to long
term memory.

35. Ball Toss
Think about posed question
When ball is tossed the recipient shares their
ideas
Ball is then tossed to someone else
All who wish to share should have the
opportunity

36. Design group work around the core
components of cooperative learning
Positive interdependence - Sense of sink or swim together
Group processing - Reflecting on how well the team is functioning and
how to function better
Interpersonal and small group skills - Communication, trust, leadership,
decision making, and conflict resolution
Face-to-face interactions - Helping each other learn, applauding
success and efforts
Individual and group accountability - Each of us has to contribute to the
group achieving its goals

37. Reflection
What cooperative strategies have you tried
and how could these strategies enhance the
learning of the student you are following?

38. Generating Nonlinguistic
Representations
Increases student achievement by 27%
Research says that knowledge is stored in two forms:
linguistic (in ways associated with words) and
nonlinguistic (mental pictures or even physical
sensations like smell, touch, kinesthetic association or
sound)
The more we can use nonlinguistic representations
while learning, the better we can think about and
recall our knowledge

39. Examples of Non Linguistic
Representation
A variety of activities to produce nonlinguistic
representations should be used.
Creating graphic representations
Making physical models
Generating mental pictures
Drawing pictures and pictographs
Engaging in kinesthetic activities

40. Site to Create Nonlinguistic
Graphic Representation
hprtec.org . . . click on Trackstar. . .Under
Find a Track, click on search by author . . .
type Pam Rademeyer . . Click on Graphic
Organizers for Teachers

41. Reflection
What new graphic organizer will you use with
your students? How will you eventually
release the responsibility to them to use the
strategy?
How does non linguistic representation
support the understanding of the student you
are following?

42. Setting Objectives and
Providing Feedback
Increases student achievement by 23%
Instructional goals narrow what students focus on
Setting objectives provides students with a direction
for their learning. When written in the form of a
question, the brain makes easier connections to store
in memory.
Research shows that feedback generally produces
positive results. It should be corrective in nature with
respect to the specific levels expected, timely, and
specific..

43. Setting Objectives
Objective: Set objectives that are not too specific (i.e.,
Understand how topography influences the way
people live and the extent to which they must depend
on others. Written as a
Question: How does where people live influence how
they live?
Personalize objectives - Students should be
encouraged to personalize the teacher’s goals
adapting them to their personal needs and desires.
Communicate objectives - How do you use objectives
as a pre and post test? How do you use objectives
on a daily basis?

44. Providing Feedback
Feedback should be corrective in nature.
The best feedback shows students what is
accurate and what is not.
Asking students to keep working on a task
until they succeed appears to enhance
student achievement.

45. Providing Feedback
Feedback should be timely.
The larger the delay in giving feedback,
the less improvement one will see.
Feedback should be specific to a criterion,
telling students where they stand relative to a
specific target of knowledge or skill.

46. Providing Feedback
Students can effectively provide some of their
own feedback.
In fact, non-authoritative feedback produces
the most gain.
What are ways your students provide
feedback to one another before, during, and
after reading?

47. Generating and Testing
Hypotheses
Increases student achievement by 23%
“Knowing what to do when you don’t know what to
do” is how Piaget defined intelligent behavior. When
students generate and test hypotheses they are
applying knowledge.
Teachers can keep student engaged with problems,
puzzles, and riddles by using open ended examples.
By considering several courses of action, the mind is
exercised and the learner engaged.

48. Analyzing Systems
Students study many systems across the disciplines,
weather, government, ecosystems, etc.
One way to enhance and exercise student
understanding of these systems is to ask them to
generate hypotheses that predict what might happen
if a certain aspect of that system changes.
Example: How would our government differ if the
legislative branch were no longer a part of the
system?
What is an example you have tried?

49. Problem Solving
Problem solving is about finding the best solution, not just
any solution.
Problem solving of unstructured problems - those that do
not have clearly defined goals and usually have more than
one solution- are the kinds of problems we find in everyday
life.
Example: Ask students to build something using limited
resources. This will generate questions and hypotheses
about what may work or not work.
What problems have your students had to engage in
solving?

50. Model for
Problem Solving
1. Identify the goal you are trying to accomplish
2. Describe the barriers or constraints that are preventing you from
achieving your goal - that are creating the problem
3. Identify different solutions for overcoming the barriers and
hypothesize which solution is likely to be the most effective.
4. Try the solution - in reality or simulation
5. Explain whether your hypothesis was correct. Determine if you need
to test another hypothesis using a different solution.

51. Other ways to Generate and
Test Hypotheses
Historical Investigation - What really
happened? Why did this happen? Collecting
evidence is the most important part.
Experimental Inquiry -describe observations,
generate explanations, make predictions, and
test them
Invention - Shouldn’t there be a better way
to. . .

52. Reflection
How does generating and testing hypotheses
connect to the use of reading strategies? How
does generating and testing hypotheses
connect to the use of reading strategies?

53. Cues, Questions, and
Advance Organizers
Increases student achievement by 22%
Cues, questions and advance organizers help
students use what they already know about a
topic to enhance further learning.
These tools should be analytical, focus on
what is important, are most effective before a
learning experience.

54. How can using cues, questions, and
advance organizers enhance
connections students make?
Pause briefly after asking a question. Doing
so will increase the depth of your students’
answers
Vary the style of advance organizer used: Tell
a story, skim a text, or create a visual image.

55. Prelearning Strategies
Discuss
Predict
Question
Brainstorm
Create a Graphic Organizer
Set Purpose

56. Anticipation-Reaction Guide
Focusing Important Information
Purpose is to establish a purpose for reading, access prior knowledge,
and help students reframe their thinking as necessary
Prepare a series of statements important to the reading
Before reading, have students indicate T or F
Have students read selection or watch video or demo
After reading have students answer same questions again
Have students discuss where they found the information that changed
their thinking

57. Earthquake Anticipation
Reaction Guide
Before Earthquake experts are called After
1.___ meteorologists. 1. __
Most earthquakes happen
2.____ 2.___
along a fault.
California has 5-10
3.____ 3.___
earthquakes per year.

58. Reflection
What new strategies have you learned
through this course to activate students’
prior knowledge

59. Final Reflection
How has examining Marzano’s Nine Best
Practices reinforced your belief in the benefits
of incorporating reading strategies to enhance
understanding and critical thinking?
Final Thoughts?