Ways that teachers can promote student learning are discussed, based on findings from research conducted over the past several decades. Also considered are the role of teachers in evaluating the effectiveness of their own teaching, teachers' perspectives concerning educational objectives, and ways to obtain student feedback about instruction. One important research finding is that when students are actively involved in the learning task, they learn more than when they are passive recipients of instruction. Since students generally learn what they practice, it is helpful for the teacher to consider how closely related the learning tasks are to desired learning outcomes. A similar issue is how closely related test questions are to the desired outcomes. Another research finding suggests that if teachers set high but attainable goals, academic performance will usually rise to meet expectations. The value of helping teachers develop classroom research skills to enable them to evaluate the effectiveness of their own teaching is addressed. An instrument, a Teaching Goals Inventory, is being developed to ask teachers to select one class and state the importance of various teaching goals for that class. (SW)