In schools, a lesson functions as an individual building block to support the learning of new material. Experts have identified key elements in an effective lesson, and education leaders--including school based administrators, instructional coaches, department and grade-level chairs--usually look for these elements when reviewing lesson plans and…

In our rush to get to deeper learning, it's easy to undervalue the essential role that "shallow" understanding (e.g., basic factual knowledge) plays in students' capacity to explore and understand content more fully, write Kevin Krahenbuhl and John Lando Carter. In this article, they outline three strategies to ensure students have a…

As schools shift back to in-person instruction, there are certain aspects of remote learning worth holding onto. From the use of digital tools to foster collaboration to the quick availability of presentation and publishing programs, some components of online teaching and learning have a place in traditional classroom settings. However many…

Many school leaders are committed to providing coaching to teachers, but coaching doesn't come together in their school because they haven't taken time to communicate a clear definition of coaching to the school and, especially, set up a clear structure for a coaching program. Aguilar, an education consultant and respected author on coaching,…

For students to feel empowered in their learning, they must understand the language, purpose, and goals of assessment. Dueck argues that students need to understand what they are supposed to be learning and determine whether they actually learned it. Clear objectives and cooperative assessments can help with these objectives.

As the pandemic lessens slightly and schools begin to reopen, many voices urge schools to go down three faulty paths to recovery and improvement: using testing to address "learning loss," an unintegrated focus on social-emotional learning, or a push for continued ed tech and online learning. The authors suggest alternative paths that…

Three essential elements--curriculum, sound instruction, and authentic literacy--are the primary, fundamental drivers of schooling and its improvement, says ASCD author Mike Schmoker. And yet they are rarely implemented. If our schools are to enter Marzano's "era of unprecedented effectiveness," then we must change the way we train…

Once instructional coach Anne Beaton began creating chances for teachers to get into one another's classrooms to observe and learn about different teaching styles, she realized that not only is studying one another's teaching practices as a community essential in serving students, it also lifts teachers up as leaders. Beaton knew she was learning…

As more classrooms return to in-person instruction, many teachers are longing for lessons built around student discussion. Student discourse frequently floundered over the past year amidst inconsistent camera usage, weak microphones, internet lags, and the overall awkwardness of virtual classrooms. The Socratic seminar is a particularly seductive…

With teacher preparation in the United States under serious scrutiny, there is a growing movement to improve the way teachers are prepared for practice. A key element of that improvement is shifting from instructing candidates about teaching to teaching them how to teach, emphasizing the key activities teachers actually carry out in classrooms and…

Group work has "a lot" going for it. It incorporates the social-cognitive and social-emotional aspects of learning and can lead to memorable, engaging lessons and increased learning for students. But group work can also fall flat--and cause student disengagement--if not carefully designed and assessed. This article presents four elements…

By observing, or "noticing," what sparks learning in the classroom, teachers and students alike can cultivate a learning environment centered around personalization and choice. Education experts John Almarode and Paul Emerich France outline strategies for engineering a culture of self-reflection that sets learning in motion.

Guskey reviews how the concept of teacher efficacy has evolved in research, from roots in attribution theory to a 1977 study that showed teacher efficacy as a key element of successful school improvement, to today. He shows what school leaders should do to improve teacher efficacy: 1) arrange professional learning experiences focused on…

Just about everyone loves the "idea" of cooperative learning, children working productively and excitedly in groups, everyone getting along and enthusiastically helping one another learn. This article presents five strategies that teachers can use to get the greatest benefit possible from cooperative learning and ensure that…

Parents know their children best. When schools build relationships with the families of English learners, students benefit. In this article, learn three essential actions from which you can cultivate an engaging and welcoming school community: (1) create a supportive learning environment, (2) make resources multilingual and multimodal, and (3)…