What Works and What Doesn't

Purposeful teacher-student interaction around learning is the key. Every experienced educator and parent "feels" that this is true; the studies back it up. Here are the main topics that impressed me from exploring the Hattie and IES materials about what works in education:

1) Feedback is HUGE, but most effective when it comes FROM the student TO the teacher. This is what we usually refer to as "formative assessment," and everything I've seen this last year keeps drawing me this direction. I've got to find ways to reduce the amount of time that I spend grading papers, and increase my efforts in conferencing, exit slips, and studying classroom-wide vs. individualized trends. I'm not good at turning around assignments, getting them grading and back into students' hands, so I'm going to have to re-think at least some of my assessments. Again, smaller, more manageable chunks are going to emerge.

2) “30% of what makes a difference is in the hands of teachers.” Instructional quality DOES matter! I complain a LOT about the factors I can't control in my students' lives; I have to take responsibility for what I CAN control. Mainly, that's about using every minute of every class period wisely.

3) Direct instruction is not the anathema that many make it out to be, but HOW I carry it out does matter. As a high school teacher, I carry the "they have to be ready for a college classroom" burden. As such, lecture must be part of my instruction. However, just getting up there and talking about World War II isn't true direct instruction. Modeling, checking for understanding, and gradual release are all part of doing it successfully. Sounds like Madeline Hunter wasn't so off the mark . . .

4) Finally, programs can be effective, but it's the student-teacher interaction that makes them work. I've experienced both Reading Recovery and Corrective Reading in my career. The research shows the first to be highly successful and the latter, not so much. In my opinion, the key is student buy-in. Reading Recovery is highly personalized and focused on small-group and often one-on-one lessons. Corrective Reading is highly prescriptive, usually taught in a larger group. Here again, teacher and student collaborating over the material and having meaningful discussions brings results. We must know our kids and allow them to SHOW what they know in meaningful ways that give them ownership of their learning.