One of our primary roles at the Region 11 Comprehensive Center (managed by McREL) is to support statewide education improvement efforts involving partnerships among state departments of education, regional service agencies, local districts, and even individual schools.
As a teacher, you’ve likely been cautioned at some point to steer clear of lecturing, delivering direct instruction, or doing anything that remotely resembles being a “sage on the stage.” Instead, you’ve likely been encouraged to let your students take charge of their own learning, explore their own interests, make their own discoveries, and arrive at their own conclusions.
As someone who has worked extensively with teachers on Classroom Instruction That Works strategies for almost nine years, I understand how a new CITW book with different terms and structures might seem overwhelming. However, at the heart of it, the latest edition sets out to create a bridge, connecting proven teaching strategies with our understanding of how the brain processes and retains new information, known as the science of learning.
Do you plan for teaching or plan for learning? Or asked another way, when you look at your planning document, who do you see? Your students or yourself?
While teaching and learning may seem like two sides of the same coin, when it comes to lesson planning, your intent and focus matters a great deal.
Ensuring equitable learning experiences for all students is a high priority for educators everywhere and, based on our research, using strategies outlined in The New Classroom Instruction That Works can help teachers make that goal a reality. Many of the studies supporting the new CITW strategies were conducted in classrooms and schools that served diverse populations and helped close or reduce performance gaps.
By some estimates, students fell many months behind in their learning during the pandemic. And National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores and ACT scores have fallen for the first time in decades.
In order to improve student achievement, close gaps and ensure equitable outcomes, educators should focus on providing best first instruction every day, in every classroom.
