*This information came from http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/compare_best.php I.

Research Says
CLASSROOM CLIMATE TO SUPPORT THINKING CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

FINDING: Teachers who establish classrooms characterized by an open, democratic climate promote learning because such a classroom climate correlates significantly with the development of critical and creative thinking abilities.
COOPERATIVE LEARNING

FINDING: Teachers who teach creative problemsolving strategies improve learning by providing students with general purpose problem-solving tools appropriate for a variety of situations.

DIRECT TEACHING OF THINKING

FINDING: Teachers who employ cooperative learning methods promote learning because these collaborative experiences engage students in an interactive approach to processing information, resulting in greater retention of subject matter, improved attitudes toward learning and enhanced interpersonal relations among group members.
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

FINDING: Teachers who teach thinking skills and processes directly promote learning because such explicit instruction helps students to better understand and more effectively apply the types of thinking required by the curriculum.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

FINDING: Teachers who teach concepts inductively through the use of examples and nonexamples promote learning because this strategy actively involves students in structing a personal understanding of a new concept.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE

FINDING: Teachers who utilize graphic organizers with their students promote learning because knowledge that is organized into holistic conceptual frameworks is more easily remembered and understood than unstructured bits of information.
METACOGNITION

FINDING: By attending to students' srengths and helping develop other areas, teachers accommodate more learners and give students a greater repertoire of problem solving tools.

FINDING: Teachers who help students develop and internalize metacognitive strategies through direct instruction, modeling, and use of practice, promote learning because the effective use of such strategies is one of the primary differences between more and less able learners.

Source: Jay McTighe, Maryland State Department of Education, as printed in Breaking Through Change Barriers (June 2002) by Michael Fullan and Carol Rolheiser. Reprinted with permission.

II. RESEARCH-BASED BEST PRACTICES For Improving Student Achievement

Encourage parents to stimulate their children's intellectual development Require and grade homework Focus students on educational goals Incorporate direct teaching that exhibits key features and systematic steps Utilize advance organizers that show students relationships between past learning and present learning Teach students multiple learning strategies that promote metacognition by providing modeling, guided practice and application Utilize mastery learning techniques for teaching subject matter Incorporate cooperative learning

Source: Walberg, (1995). In Cawelti, G. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Improving Student Achievement.Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service, as printed in Breaking Through Change Barriers (June 2002) by Michael Fullan and Carol Rolheiser. Reprinted with permission.
LANGUAGE ARTS (Squire, 1995) MATHEMATICS (Grouws, 1995) SCIENCE (Gabel, 1995) SOCIAL STUDIES (Shaver, 1995)

Incorporate extensive Focus instruction on reading of varied the development of kinds of material. important mathematical ideas. Foster interactive learning. Incorporate the use of calculators. Extend students' background Work with small knowledge. groups of children. Utilize meaningmaking skills and strategies such as summarizing, questioning, and interpreting. Organize instruction into broad, thematically-based clusters of work. Teach critical reading/writing skills. Emphasize discussion and Increase amount of time spent on mathematics. Focus on number sense. Utilize concrete materials for mathematics instruction on a longterm basis. Encourage students' intuitive solution methods for problem solving and allow for interaction and

Utilize the learning cycle approach (exploration, invention, and application).

Utilize cooperative learning for classroom and laboratory Utilize the instruction. jurisprudential approach. Use analogies for the development of Teach critical conceptual thinking skills and understandings. strategies in the context of content Provide wait time after knowledge, with attention to their asking questions. appropriate applications. Use studentgenerated and teacher-generated concept maps. Incorporate computer simulations. Use computers to collect and display

Encourage thoughtful classroom climates that promote higher-order thinking.

Support concept development by using definitions, examples and nonexamples, exploration of relations to other concepts, and students' prior

analysis. Stress the composing processes. Provide balanced attention to different forms of reading, writing, and speaking. Provide early intervention. Expose students to varied kinds of literature. Provide assessment that reflects the content and process of instruction.

discussion in this process.

data. Employ systematic approaches in problem solving. Encourage qualitative understanding of concepts to solve quantitative problems. Use a ScienceTechnology-Society approach. Incorporate real-life situations.

knowledge. Incorporate effective phrasing, pacing, and distribution of questions and responses to students' answers. Encourage cognitive prejudice reduction by developing reasoning skills to draw valid inferences about group differences.

Use discrepant events Utilize computer to produce cognitive data-bases and conflict. simulations in social studies. Encourage community service. Incorporate constructivist teaching strategies.

Cawelti, G. (Ed.) (1995) Handbook of Research on Improving Student Achievement, Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service, as printed in Breaking Through Change Barriers (June 2002) by Michael Fullan and Carol Rolheiser. Reprinted with permission.

III. STRATEGIES THAT IMPACT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Rank Strategy ES Percentile Gain 45 N SD

1.

Identifying similarities and differences (comparing, contrasting, classifying, analogies and metaphors) Summarizing and note taking Reinforcing effort and give praise Homework and practice Nonlinguistic representations Cooperative learning Setting objectives and providing feedback Generating and testing hypotheses Questions, cues, and advance organizers

1.61

31

.31

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

1.00 .80 .77 .75 .73 .61 .61 .59

34 29 28 27 27 23 23 22

179 121 134 246 122 408 63 1251

.50 .35 .36 .40 .40 .28 .79 .26

Reflecting on this list...

How many of these strategies are you using in the classroom/school? Which would you like more information about? Who on your faculty could be a resource for you?

Notes: ES=effect size. N=number of effect sized compared. SD=standard deviation Source: Marzano, R., Pickering, D., and Polack, J. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, as printed in Breaking Through Change Barriers (June 2002) by Michael Fullan and Carol Rolheiser. Reprinted with permission.