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Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the cofounder and chief academic officer of Marzano Research in Denver, Colorado. During his fifty years in the field of education, he has worked with educators as a speaker and trainer and has authored more than forty books and three hundred articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. His books include The Art and Science of Teaching, The Handbook for the New Art and Science of Teaching, The New Art and Science of Teaching Writing, The New Art and Science of Teaching Reading, The New Art and Science of Classroom Assessment, Leaders of Learning, The Classroom Strategies Series, A Handbook for High Reliability Schools, Awaken the Learner, and Managing the Inner World of Teaching. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are known internationally and are widely practiced by both teachers and administrators.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Iona College in New York, a master’s degree from Seattle University, and a doctorate from the University of Washington.
To learn more about Dr. Marzano’s work, visit www.marzanoresearch.com.
Introduction
The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017) is a comprehensive model of instruction with a rather long developmental lineage. Specifically, four books spanning two decades precede and inform The New Art and Science of Teaching and its use in the field.
1. Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001)
2. Classroom Management That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Every Teacher (Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003)
3. Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work (Marzano, 2006)
4. The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction (Marzano, 2007)
The first three books address specific components of the teaching process, namely instruction, management, and assessment. The final book puts all three components together into a comprehensive model of teaching. It also makes a strong case for the fact that research (in other words, science) must certainly guide good teaching, but teachers must also develop good teaching as art. Even if they use precisely the same instructional strategies, two highly effective teachers will have shaped and adapted those strategies to adhere to their specific personalities, the subject matter they teach, and their students’ unique needs. Stated differently, we can never accurately articulate effective teaching as a set of strategies that all teachers must execute in precisely the same way.
The comprehensive model in the book The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017) reflects a greatly expanded and updated version of The Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2007). One of the unique aspects of The New Art and Science of Teaching is that it focuses on student learning, rather than being teacher focused, as we depict in figure I.1:
Source: Marzano, 2017, p. 5.
Figure I.1: The teaching and learning progression.
According to figure I.1, the intervening variables between effectively applying an instructional strategy and enhanced student learning are specific mental states and processes in the minds of learners. If teachers do not produce these mental states and processes as a result of employing a given strategy, then that strategy will have little or no effect on students. This implies that teachers should heighten their level of awareness as they use instructional strategies for maximum efficacy.
The Overall Model
At a basic level, the model in The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017) is a framework that educators can use to organize the majority (if not all) of the instructional strategies that research and theory identify. The model has several parts: three overarching categories, ten design areas, and forty-three specific elements.
Three Categories
At the highest level of organization, the model has three overarching categories.
1. Feedback refers to the all-important information loop teachers must establish with students so that students know what they should be learning about specific topics and their current level of performance on these topics.
2. Content refers to the sequencing and pacing of lessons such that students move smoothly from initial understanding to applying knowledge in new and creative ways.
3. Context refers to those strategies that ensure all students meet these psychological needs: engagement, order, a sense of belonging, and high expectations.
Embedded in these three overarching categories are more specific categories of teacher actions (design areas).
Ten Design Areas
In The New Art and Science of Teaching framework, each of the ten design areas is associated with a specific teacher action, as follows.
1. Providing and communicating clear learning goals
2. Using assessments
3. Conducting direct instruction lessons
4. Conducting practicing and deepening lessons
5. Conducting knowledge application lessons
6. Using strategies that appear in all types of lessons
7. Using engagement strategies
8. Implementing rules and procedures
9. Building relationships
10. Communicating high expectations
Table I.1 shows the ten teacher actions within the three categories and describes the desired student mental states and processes for each. For example, when the teacher conducts a direct instruction lesson (the third design area), the goal is that students will understand which parts of the content are important and how they fit together.
Table I.1: Teacher Actions and Student Mental States and Processes
| Teacher Actions | Student Mental States and Processes | |
| Feedback | Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals | 1. Students understand the progression of knowledge they are expected to master and where they are along that progression. |
| Using Assessments |
2. Students understand how test scores and grades relate to their status on the progression
|
