California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program increased during the first year of the study, as well as in each consecutive year (see figure 1.4). Additionally, the school’s principal reported a decrease in student behavioral issues and increases in student attendance and teacher morale.
Figure 1.4: Percentage of students scoring at the proficient or advanced level in ELA and math on STAR.
Source: Haystead & Magaña, 2013, p. 11.
Other factors may have contributed to the school’s gains in achievement (for example, effective school leadership, district management, and instructional coaching in the building). Still, a reasonable inference can be made that the guidance provided to teachers on using existing technology tools to enhance instruction was a contributing factor to academic growth.
Our Instructional Model
Throughout this book, we discuss a variety of types of educational technology. However, we do so in concert with specific instructional strategies. That is, we do not discuss technology in isolation, nor do we discuss instruction in isolation. Rather, we discuss how specific technology tools can be used with specific instructional strategies.
We use the instructional framework articulated in The Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2007) and further detailed in several additional books, including A Handbook for the Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano & Brown, 2009), Effective Supervision (Marzano et al., 2011), and Becoming a Reflective Teacher (Marzano, 2012). This framework presents three lesson segments, which signify the main types of procedures used in the classroom (routine events, content, and on the spot). Each lesson segment is further categorized into design questions, which organize the forty-one elements (or forty-one categories of specific classroom strategies and behaviors) that correlate with teacher proficiency in the classroom. Table 1.5 lists the forty-one elements of the framework presented in The Art and Science of Teaching.
Table 1.5: Forty-One Elements of The Art and Science of Teaching Framework
| Lesson Segments Involving Routine Events |
| Design Question: What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student progress, and celebrate success? Element 1: Providing clear learning goals and scales (rubrics) Element 2: Tracking student progress Element 3: Celebrating success |
| Design Question: What will I do to establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures? Element 4: Establishing and maintaining classroom rules and procedures Element 5: Organizing the physical layout of the classroom |
| Lesson Segments Addressing Content |
| Design Question: What will I do to help students effectively interact with new knowledge? Element 6: Identifying critical information Element 7: Organizing students to interact with new knowledge Element 8: Previewing new content Element 9: Chunking content into digestible bites Element 10: Helping students process new information Element 11: Helping students elaborate on new information Element 12: Helping students record and represent knowledge Element 13: Helping students reflect on their learning |
| Design Question: What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge? Element 14: Reviewing content Element 15: Organizing students to practice and deepen knowledge Element 16: Using homework Element 17: Helping students examine similarities and differences Element 18: Helping students examine errors in reasoning Element 19: Helping students practice skills, strategies, and processes Element 20: Helping students revise knowledge |
| Design Question: What will I do to help students generate and test hypotheses about new knowledge? Element 21: Organizing students for cognitively complex tasks Element 22: Engaging students in cognitively complex tasks involving hypothesis generation and testing Element 23: Providing resources and guidance |
| Lesson Segments Enacted on the Spot |
| Design Question: What will I do to engage students? Element 24: Noticing when students are not engaged Element 25: Using academic games Element 26: Managing response rates Element 27: Using physical movement Element 28: Maintaining a lively pace Element 29: Demonstrating intensity and enthusiasm Element 30: Using friendly controversy Element 31: Providing opportunities for students to talk about themselves Element 32: Presenting unusual or intriguing information |
| Design Question: What will I do to recognize and acknowledge adherence or lack of adherence to rules and procedures? Element 33: Demonstrating withitness Element 34: Applying consequences for lack of adherence to rules and procedures Element 35: Acknowledging adherence to rules and procedures |
| Design Question: What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with students? Element 36: Understanding students’ interests and backgrounds Element 37: Using verbal and nonverbal behaviors that indicate affection for students Element 38: Displaying objectivity and control |
| Design Question: What will I do to communicate high expectations for all students? Element 39: Demonstrating value and respect for low-expectancy students Element 40: Asking questions of low-expectancy students Element 41: Probing incorrect answers with low-expectancy students |
Lesson segments involving routine events include procedures that teachers use on a day-to-day or otherwise regular basis. As indicated by the two design questions that make up this category, routine events include communicating learning goals, tracking student progress, celebrating success, and establishing and maintaining classroom rules and procedures. Lesson segments addressing content pertain to helping students explore, digest, and retain new information. These segments include helping students effectively interact with new knowledge, practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge, and generate and test hypotheses about new knowledge. Finally, lesson segments enacted on the spot involve procedures that teachers use as necessary. As shown by the design questions, these procedures include engaging students, acknowledging adherence or lack of adherence to rules and procedures, maintaining effective relationships with students, and communicating high expectations for all students. Figure 1.5 illustrates the interconnected nature of these segments and design questions.
As depicted in figure 1.5, lesson segments enacted on the spot lay the foundation for a classroom environment that facilitates learning. In order to build such an environment, a teacher should consider the four design questions positioned around the perimeter of figure 1.5. A teacher does not necessarily plan these on-the-spot segments ahead of time; instead, he or she utilizes them as needed in response to various classroom situations. For instance, upon noticing that a student is not engaged in the lesson, a teacher may use nonverbal gestures to correct the behavior of that student in the moment.
