It was very ironic that I was assigned this topic for my blog because over the summer teachers at my school and the principal had a book club where we read and discussed this book through a blog. Many of you may be surprised to know that you are probably using some of the principles in this book without even knowing it. That being said, I would like to give you a brief summary of the content in this book.

Classroom Instruction That Works by Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock is a book describing just that, instructional strategies that work and why they work. According to Marzano, there are 9 research based strategies that are proven to enhance student achievement. These strategies are:

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences

· Use Venn diagrams or charts to compare and classify items.

· Engage students in comparing, classifying, and creating metaphors and analogies.

2. Summarizing and Note Taking

· Provide a set of rules for creating a summary.

· When summarizing, ask students to question what is unclear, clarify those questions, and then predict what will happen next in the text.

· Use teacher-prepared notes.

· Stick to a consistent format for notes, although students can refine the notes as necessary.

3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

· Share stories about people who succeeded by not giving up.

· Have students keep a log of their weekly efforts and achievements, reflect on it periodically, and even mathematically analyze the data.

· Find ways to personalize recognition. Give awards for individual accomplishments.

· "Pause, Prompt, Praise." If a student is struggling, pause to discuss the problem, then prompt with specific suggestions to help her improve. If the student's performance improves as a result, offer praise.

4. Homework and Practice

· Establish a homework policy with advice-such as keeping a consistent schedule, setting, and time limit-that parents and students may not have considered.

· Tell students if homework is for practice or preparation for upcoming units.

· Maximize the effectiveness of feedback by varying the way it is delivered.

· Assign timed quizzes for homework and have students report on their speed and accuracy.

· Focus practice on difficult concepts and set aside time to accommodate practice periods.

5. Nonlinguistic Representations

· Incorporate words and images using symbols to represent relationships.

· Use physical models and physical movement to represent information.

6. Cooperative Learning

· When grouping students, consider a variety of criteria, such as common experiences or interests.

· Vary group sizes and objectives.

· Design group work around the core components of cooperative learning-positive interdependence, group processing, appropriate use of social skills, face-to-face interaction, and individual and group accountability.

7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

· Set a core goal for a unit, and then encourage students to personalize that goal by identifying areas of interest to them. Questions like "I want to know" and "I want to know more about . . ." get students thinking about their interests and actively involved in the goal-setting process.

· Use contracts to outline the specific goals that students must attain and the grade they will receive if they meet those goals.

· Make sure feedback is corrective in nature; tell students how they did in relation to specific levels of knowledge. Rubrics are a great way to do this.

· Keep feedback timely and specific.

· Encourage students to lead feedback sessions.

1. Generating and Testing Hypotheses

· Ask students to predict what would happen if an aspect of a familiar system, such as the government or transportation, were changed.

· Ask students to build something using limited resources. This task generates questions and hypotheses about what may or may not work.

2. Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

· Pause briefly after asking a question. Doing so will increase the depth of your students' answers.

· Vary the style of advance organizer used: Tell a story, skim a text, or create a graphic image. There are many ways to expose students to information before they "learn" it.

Since Marzano’s book is completely based on years and years of research I think it is the best resource educators have in regards to instruction. The book is full of ideas & strategies for maximizing the potential of the students in your classroom. I don’t think there are any negatives to this work! This book is a must for all educators!