Marzano's Classroom Instruction That Works

Teaching used to be an art where the best teachers were those who stayed the latest and had the best preparations. They are also the ones who were able to reach all the students the best and apply their own strategies to their instructions. However, this is no longer the case. Now, thanks to Dr. Robert J. Marzano, Deborah J. Pickering, and Jane Pollack, we have scientifically-proven strategies that are supposed to improve student performance on standardized testing.
In Marzano’s book, Classroom Instruction That Works, he states that the nine strategies: Identifying Similarities and Differences, Summarizing and Notetaking, Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition, Homework and Practice, Nonlinguistic Representations, Cooperative Learning, Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback, Generating and Testing Hypotheses, and Cues, Questions and Advanced Organizers have a high probability of enhancing student achievement for all students, in all subject areas, in all grade levels (2001, p. 7). The goal of this book is to provide the students with a deeper understanding of the material that the teacher wishes to present. With the nine different strategies, a teacher can diversify instruction and capitalize on the multiple ways that individuals learn. Each of these ways is backed up by several decades’ worth of educational research and findings.
As teachers become more accountable for their instruction and the standards continue to rise in order to meet a highly competitive world, then the standards of practices need to be developed in order to adequately prepare students for the future. This book stresses scientific findings that these strategies will in fact raise student success rates on standardized tests if used properly and thoroughly within all classrooms. If that is in fact the case, then this literature should be a vital part of all colleges and universities when preparing the future educators of the world. All educators should consider these tools when planning lessons to help maximize the potential of their students.
These strategies are definitely good tools to consider and use within all classrooms; however, Marzano, himself, says that there are some flaws to implementation of his strategies. In his article, “Setting the Record on ‘High-yield’ Strategies: Watching your work adopted by educators across the nation is flattering, but not if it’s widely misinterpreted,” he states that there are three mistakes. He also states that these mistakes can impede the development of effective teaching (2009). The first mistake is focusing on a narrow range of strategies. The second mistake is assuming that these strategies must be used in every class. Some districts use these strategies as a method of informal classroom observations and they are to be used to show the effectiveness of each teacher within the district. To assume, however, that each teacher will be using at least one of these strategies at all times, according to Marzano, is just not accurate. Finally, the third mistake is assuming that these high-yielding strategies will always work. A teacher should have the freedom to adapt a lesson as he or she sees fit depending on the class’s needs.

Any and all research that has been made on best practices in education can be useful tools to help a teacher in lesson planning, but the X-factor in a classroom is and will always be the teacher. Even the best strategies and lessons need a good teacher to lead the class. If a teacher is to falter then the success of learning will falter as well. Marzano and other critics proclaim that there is no right answer in methodologies that will absolutely work in teaching our students. Any educator knows that there are too many variables to consider when pinpointing the best practices. Educators must understand their students and tailor lessons to fit their needs.