Six Steps to Better Vocabulary Instruction

Robert J. Marzano
September 2009

Educational Leadership is pleased to announce a new column this year—The Art and Science of Teaching—and a new columnist—noted researcher Robert J. Marzano. Internationally known for his practical translations of current research into effective classroom strategies, Marzano is cofounder of Marzano Research Laboratory, which synthesizes teacher research into components that schools can use for gains in student learning. A well-known speaker and trainer as well as a prolific book author, he draws from 40 years of experience in education. Each month, Marzano will focus on one teacher-tested instructional strategy in education.

After examining for decades the research on instructional strategies and reflecting on my involvement in hundreds of studies, I can say one thing confidently: If you examine all the studies conducted on a given instructional strategy, you will find that some studies indicate the strategy improves student achievement whereas other studies indicate it doesn't.
Take, for example, the strategy of providing feedback. Researchers Avraham Kluger and Angelo DeNisi (1996) synthesized the findings from 607 studies on that strategy. They found that the average effect of providing feedback to students is a 16-percentile-point gain. However, more than one-third of the studies indicated that feedback has a negative effect on student achievement. Simply using a strategy does not guarantee positive results. Rather, it's how someone uses the strategy that determines whether it produces great results, mediocre results, or no results at all.
So what's a teacher, school, or district to do? Certainly, the answer is not to ignore the research. In fact, the research is the first place to start. You should scour studies to identify those strategies for which research shows positive effects on student achievement. Next, teachers, schools, and districts should conduct their own informal (and formal) studies on how well an instructional strategy works in their particular context—with their students, their grade level, or their subject matter. No strategy is foolproof. No strategy is proven. You have to see how it works in your particular setting.

To continue reading the article, click on this link

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Six_Steps_to_Better_Vocabulary_Instruction.aspx

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The 21st Century Skills Movement

Paige Johnson
September 2009

Since 2002, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has been the leading advocacy organization in the United States focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. Its Framework for 21st Century Learning, the result of a consensus among hundreds of stakeholders, describes the skills, knowledge, and expertise students need to succeed in work and life.
In their discussions with the partnership about the framework,
Educators recommended a combination of rigorous courses imparting both core content knowledge and skills to engage students and increase achievement.
Civic and community groups outlined a set of 21st century skills and knowledge that citizens in a participatory democracy must possess.
Business leaders identified skills and knowledge they perceive as essential for success in the workplace.
Four components of the framework describe these skills and knowledge:
Core subjects and 21st century themes (such as language arts, mathematics, science, global awareness, and financial literacy).
Learning and innovation skills (such as creativity and innovation and critical thinking and problem solving).
Information, media, and technology skills.
Life and career skills (such as initiative and self-direction).
Each stakeholder group independently identified these skills, supporting the need for students to develop deep content knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge across disciplines.
To provide educators with concrete solutions from the field, the partnership collaborated with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Council for Geographic Education to craft core subject maps that show how to infuse 21st century skills into core classes.
In 2005, the partnership began the State Leadership Program. To date, 13 states—Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—have joined the program. Leadership states develop standards, assessments, and professional development programs to ensure that students have the 21st century skills they need. To join, states must demonstrate strong commitment from their governor, superintendent, and other stakeholder groups.
To successfully face rigorous higher-education coursework and a globally competitive work environment, schools must align classroom environments and core subjects with 21st century skills. By combining both skills and content, educators can impart the expertise required for success in today's world.

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21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead

Andrew J. Rotherham and Daniel Willingham
September 2009

To work, the 21st century skills movement will require keen attention to curriculum, teacher quality, and assessment.
A growing number of business leaders, politicians, and educators are united around the idea that students need "21st century skills" to be successful today. It's exciting to believe that we live in times that are so revolutionary that they demand new and different abilities. But in fact, the skills students need in the 21st century are not new.
Critical thinking and problem solving, for example, have been components of human progress throughout history, from the development of early tools, to agricultural advancements, to the invention of vaccines, to land and sea exploration. Such skills as information literacy and global awareness are not new, at least not among the elites in different societies. The need for mastery of different kinds of knowledge, ranging from facts to complex analysis? Not new either. In The Republic, Plato wrote about four distinct levels of intellect. Perhaps at the time, these were considered "3rd century BCE skills"?
What's actually new is the extent to which changes in our economy and the world mean that collective and individual success depends on having such skills. Many U.S. students are taught these skills—those who are fortunate enough to attend highly effective schools or at least encounter great teachers—but it's a matter of chance rather than the deliberate design of our school system. Today we cannot afford a system in which receiving a high-quality education is akin to a game of bingo. If we are to have a more equitable and effective public education system, skills that have been the province of the few must become universal.
This distinction between "skills that are novel" and "skills that must be taught more intentionally and effectively" ought to lead policymakers to different education reforms than those they are now considering. If these skills were indeed new, then perhaps we would need a radical overhaul of how we think about content and curriculum. But if the issue is, instead, that schools must be more deliberate about teaching critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving to all students, then the remedies are more obvious, although still intensely challenging.

To read the whole article, click on this link

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/21st_Century_Skills@_The_Challenges_Ahead.aspx

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Teaching for the 21st Century

Managing Messy Learning
Suzie Boss

Educational Leadership.

September 2009

Projects help students approach learning in real-world terms. But to launch successful projects, teachers must develop their own 21st century skills.
Two years ago, West Virginia teacher Deb Austin Brown turned her classroom at Alban Elementary School in St. Albans, into a bustling communications center. Clocks keep track of time on several continents, reminding students that they are part of a global community. News feeds bring in updates from around the world. Student teams produce and broadcast a daily news show, publish a newspaper, and tackle other projects in which they apply reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills to real-world creations.
Brown designed the communications center project to help her students develop 21st century skills. Her curriculum redesign was part of a statewide push "to get kids to be big-picture thinkers, collaborators, and problem solvers," she explains. Before designing the center, Brown had taught language arts for more than 30 years and often incorporated projects. But shifting to the real-world, project-based approach required Brown herself to apply some new skills.

To read the article, click on this link http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Managing_Messy_Learning.aspx

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