What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action

Author: Marzano, R.J.
Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Publication Date: 2003
Available for purchase online at: http://www.ascd.org/cms/objectlib/ascdframeset/index.cfm?publication=http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/102271/toc.html

Abstract (written by WestEd)

Marzano summarizes 35 years of research about effective practices that realistically can be implemented if there is the concerted will to change at the school level, along with district support.

He found leadership to be an overarching factor that impacts all of the three main factors listed below. The subfactors within each factor are listed in order of importance or impact on student achievement.

School-Level Factors:

• Guaranteed and viable curriculum (time and focus on learning skills). Viability means ample instructional time to address the content standards. Schools or districts should identify content (standards) essential for all students, arrange in a sequence and by topic ("big idea"), and ensure enough time for opportunity to learn this essential content, versus that which is supplemental or necessary only for those seeking postsecondary education.
  
  
• Challenging goals, monitoring progress, and effective feedback. Shared responsibility for common goals is more important than friendships in establishing collegiality in a school. Goals must challenge all students and support closing the achievement gap for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Feedback must be given in a timely manner during the learning process (using formative as opposed to summative assessment), and assessments must measure the curriculum actually taught. The school should have only one or two goals for improvement, and every student should have personal goals as well.
  
  
• Parent and community involvement. There should be two-way communication and various ways to involve parents in day-to-day activities and governance.
  
  
• Safe and orderly environment. Clear schoolwide rules and procedures, enforced with appropriate consequences for violations, lessen violence and disruptions, allowing for greater time and focus on core instruction. Teach self-discipline and responsibility, and involve students in the design of the disciplinary program.
  
  
• Collegiality and professionalism. Colleagues should share their mistakes, respect each other, and constructively criticize practices and procedures; collegiality is not about friendships. Teachers should be involved in school decisions and policies and should engage in meaningful, coherent staff development activities.
  
  
• Teacher-Level Factors: Effective teachers can have a profound influence on students of all achievement levels, regardless of the levels of heterogeneity in their classes. Some studies show a 50-percentile point difference between three years of effective versus ineffective teachers. Mastery of the three factors listed below will be at least average.
  
  
• Instructional strategies. Categories of strategies that affect student achievement are, in order of influence: identifying similarities and differences, summarizing and note taking, reinforcing effort and providing recognition, homework and practice, nonlinguistic representations, cooperative learning, setting objectives and providing feedback, generating and testing hypotheses, and questions, cues, and advance organizers. The elements of lesson design include: anticipatory set, objective and purpose, input, modeling, checking for understanding, guided practice, and independent practice.
  
  
• Classroom management. A system of both punishment and reinforcement has the strongest influence on student achievement when teachers articulate and consistently enforce a comprehensive set of classroom rules and procedures that is backed by a schoolwide approach. Teachers must be aware of the needs of different types of students and show students they care while maintaining a healthy emotional objectivity.
  
  
• Classroom curriculum design. Effective teachers identify important concepts and skills to be learned and assessed, use a variety of input modes to present new content multiple times, group content by similar features, and engage students in complex tasks that address content in unique ways. Student argumentation is most effective in dispelling misconceptions, followed by student discussion.
  

Student-Level Factors:

• Home atmosphere. Home atmosphere that fosters learning (reading to children, helping with homework, encouraging them to go to college, and taking them to the library and cultural events) matters much more than parent income or education level. The school can provide training and communication about school, parenting styles, and expectations.
  
  
• Learned intelligence and background knowledge. There are two types of learned intelligence: intelligence as knowledge (crystallized) of facts, generalizations, and principles; and intelligence as cognitive processes (fluid) of mental procedures, abstract reasoning, working memory capacity and efficiency. Background knowledge has a dramatic influence on achievement. Programs should involve students in many, varied life experiences. Broad reading and direct instruction help students to develop ample vocabulary.
  
  
• Motivation. Provide feedback on students' knowledge gain; engage them with interesting learning activities and long-term projects that require constructing knowledge and applying skills; and teach students about the dynamics of motivation.
  

Select chapters may be viewed, and the book may be purchased from the publisher, at
http://www.ascd.org/cms/objectlib/ascdframeset/index.cfm?publication=http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/102271/toc.html