the same way or develop and mature at the same speed. Every student has unique learning needs based on his or her prior knowledge and experiences, cultural values, learning styles, and aptitudes. Because of these differences, no matter how well a teacher teaches a concept, some students will grasp that concept immediately, while others in the same class will fail miserably to understand it. Effective teaching requires time to differentiate instruction to meet each student’s individual learning and developmental needs.
In essence, good teaching is a convergence of all three of these factors, as each is required to achieve higher levels of learning for all students. So if a highly effective system of interventions begins with an effective core instructional program, then all students require good teaching practices on a daily basis. Therefore, good teaching requires every teacher to have knowledge and skill in the most effective teaching practices, the empowerment to practice the art of teaching, and a deep understanding of daily differentiation to meet each student’s individual learning needs. That’s what this book is all about!
Using This Book
In this book, we investigate the essential elements of good teaching in regard to Tier 1 core instruction. In the process of that investigation, we’ll explore the science, art, and essential strategies, as well as the intuitive and affective elements, of teaching that result in powerful student learning. Specifically, here is how we have organized this book.
Chapter 1, “Shifting to Collaborative Core Instruction,” provides a big-picture exploration of what constitutes good teaching. The chapter begins with a discussion of some previous initiatives to improve core instruction and why those efforts have failed. The chapter also challenges the prevailing view on core instruction, which emphasizes what individual teachers do for their students, by offering an alternative view that emphasizes what teachers do collaboratively with their students.
Chapter 2, “Creating Brain-Friendly Learning Environments,” investigates how educators can orchestrate an optimal climate and environment for learning. The chapter outlines the fundamentals of a brain-friendly classroom based on powerful research in educational neuroscience. The chapter also illustrates that instructors can ensure that instructional best practices are most successful by implementing them in an environment that supports trial and error, risk taking, and collaboration, while also including meaningful and relevant instructional tasks.
Chapter 3, “Finding Each Student’s Learning Sweet Spot,” describes a wide array of strategies teachers can use to identify and understand the unique abilities of every student. The chapter explains how creating a student profile and determining the student’s learning preferences are helpful when selecting which best practices to use. The chapter also briefly reviews multiple intelligences—the many types of intelligence humans demonstrate—to help broaden the types of best practices and strategies educators can choose to implement first.
Chapter 4, “Developing a Powerful Core Curriculum,” looks at the basic question, What do we want students to know and be able to do? The chapter suggests strategies collaborative teams and professional learning communities (PLCs) can use to identify the essential power standards the Tier 1 core curriculum must include. The chapter also explores methods for clearly communicating learning targets to students. Finally, this chapter introduces the 4Cs of 21st century skills (communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking) as key aspects of good problem- and project-based curriculum design.
Chapter 5, “Differentiating Instruction Through Pluralized Teaching Strategies,” stresses the transition from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. This chapter is filled with practical suggestions and examples, as it explores daily differentiation—an instructional model that emphasizes effective, research-based, high-impact, and pluralized teaching strategies. The chapter also outlines dozens of classroom-tested teaching strategies that can increase instructional variety, including creating flexible groups, integrating technology, and enhancing academic vocabulary instruction.
Chapter 6, “Using Data to Inform Instruction,” emphasizes the power of assessments in instructional planning and their role in helping both educators and students more clearly identify and understand learning challenges and opportunities. From creating student profiles to screening for prerequisites and conducting preassessment diagnostics, ongoing formative assessments, and summative assessments, this chapter reviews the kinds of student data educators gather. Because data are only valuable when teachers use them, the chapter also discusses a number of best practices and strategies for adjusting instructional approaches, such as scaffolding and extending learning tasks, to adapt to information revealed through assessment. The chapter also explores key elements of creating adjustable assignments, also known as tiered lessons.
Chapter 7, “Building Cognitive Rigor, Depth, and Complexity,” offers ideas educators can use to increase dynamic instructional effectiveness by increasing their instructional rigor. The chapter also explores a variety of best practices for helping students build their own cognitive rigor by developing higher-level thinking skills, cognitive depth, and complexity. Developing learners’ cognitive rigor demands that educators adjust what they teach and increase their expectations in order to ensure that each student has the opportunity to grow in ways he or she may not be able to imagine. This chapter, therefore, describes how models such as Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) offer educators solutions for making those adjustments in the most effective way possible. The chapter also offers a number of techniques educators can use to integrate 21st century skills into the core curriculum in ways that raise the bar for all learners.
The epilogue, “Embracing the Journey,” challenges teachers to work collaboratively within their collaborative teams and PLCs. The chapter explains why ongoing efforts to grow their knowledge base and skill sets are responsibilities that educators cannot ignore. It also offers suggestions for sharing information about differentiated instruction with parents in order to gain their support and assistance in efforts to provide students with the most effective educational experience possible.
Beyond a thorough discussion of the research and findings surrounding the role of differentiated instruction in improving student learning, each chapter offers specific tools and techniques for implementing the ideas and processes it describes. At the end of each chapter, therefore, we’ve included questions, reflections, and exercises. These sections—Taking the Discussion Further—enable educators and their teams to deepen their discussion and understanding of each chapter’s content.
Finally, before we begin this journey into Best Practices at Tier 1, we would like to offer educators a few words of preliminary advice. We have conducted presentations on this subject for thousands of educators around the world, and while the overall response has been extremely positive, we often hear a few specific concerns.
“I already know that.” Few of the ideas in this book represent new, groundbreaking
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