The New Art and Science of Teaching. Robert J. Marzano
that teachers can integrate the strategies into their repertoire of techniques relatively quickly.
Schoolwide Studies
Schoolwide studies examine the effects of The Art and Science of Teaching model on the average achievement scores for the school as a whole as opposed to the average achievement scores of students in the classes of specific teachers. For example, one study involves fifty-nine schools and 1,117 teachers. It examines the relationship between teachers’ usage of instructional strategies and the school’s average score on state tests of mathematics and reading (see Marzano Research, 2010, 2011). Effect sizes ranged from 0.53 in mathematics to 0.74 in reading.
Teacher Evaluation Studies
The Art and Science of Teaching as a teacher evaluation model is used in eleven countries, three provinces in Canada, and forty-three states (Basileo & Marzano, 2016). Data from these implementations indicate a relationship between teachers’ use of the strategies in the model and growth in student learning. Growth is commonly determined by value-added measures that are based on state tests at the end of the year. The book Teacher Evaluation That Makes a Difference (Marzano & Toth, 2013) discuses value-added measures in depth. Briefly though, the strength of value-added measures is that they compute student learning over a given year while controlling for students’ previous learning and demographics. These studies demonstrate that teachers’ scores on the model as a whole are positively and significantly correlated with value-added measures based on state tests (see Basileo, Toth, & Kennedy, 2015). Perhaps more important, the studies demonstrate that the individual elements in the model are positively and significantly correlated with value-added measures (see Basileo & Marzano, 2016). Most noteworthy about these studies is that they involve over one hundred and eighty thousand teacher observations spread over three school years (2012 to 2015).
The Major Features of The New Art and Science of Teaching
The New Art and Science of Teaching is new, even though the original strategies are intact, albeit greatly expanded. One of the major changes in The New Art and Science of Teaching is that it takes a student-outcomes perspective as opposed to a teacher-outcomes perspective. To illustrate, The Art and Science of Teaching identifies specific teacher behaviors. Teachers can use rating scales for each element of the model to determine the extent to which they are effectively deploying instructional strategies. While this is useful information, The New Art and Science of Teaching has a focus on student outcomes. This makes intuitive sense since instructional strategies generate certain mental states and processes in learners’ minds which, in turn, enhance students’ learning. Figure I.1 illustrates the teaching and learning progression.
Figure I.1: The teaching and learning progression.
According to figure I.1, specific mental states and processes in learners’ minds are the mediating variable between the effective application of instructional strategies and enhanced student learning. Without these mental states and processes, a given strategy will have little or no effect on students. As subsequent chapters in this book illustrate, this single fact changes the way districts, schools, and classroom educators should monitor the use of instructional strategies, provide teachers with feedback, and analyze students’ learning. Table I.2 depicts the specific mental states and processes that should be present in the learner’s mind.
Table I.2: Teacher Actions and Student Mental States and Processes
| Teacher Actions | Student Mental States and Processes | |
| Feedback | Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals | 1. Students understand the progression of knowledge they are expected to master and where they are along that progression. |
| Using Assessments | 2. Students understand how test scores and grades relate to their status on the progression of knowledge they are expected to master. | |
| Content | Conducting Direct Instruction Lessons | 3. When content is new, students understand which parts are important and how the parts fit together. |
| Conducting Practicing and Deepening Lessons | 4. After teachers present new content, students deepen their understanding and develop fluency in skills and processes. | |
| Conducting Knowledge Application Lessons | 5. After teachers present new content, students generate and defend claims through knowledge application tasks. | |
| Using Strategies That Appear in All Types of Lessons | 6. Students continually integrate new knowledge with old knowledge and revise their understanding accordingly. | |
| Context | Using Engagement Strategies | 7. Students are paying attention, energized, intrigued, and inspired. |
| Implementing Rules and Procedures | 8. Students understand and follow rules and procedures. | |
| Building Relationships | 9. Students feel welcome, accepted, and valued. | |
| Communicating High Expectations | 10. Typically reluctant students feel valued and do not hesitate to interact with the teacher or their peers. |
The mental states and processes in table I.2 are organized in three major categories: (1) feedback, (2) content, and (3) context. Feedback refers to the information loop between the teacher and the students that provides students with an awareness of what they should be learning and how they are doing. Content refers to lesson progression, which allows students to move from an initial understanding of content to application of content while continuously reviewing and upgrading their knowledge. Context refers to the following student psychological needs: engagement, order, a sense of belonging, and high expectations.
The column Teacher Actions corresponds to each desired mental state and process. For example, the desired mental state of students understanding the progression of knowledge they are expected to master and where they are along that progression (the first row in table I.2) is associated with the teacher action of providing and communicating clear learning goals. Students’ understanding which parts of newly presented content are important and how the parts fit together (the third row) is associated with the teacher action of conducting direct instruction lessons. Students paying attention, being energized, being intrigued, and being inspired (the seventh row) is associated with the teacher’s use of engagement strategies, and so on.
The teacher actions and student mental states and processes translate nicely into a set of questions that help teachers plan units and lessons within those units. In The New Art and Science of Teaching, these are referred to as design questions. Table I.3 depicts these.
Table I.3: Design Questions
| Design Areas | Design Questions |