Instruction+Work+Group

Instruction Work Group
Maxims:

16 - Excellent initial teaching creates annual growth.

28 - The power of a 90% reading goal at third grade is that it focuses the elementary systems on delivering the single most crucial academic skill—reading—which is the foundation to lifelong learning.

29 - Districts that do not or cannot teach 90% of their students to read at or above grade level by third grade will rarely achieve 95% reading and math goals in subsequent years.

32 - What works: instructional leadership, superb teaching, and excellent testing which assures annual growth and the four-phase TAG loop which assures catch-up growth: (1) diagnostic testing to identify sub-skill deficiencies, (2) proportional increases in direct instructional time, (3) teaching to the deficient sub-skill, and (4) retesting to be sure the skill has been learned.

44 - School structure affects instruction. Elementary teachers have a primary responsibility to 25 students and 50 parents. Middle and high school teachers share responsibility for 150 students and if they switch at the semester, for 300 students and 600 parents.

45 - Rigor, engagement, lesson purpose, and results are hallmarks of excellent instruction.

46 - Students learn more quickly with direct instruction than they do with seatwork, entry tasks, homework, and other teaching techniques involving non-eyeball-to-eyeball teaching or practice time.

47 - Excellent instruction is increased when it is honored. Learning walks, instructional conferences, and split-screen videotaping of lessons celebrate the best practices.

50 - Students who move frequently and are English language ' learners are two groups that have the greatest difficulty meeting high standards. Highly mobile students spend substantially less time on task. English language learners must subtract the time it takes to learn English from time on task.

58 - Standard amounts of instructional time usually generate standard amounts of growth or annual growth across all quartiles.

61 - The primary driver of catch-up growth is increased instructional time. This is true in math as well as reading.

68 - Parents who read 20 minutes a day with their child provide significant support to the direct instruction he or she receives at school.

75 - The implicit assumption of -uniform master schedules is wrong. Students who are behind do not learn at faster rates than students who are ahead. They require additional time and direct instruction tailored to their deficient sub-skills.

81 - Directing instruction to the deficient sub-skill is fundamentally different than reteaching the morning's lesson.

82 - Teaching to the deficient sub-skill requires nimbleness, flexibility, and a high level of ability to adapt material (or create it, if necessary) for the targeted student.

87 - We had thought it was a matter of doing more of what we were already doing. We had to recognize that we simply didn't know how to teach 90% of our students to read to standard by third grade.