Effective Instructional Practice

Set Goals

• Goals are clearly stated in terms of what students know and are able to do as the result of instruction and learning.

• Goals are appropriate for the intended learners. • Goals are related to the needs of all learners. • Goals are stated in terms of student learning. • Carefully consider the amount of discipline-specific and

task-specific knowledge and skills needed by the learners to be successful.

• Include goals focusing on communication and thinking as well as discipline-specific topics, concepts , and processes.

• Set affective goals focusing on the essential attitudes and dispositions required by the learner in the unit (e.g. positive interpersonal relationships due to the cooperative learning activities).

Standards & Benchmarks

• When setting goals, make every attempt to align with state and district standards and benchmarks.

• Consider how to bring the standards and benchmarks alive for your learners. Standards form the core curriculum that can provide both equity and excellence for all students as they learn rigorous core knowledge and skills.

Define Learners

• While designing goals and creating student performance outcomes, work to meet the needs of ALL learners.

• Knowing your students' levels of sophistication will aid in defining goals and learner outcomes.

• Consider how to differentiate the learning to best meet the varied needs and interests of all learners.

• Assess prerequisite skills and knowledge in communication (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing) and thinking to help determine the appropriate goals and outcomes.

• Consider both age and individual developmental appropriateness.

• Take into account community expectations and sensitivity to controversial issues.

• Reach all learners.

Create Learner Outcomes

• Outcomes are based on the goals, standards, and needs of the learners.

• Outcomes are measures of learning. • Outcomes identify what is to be assessed, the condition

under which the learning must be demonstrated, and the criteria for successful performance.

• Sample evidence that the learner has successfully demonstrated all performance outcomes indicates that goals have been achieved.

• Select and target worthy outcomes for student learning. Focus on the important concepts and meaningful knowledge at the heart of essential understandings that students need to develop. Avoid overwhelming the learners with unconnected "factoids" and instead focus on the big ideas linked through higher level thinking/processing.

• Outcomes should be consistently and clearly communicated in terms that are understood by ALL learners.

Develop Instructional Strategies

• Instructional strategies define both teaching and learning techniques.

• Develop strategies to systematically move all learners toward clearly defined learning goals and standards.

• Strategies include pre-instructional activities, presentation of information, practice and feedback, assessments, and application activities.

• Strategies should be based on stated goals and outcomes as well as current learning research, knowledge of the learning process, content to be taught, and the characteristics of the learners.

• Techniques are designed to allow learners to call up and apply prior knowledge to new learning to create personal meaning.

• Strategies include designing more than one path to the same goal. Differing pathways allow students with different learning styles to achieve the stated goals.

• Plan how content will be distributed most effectively. Which parts of your teaching/learning strategy will be most effective as text, face-to-face, video, etc.?

• Plan to use a variety of teaching strategies and coach students to improve their learning techniques.

• Attend to the important content, essential processes, and critical attitudes and dispositions that will enable learners with a variety of strengths and challenges to be successful.

• Be sure to consider how best to incorporate technology into the teaching and learning in the unit.

Gather or Develop Instructional Materials

• Well-developed instructional design draws information from multiple resources (both traditional and electronic).

• Develop or gather materials to carry out your instructional strategies.

• Web resources (MarcoPolo, EBSCO, etc.) might be a great place to start looking for resources to help students reach their goals.

• It is often more prudent to gather already created materials to use with your instructional strategy than to create from scratch. Modifications might need to be made to existing materials to fit your strategies and goals.

• If necessary, convert materials into appropriate media for better learner understanding.

• Determine how the same idea can be explained in a variety of forms (graphics, text, charts, graphs) to meet a variety of learning styles.

• Include learners in gathering resources for the unit and help them understand how to find a variety of information sources .

• Incorporate appropriate use of primary resources (documents and artifacts). Help learners know how to access archival information and authentic primary sources .

• Evaluate all resources for accuracy and appropriateness. Teach learners how to assess reliability and validity.

• Incorporate multiple perspectives whenever possible. Coach learners to discriminate points of view, scope or slant of the information, and detect bias, stereotyping, or propaganda techniques.

Implement Instruction

• All students are valued and respected as learners. • Every attempt is made to create a learning environment of

rapport, mutual respect, and caring. • Learners are given opportunities to call up and apply

relevant understandings to new knowledge in order to create personal meaning.

• Learners are given guided practice to bridge the gap between entry-level behavior and desired learner outcomes.

• Incorporate practice assessment which occurs under the same conditions as the final assessment. This allows the learner and instructor to determine if remediation is necessary.

• Give consistent feedback to the learner for the purpose of letting them know if they are meeting, exceeding, or not yet meeting the learning expectations. Also let the learner know how they can improve their performance.

• Scaffold instruction as needed to support student learning. • Gradually release direct teacher support to encourage

students to become more self-directed as learners. • Develop a calendar to ensure appropriate timing (both

sequence and duration) of instruction and time for students to learn for themselves.

Assess Learner Performance

• Assessment of student performance is balanced between teacher-generated assessments, standardized measures, and learner-developed artifacts.

• Each instructional goal is assessed in some way. • The assessment(s) align with the learner performance

outcome(s). • Assessments reflect authentic, real-world applications of

knowledge and understanding. • Feedback of assessment results, to learners, is clear,

appropriate, and extends student learning. • Use assessment data to modify and revise teaching

strategies and learning activities to meet the needs of the students.

• Employ both formative and summative evaluation practices using formal and informal methods.

• Evaluate students' learning based on both growth and achievement.

Reflective Practice

• Throughout the entire design and implementation process, professional reflective practice needs to be a daily goal. Working with a partner to plan and debrief helps foster this essential practice.

• Use assessment and anecdotal information to revise your instruction, materials, and strategies to better help learners meet their goals.

• Use formative assessment data to guide adjustment of the content, process, pace, and/or learning environment to help all learners be as successful as possible.

• Unit designs form only the plans for instruction. Revise them as needed to ensure maximum success in learning. Record the changes and brief rationales as a guide to further self-reflection and professional insight.

• Be metacognative. Think about your teaching and reflect on student learning throughout the entire instructional process.