Reflection on IES What Works Clearinghouse

As I explored the IES What Works Clearinghouse I had a tough time staying in just one topic area to explore the research.  As I explored the different sections I felt justified in seeing that the strategies we have been using at our school have made the list and are considered to have effective results.  Other strategies I read about are strategies that can be implemented without “buying” a program, or having to obtain training and resources to begin an intervention known to make academic gains.  4 interventions I read about were from the English Language Learners section, the Literacy section, the Early Childhood Education section, and the Student Behavior topic areas, the interventions can be modified to span all abilities and several grade levels for literacy and math achievement.  The interventions included Interactive Shared Book Reading, Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs, Project CRISS, and Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom through Character Education.  As part of our School Improvement Plan we are focusing on providing a common strategy to use with all our tutors throughout the building, these interventions are easy to implement and will be easy to share in a basic training session.  

Strategies that were a surprise from John Hattie's research on "Teaching and Learning Strategies"

Within the School Effect rankings I noticed an interesting ranking of classroom controlled effects vs. out of classroom effects.  An element that has been a struggle in my building recently is how the principal is expected to manage, control and direct classroom behavior throughout the whole building and in every classroom.  I found the rankings interesting that the school leader and/or principal ranks lower than overall effect of classroom behavior and classroom management, which is a control of the teacher in the classroom.  The numerous guests throughout the last few months, to the Teacher Leadership Academy, have indicated that everyone in the building needs to take ownership for all the students in the building and be part of the development of all the skills.  The behavior cannot just be one person’s initiative, everyone has to agree and enforce the expectations in all areas, at all times.

Another area I found to be interesting within the Teaching and Learning ranking was how low inquiry based teaching was on the list, but questioning (which is a large element of inquiry) was so much higher on the list.  It would be interested to explore the definition and explanation of Hattie’s idea of inquiry based teaching in comparison to the work recently published by Harvey and Daniels in Comprehension and Collaboration.  Our school completed a book study on this book and the research throughout the book indicated how beneficial inquiry is to engage students and to expand their prior knowledge. 

The research findings would be interesting to give to our staff and have them rank the building on what they believe is the effective means toward student achievement.  Then compare the rankings to Hattie’s list and see where we have discrepancies in our understanding, then plan our yearly PD in reference to what has proven to be effective teaching and learning strategies that improve student achievement. 

UDL~Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

© 2011 by CAST. All rights reserved. www.cast.org, www.udlcenter.org

APA Citation: CAST (20011). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.0. Wake eld, MA: Author.

                   When Teachers:                                              Students will be:
1.  Provide Multiple Means of Representation---Resourceful, knowledgeable learners
2.  Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression---Strategic, goal-directed learners
3.  Provide Multiple means of Engagement---Purposeful, motivated learners

My thoughts on Universal Design for Learning center around the 3 Guidelines(as listed above) established to allow equal access for all students to a district's approved curriculum.  As I read the current reports on the  upcoming Common Core Assessments and that Performance Based Assessments will incorporate a large portion of the assessment, classroom instruction will need to be viewed in a different way. I believe that as instructional leaders, we need to help teachers look at lesson planning and delivery in a new light.  Student interactions will need to be very intentional and purposeful in all areas across the content areas.  I see the Universal Design for Learning framework as a wonderful tool to help teachers, principals, and instructional leaders in making the switch to providing instruction that is rigorous and engaging for all students. 

When teachers provided and allow students to understand their learning through multiple means of representation, we are allowing the students to learn through their strongest learning styles.  We know from years of research that students primarily learn visually, auditory or kinestheticly, by presenting information in these and other ways we are able to help students increase their depth of knowledge across all content areas.  When students are expected to be involved in their learning, through their conversations and actions, students are more engaged because they are accountable for their learning through their classmates interactions.  Student's high levels of engagement, deter off task behavior because the learning is meaningful, purposeful and the students have helped direct and guide their learning though personal inquiry and interest.

When teachers begin unit planning with the end results in mind, the planning is intentional because the students prior knowledge, struggles and roadblocks can be identified.  Backwards planning allows a teachers to map out their unit with stopping points for further research and inquiry, time for re-teaching or deeper investigating and mid-unit assessment of growth and understanding.  When teachers know the goals or standards the students need to be able demonstrate by the end of a unit, a teacher can incorporate stages of knowledge development that continue to deepen their knowledge throughout the unit to have a solid vs. surface level understanding of the material.  

As I learn more about Universal Design for Learning and compare the framework to the PLC framework I am excited to see how the two ideas can mesh together nicely to support and educate all our learners.  We have worked with PLC teams a great deal in the last few years at our school, I see Universal Design for Learning as our next step in continuing to improve our student achievement.  

Do we really need technology in the classroom?

Today,  I learned a little about my schools wireless setup.  Our school was one of the first elementary schools to be wireless, but now our wiring is out dated so the new lap top computers that staff are assigned are not able to work with the old system.  This is absolutely baffling to learn.  We have the capability to use new and updated technology, but we are not able to keep up with technology trends because of funding issues.   So with that understanding, I would like to share my thoughts on technology in the 21st century classroom.  I believe technology is an absolute must for all elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.  With schools being so limited on resources because of funding, technology is a way to bring the outside world into the lives and provide unique experiences for our students.  Technology can make a picture or story selection come alive with sounds, in-depth facts, and interactive experiences.  As I am a part of the committee working on organizing, introducing and implementing a new reading series for our district, I am reminded how technology can supplement and enhance the knowledge base of our students.  Every week the reading series provides multiple opportunities for students to interact with the text on a computer at home or at school.  The element I believe the teachers will enjoy, is the research and inquiry online option for students to work on independently throughout the week.  This option ties directly into the Common Core Standards of Writing.  So, my job in the fall will be to present the benefits of using technology to help build the students depth of knowledge, within and across the content areas in relation to the stories and topics within our new reading series.  So, back to my first thought on our out dated wireless wiring (and several buildings not being wireless, yet)  I believe if we want to promote a learner-centered technology environment, we need to make technology improvements a priority across our schools, communities and with our local representatives.