Classroom Instruction That Works Series

Classroom Instruction That Works Series
cover image of The New Classroom Instruction That Works book

The Classroom Instruction That Works (CITW) book series is one of the most widely used resources for increasing student achievement for good reason: Each book provides evidence-based insights from rigorous research to strengthen teachers’ instructional planning and delivery. Through these books, you’ll understand why and how McREL’s nine categories of instruction work, and learn to effectively use them in specific situations, including with English language learners and with classroom technology. You’ll see how these methods connect directly to students gaining key 21st-century skills. Learn how to design lessons and teaching techniques that will work best in your classroom to heighten engagement and deepen understanding with your students. A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works offers guidance, rubrics, checklists, templates, tools, protocols, and tips to help you easily apply the various CITW teaching strategies in specific situations and with various tasks. Make your classroom the paradigm for CITW!

Series information

cover image of The New Classroom Instruction That Works book The New Classroom Instruction That Works

Goodwin and Rouleau establish a well-rounded foundation for a teacher’s ability to support student engagement with higher-order thinking activities by supplying teachers with an intentional map of cognitive and metacognitive thinking strategies. …Any educator struggling with supporting their students’ ability to retain information would find the culturally responsive strategies shared in chapters Five through Seven helpful. - Sydney Carroll, American School Board Journal book review

 

The book that inspired millions of educators to refine their approach to teaching returns for an all-new edition. Built on a more rigorous research base and updated to emphasize student diversity, equity, and inclusion, The New Classroom Instruction That Works explores 14 Tier 1, best first instruction strategies that promote deep, meaningful, and lasting learning. Learn what each strategy is, and when, how, and why to use each one during your unit/lesson plans for maximum positive impact on student learning and achievement:

  • Cognitive interest cues
  • Student goal setting and monitoring
  • Vocabulary instruction
  • Strategy instruction and modeling
  • Visualizations and concrete examples
  • High-level questions and student explanations
  • Guided initial application with formative feedback
  • Peer-assisted consolidation of learning
  • Retrieval practice
  • Spaced and mixed independent practice
  • Targeted support
  • Cognitive writing
  • Guided investigations
  • Structured problem solving

These strategies—which can be applied in any grade level and subject area—are presented within a framework geared toward instructional planning and aligned with how the brain learns. For each strategy, you'll get the key research findings, the important principles of classroom practice, and recommended approaches for using the strategy with today's learners.

Both new and veteran teachers will finish this book with a better understanding of how effective teaching boosts student achievement and a clearer idea of what to do, when to do it, and why.

 

The New Classroom Instruction That Works: The Best Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement is authored by Bryan Goodwin and Kristin Rouleau with Cheryl Abla, Karen Baptiste, Tonia Gibson, and Michele Kimball.

This is a copublication of ASCD and McREL International.

Classroom Instruction That Works

First published in 2001, Classroom Instruction That Works revolutionized teaching by linking nine categories of instructional practices to evidence of increased student learning.
This second edition explores each of the nine instructional strategy categories, and delivers expanded evidence-based insights on how to apply them in the classroom. You’ll learn how and why some strategies work more effectively than others. It includes an Instructional Planning Guide that shows you when to emphasize each of the instructional strategies and use them to:

-Create an environment for learning that ensures an effective backdrop for every lesson.
-Develop your students' understanding by using their prior knowledge as scaffolding for new learning.
-Help students extend and apply knowledge and move beyond “right answer” learning to an expanded understanding and use of concepts and skills.

 

Tools for Classroom Instruction That Works Tools for Classroom Instruction That Works

This book provides more than 50 classroom-ready tools that make it easy to implement the nine categories of effective teaching strategies from McREL’s bestselling book, Classroom Instruction That Works (2012) across grade levels and content areas. By incorporating these tools into your daily practice, you can turn your classroom into a place where high levels of engagement and deep learning happen every day. The challenge for teachers has always been how to build these achievement-boosting strategies into their everyday instruction:

• Setting objectives and providing feedback

• Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

• Cooperative learning

• Cues, questions, and advance organizers

• Nonlinguistic representations

• Summarizing and note taking

• Assigning homework and providing practice

• Identifying similarities and differences

• Generating and testing hypotheses

Each of the 50+ tools in the book includes a summary of that tool’s research-based benefits, the 3-7 basic steps for using the tool, concrete examples that model how to use the tool in classrooms, and a “Teacher Talk” section that gives tips on lesson planning and implementation.

The final chapter in the book walks educators through a process for combining tools with principles of effective instructional design and knowledge of how student learning works to design focused, learning-driven, effective instructional plans.

Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners

Now you can use the framework from our best-selling book, Classroom Instruction That Works (CITW), to improve instruction for your students who are English language learners (ELLs). This comprehensive instructional guide for mainstream teachers of ELL students includes teaching tips with each strategy to make it easier to work with all students, no matter what their stage of language proficiency. Strengthen your instructional planning and learn when to use research-based instructional strategies with ELL students at every grade level. The tools and steps will help you effectively align your instruction of second-language learners to the higher-order thinking skills. Use the provided template to help you select key vocabulary and grammar to design instruction that helps students engage in productive academic discussions.

No matter their level of proficiency in the English language, this book provides the guidance to help all students excel in the classroom.

The Classroom Instruction That Works (CITW) book series is one of the most widely used resources for increasing student achievement for good reason: Each book provides evidence-based insights from rigorous research to strengthen teachers’ instructional planning and delivery. Through these books, you’ll understand why and how McREL’s nine categories of instruction work, and learn to effectively use them in specific situations, including with English language learners and with classroom technology. You’ll see how these methods connect directly to students gaining key 21st-century skills. Learn how to design lessons and teaching techniques that will work best in your classroom to heighten engagement and deepen understanding with your students. A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works offers guidance, rubrics, checklists, templates, tools, protocols, and tips to help you easily apply the various CITW teaching strategies in specific situations and with various tasks. Make your classroom the paradigm for CITW!

Details Books

Education: Ph.D.
Abigail L. Boutz

During her tenure with Silver Strong & Associates, Dr. Boutz has designed training modules and workshop materials on classroom tools and strategies, learning styles, and instructional leadership. She has also co-authored three award-winning titles in the Tools for Today’s Educators series: Tools for Thoughtful Assessment, Tools for Conquering the Common Core, and Tools for a Successful School Year. Dr. Boutz is a former tutor and mentor for students at the elementary through college levels, most recently at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she served as a lecturer for the Life Sciences Department, a university field supervisor for the Teacher Education Program, and an academic coordinator for the Undergraduate Research Center/Center for Academic and Research Excellence.

Tools for Classroom Instruction That Works

Education: M.A. Rhetoric and Communication Studies, University of Virginia; B.A. Professional Writing and Environmental Studies, Baylor University
Bryan Goodwin

Bryan Goodwin is president and CEO of McREL International. For 21 years at McREL, he has translated research into practice, scanning the world for new insights and best practices on teaching and leading, and has helped educators everywhere adapt them to address their own challenges. A frequent conference presenter, he is the author of Out of Curiosity: Restoring the Power of Hungry Minds for Better Workplaces, Schools, and Lives and Simply Better: Doing What Matters Most to Change the Odds for Student Success, as well as co-author of Curiosity Works: A Guidebook for Moving Your School from Improvement to Innovation, Unstuck: How Curiosity, Peer Coaching, and Teaming Can Change Your School, Balanced Leadership for Powerful Learning: Tools for Achieving Success in Your School, and The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day. Before joining McREL in 1998, Bryan was a college instructor, a high school teacher, and a business journalist.

Balanced Leadership for Powerful Learning, Curiosity Works, Instructional Models, Out of Curiosity, The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching, Unstuck, Pursuing Greatness, Tools for Igniting Curiosity, Building a Curious School, Learning That Sticks, Using Brain Science to Make Learning Stick, Research-Based Instructional Strategies That Work (Quick Reference Guide), The New Classroom Instruction That Works, A Reflective Teacher’s Guide to Planning for Learning

Education: Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction, University of Connecticut at Storrs; M.S. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University
Ceri B. Dean

Ceri B. Dean was a senior fellow and the vice president for field services at McREL International, where she was responsible for the development and successful implementation of McREL's professional development, technical assistance, and consultation services. She served as the director of large-scale projects, including the North Central Comprehensive Center at McREL, a U.S. Department of Education–funded technical assistance center.

Classroom Instruction That Works

Education: M.Ed. Instructional Technology, Grand Canyon University; B.A. Elementary Education, Oklahoma Panhandle State University
Cheryl Abla

Cheryl Abla is a managing consultant with McREL International, where she trains and coaches K–12 teachers and school leaders on effective instructional strategies, classroom technology, teacher coaching, English-language-learner supports, and creating engaging school cultures and climates. Prior to joining McREL, she taught grades 1–12 for more than 20 years; served as a national facilitator for the FACES, Inc. character education program; and was the director of both a Parents as Teachers district program and a Migrant Education Even Start district program. Drawing on her extensive and diverse classroom experience, she has presented at educational conferences around the United States and the Pacific and has authored several articles for McREL’s Changing Schools magazine.

Tools for Classroom Instruction That Works

Education: M.A. Information and Learning Technologies, University of Colorado; B.S.Ed. Early Childhood/Elementary Education, University of Georgia
Elizabeth Ross Hubbell

Elizabeth Ross Hubbell is an educator, author, and speaker with more than 20 years’ experience across many levels of education. She currently serves as a senior program manager at Academic Impressions, where she designs professional learning experiences for higher education. Her primary topics of interest include women’s leadership and new innovations in student success and retention. Prior to joining Academic Impressions, Elizabeth served as a K–12 consultant with McREL International, focusing on instructional strategies and technologies. She is a co-author of The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day and Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (2nd Ed.)She has presented at the ACEL, ASCD, ISTE, Colorado TIE, Learning Forward, SREB, NSBA’s T+L, and EARCOS conferences. Elizabeth is a former Montessori teacher.

Classroom Instruction That Works, Instructional Models, The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching

Education: Ed.D. and M.Ed. Columbia University; B.S. University of Rhode Island
Harvey F. Silver

Co-founder and president of Silver Strong & Associates, Dr. Silver has more than 40 years of experience as a teacher, administrator, and consultant. He is a regular speaker at national and regional education conferences, addressing a wide range of topics, including differentiated instruction, thoughtful assessment, school leadership, tools and strategies for meeting today’s standards, and lesson/unit design. Dr. Silver also conducts workshops for schools, districts, and educational organizations around the world. He is the co-author of several education bestsellers, including Tools for Thoughtful Assessment, Tools for a Successful School Year, and The Core Six. He has also collaborated with Matthew Perini to develop the Thoughtful Classroom Teacher Effectiveness Framework, a comprehensive teacher evaluation system that is being implemented in school districts across the country.

Tools for Classroom Instruction That Works, Tools for Igniting Curiosity

Education: Ed.D. Educational Administration and M.A. Music Performance, Wichita State University; B.A. Music Education, Indiana State University
Howard Pitler

Howard Pitler was a senior director at McREL International, where he conducted workshops and trainings for K–12 teachers and administrators on research-based instructional strategies, technology, and pedagogy; conducted technology audits for districts; and worked with school and district leaders using McREL's Power Walkthroughâ classroom observation software.

Classroom Instruction That Works

Education: M.S. Communication Disorders, Colorado State University; B.A. Theater Arts/Speech Simpson College
Jane Hill

As a managing consultant for McREL, Jane Hill consults and trains teachers and administrators nationally and internationally, delivering professional development to ESL teachers, and writing instructional guides for schools with a low incidence of English learners. Prior to joining McREL, she worked as a speech/language specialist focusing on bilingual special education, directed a two-way language school, and served as a district office director for second language acquisition and special education. She has worked in the areas of second language acquisition and special education for more than 35 years.

Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners

Education: B.A. English Literature, Southern Utah University
Kirsten Miller

Kirsten Miller, communications manager, REL Pacific at McREL International, has 16 years of experience in REL and federal contract communications and dissemination, which includes oversight of the REL Pacific website, development and dissemination of marketing materials such as brochures and infographics, event and conference planning, and presentation planning and delivery. She is a coauthor of the IES publications, Program Monitoring: The Role of Leadership in Planning, Assessment, and Communication and the Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Parents and the Community as Partners in Education, and has published a wide range of articles in publications including Educational Leadership, Principals Research Review, ASCD Express, and Phi Delta Kappan.

Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners
Kristin Rouleau

Kristin Rouleau is senior director of learning services and innovation at McREL International, working with schools, districts, and state departments of education as they navigate change and implement practices to increase student achievement. Kristin earned her administrative credentials from the University of Washington, her master’s in curriculum and teaching from Michigan State University, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Western Michigan University. As of this writing, she is a doctoral student in leadership for educational equity at the University of Colorado–Denver.

Curiosity Works, Unstuck, Learning That Sticks, Research-Based Instructional Strategies That Work (Quick Reference Guide), The New Classroom Instruction That Works

Education: M.A.
Matthew J. Perini

As senior director of content development for Silver Strong & Associates, Matthew Perini has authored numerous books, curriculum guides, and articles on a wide range of topics, including reading instruction, formative assessment, and effective teaching practices. Most recently, he collaborated with Harvey Silver and Abigail Boutz on Tools for a Successful School Year, winner of both a Teachers’ Choice Award and an Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY). Matthew has been a driving force in the development of Thoughtful Education Press, the publishing division of Silver Strong & Associates. He serves as both a contributing author and series editor for Thoughtful Education Press’s award-winning Tools for Today’s Educators line of books.

Tools for Classroom Instruction That Works, Tools for Igniting Curiosity