Principles of Instruction

Barak Rosenshine

10 Research-based Principles of

Instruction • Research in:

• 1. cognitive science

• 2. the classroom practices of master teachers

• 3. cognitive supports to help students learn complex tasks

Validity

• “The fact that the instructional ideas from three different sources supplement and complement each other gives us faith in the validity of these findings.”

• American Educator- Spring 2012

• Daily review can strengthen previous learning and can lead to fluent recall

• the most effective teachers in the studies of classroom instruction understood the importance of practice, and they began their lessons with five-to eight minute review of previously covered material

1. Begin a lesson with a short review

• Our working memory is small! Too much information puts it in overload and swamps our memory!

• a little at a time and then practice!!

2. Present new material in small steps and practice after each step

3. Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students.

• Questions help students practice new information and connect new material to their prior learning

• never put a student on the spot to answer a question

• give more examples

• Give students question stems- example:

• What do you think causes___________?

4. Provide models: Providing students with models and working examples can help them learn to solve

problems faster.

• teachers who model and think aloud while demonstrating how to solve a problem are examples of effective cognitive support

• provide prompts (example: who, what, where, when, why) - guide the students to try problems independently

5. Guide students practice of new material

• It is not enough to simply present new material - students need sufficient rehearse and process the material so that it is stored in their long-term memory

• teachers should facilitate opportunities for students to practice the new material

6. Check for student understanding

• The most effective teachers checked to see if all the students were learning the new material.

• Ask students to think aloud while they are working through new problems

7. Help students achieve a high success rate during classroom instruction

• Do work in small steps and check for understanding along the way - during classroom guided practice, the most successful teachers resulted in 82% correct student response in class

8. Provide scaffolds/supports to provide students with temporary support while they are learning.

• Scaffolding may include for example: completed models of the task for the students to follow, checklists, cue cards, thinking aloud by the teacher

9. Require and monitor independent practice: Students need extensive successful, independent

practice in order for skills and knowledge to become automatic

• Do in class practice that uses the skills that were ‘just taught’ - require outside practice also

• use cooperative work in class so students can help each other learn the new skill

10. Involve students in weekly or monthly review

• Students need to connect new knowledge to prior knowledge - check to make sure they are seeing the broad picture of the material in your class

• Often teachers feel that there isn’t enough time for review, however, it is time well spent!