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There are hundreds of ways to make sure your classroom is running as effectively as possible—from setting rules to establishing relationships with students. But if you’re new to teaching—or could use a fresh start in your classroom—where do you start?

In your studies, you’ll no doubt hear the name Robert Marzano. A leading educational researcher and authored or co-author of more than 40 books and 150 articles, Marzano has provided a model for teaching effectiveness that many educators refer to during their practice. His Marzano Research website outlines his strategies and gives teachers and administrators tools to help teachers become more effective. He also created an evaluation tool to measure the success of highly effective teachers.

Below, you’ll find an overview of his teachings and how you can employ his strategies.

Ensuring success with Marzano’s strategy

According to his research data, good, effective teachers:

• Provide feedback.
• Help students interact with new knowledge.
• Provide students with simulations and low-stakes competition.
• Engage with students, allowing them to talk about themselves and noticing when they aren’t engaged.
• Establish and maintain classroom rules.
• Maintain relationships with students.
• Communicate high expectations.

To elaborate: Marzano believes that teachers who set goals and check for understanding will be effective. Teachers should also give positive feedback for student progress. If students don’t understand, a teacher should need to go back and re-teach certain concepts. He also suggests that teachers should help students interact with new information by chunking smaller sections and then checking for understanding, using media, making predictions, and responding in writing. The more engagement and ownership of the learning, the more students will retain.

Include simulation and games

Marzano teacher effectiveness also includes the use of games and simulations to encourage student interest. He believes students should be physically active, encounter friendly controversy, and relate content to their own lives. Establishing rules and procedures at the beginning of the year will create a classroom atmosphere that fosters learning, and of course, creating effective and appropriate relationships with students are also key to teacher effectiveness.

Communicating high expectations in this arena is another aspect of Marzano teacher effectiveness. Encouraging all students to participate in the simulation and games will help ensure everyone in the classroom is learning. And again, the more you can connect a lesson to real-world situations, the more effective the lesson will be. Teachers, he says, should also be aware of their own bias. First, identify students of whom you have low expectations. Next, identify those students with similarities. Third, identify different treatment for low-expectation students and finally, make a conscious decision to treat all students the same.

Classroom strategies and behaviors

One of Marzano’s most important domains for teacher improvement is classroom strategies and behavior. Marzano believes that teachers need to choose areas of improvement throughout the year and administrators should be responsible for providing opportunities to observe effective strategies of other teachers. Administrators should then provide feedback and dialogue to teachers about how they can become more successful.

Marzano also includes several instructional strategies, including:

• Identifying similarities and differences.
• Summarizing and note taking.
• Reinforcing effort and providing recognition.
• Homework and practice.
• Nonlinguistic representations.
• Cooperative learning.
• Setting objectives and providing feedback.
• Generating and testing hypotheses.
• Cues, questions and advance organizers.

Needless to say, both teachers and administrators can benefit from Marzano teaching strategies. You all have the same goal—to give your students the tools they need to be successful in the classroom and beyond.

Looking for other strategies to implement in your classroom? Other strategies of Marzano teacher effectiveness can be found in the book Effective Supervision: Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching .

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Using the Marzano Instructional Framework for Teacher Observation

If you are in charge of selecting an observation framework for your district, you may be overwhelmed with the options. You’ve heard people talk about different types of teacher observation models, but aren’t sure which one is right for your team of educators.

One common model that you’ll encounter is the Marzano Framework, based on the research and theory of Robert Marzano .

How can you determine whether or not this framework suits your school’s needs?

This article will give you a comprehensive background on the Marzano framework, how it differs from the Danielson framework, and how its four domains and nine instructional strategies work together to enhance classroom achievement.

Table of Contents

What is the marzano framework, what are the differences between the danielson framework and marzano framework, what are the 4 domains of the marzano framework, what are the 9 marzano instructional strategies.

• How to Use the Marzano Teaching Framework to Conduct Teacher Observation

TORSH Talent Can Accommodate Any Instructional Frameworks—Including the Marzano Framework

The Marzano framework is an evaluation model for teachers. It has four domains broken down into 60 elements designed to define educational goals and target professional development offerings.

This framework identifies strategies that teachers should implement during their lessons and gives coaches and administrators specific criteria for effective evaluation.

Marzano’s research findings posit that effective teachers:

• Give feedback
• Engage with students
• Help students navigate new information
• Maintain relationships
• Establish and enforce classroom rules
• Set expectations

If your district or school is looking to “put some meat on the bones” of your evaluation systems and dig deeper into observations, the Marzano framework may be a good choice. That’s because it provides a detailed structure and useful tools that include checklists, observation sheets, and helpful documents. 

And you’ll be able to store all of these resources in your TORSH Talent Coaching Corner so teachers and coaches can easily access and use them

Request Demo

Is the Marzano Framework Effective?

Yes. The Marzano framework is widely regarded as an effective, research-based, and robust teacher observation system.

The Marzano Framework is streamlined and concentrated, which allows it to:

• Align directly with state standards
• Give administrators the ability to deliver more actionable, concrete feedback to teachers; and
• Improve scoring accuracy

Let’s look at what some of the research has to say about Marzano’s model of teaching effectiveness.

Research That Backs the Marzano Framework

The Marzano rubric for teacher evaluation was a long time in the making—it is based on more than 5,000 studies conducted over 50 years. These can be found in books such as:

• Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001)
• Classroom Management That Works (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2003)
• What Works in Schools (Marzano, 2003)
• Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work (Marzano, 2006)
• The Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2007); and
• Effective Supervision: Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, Frontier & Livingston, 2011)

These titles were all created through a synthesis of research on the fundamentals shown to correlate with academic achievement.

To test whether teachers’ use of the Marzano Teacher Evaluation Model can increase student achievement, Dr. Marzano partnered with state departments of education, districts, and schools across the country.

More than 500 teachers in 87 schools participated in the studies and, overall, they showed a correlation between Marzano’s framework for effective instruction and student success.

One such study of more than 12,000 teachers validated the use of this framework. The authors stated:

“The study found that the magnitude of the relationship between observation scores and value-added measures were small, positive, and statistically significant.”

The research indicates that students are learning as a result of teachers following the Marzano framework, which can give school leaders confidence in their decision to implement it for evaluations. 

As mentioned, the Marzano framework has four domains broken down into 60 elements. The Danielson framework also has four domains, which are divided into 22 components.

Each contains the same information—just organized a little differently. As long as they can cite deep and broad research upon which the standards are built, it doesn’t matter which is used. Schools can feel free to pick whichever they like best.

If a district already has a fairly sophisticated system of observations for evaluation and coaching, we recommend they choose the Danielson framework. It has many of the tools provided with Marzano but encourages you to modify them to meet your needs.

No matter which framework you choose for professional development and coaching, TORSH Talent can work with it. Compatible with any framework of standards you choose, you’ll have everything you need conveniently stored in one place.

The four domains of the Marzano instructional framework are Classroom Strategies and Behaviors , Preparing and Planning , Reflecting on Teaching , and Collegiality and Professionalism . These domains build on one another to encourage teacher performance, growth, and development.

Let’s explore each of these in more detail.

#1: Classroom Strategies and Behaviors

Domain one contains 41 elements, which are the bulk of the Marzano framework. These are divided into routine, content, and on-the-spot segments.

• Routine: This segment provides a framework for setting learning goals, tracking progress, communicating feedback, and celebrating success.
• Content: This segment addresses the actual content students are interacting with and helps inform the practice of improving student engagement with the content.
• On-the-spot: This segment addresses real-time activity in the classroom such as maintaining pace, keeping students engaged and involved, building relationships, adhering to rules and procedures, and communicating expectations.  

Domain one focuses on activities that directly affect student outcomes. This domain provides a common framework for lesson planning and is largely used as a tool for classroom observation and feedback.

#2: Preparing and Planning

Domain two contains eight elements, divided among lessons and units, use of materials and technology, and students’ special needs.

The activities in these elements are directly related to classroom behaviors and strategies. 

Domain two centers around the idea that effective preparation leads to improved decision-making in the classroom, which in turn results in higher gains in student learning.

#3: Reflecting on Teaching

Domain three consists of five elements in the categories of evaluating personal performance and a professional growth plan.

This domain is about the ability of teachers to be aware of their instructional practices. They must then be able to translate this awareness into a concrete plan for growth that shifts in response to students’ needs.

#4: Collegiality and Professionalism

Domain four isn’t directly related to classroom strategies and behaviors, but it facilitates the ideal environment for the effective implementation of the other domains.

Its six elements stem from promoting a positive environment, the exchange of ideas, and district and school development. 

The domain of collegiality and professionalism should apply to the school as a whole as well as to individual teachers and administrators.

Dr. Marzano believes that effective instruction is critical to student learning; he developed these nine strategies that allow students to achieve at higher levels.

• Identifying similarities and differences: Students can more readily understand complex problems when they can break down concepts into similar and different characteristics.
• Summarizing and note taking: When students are asked to put ideas in their own words and determine the most essential parts, they are better able to understand.
• Reinforcing effort and providing recognition: Teachers can help their students see the relationship between effort, what they achieve, and how they are recognized for it.
• Homework and practice: Since practice supports learning, homework should be intentional and result in a specific outcome, rather than being “work for work’s sake.
• ” Nonlinguistic representations: Concepts and vocabulary should be reinforced through visuals, images, dramatic enactments, and pictographs. 
• Cooperative learning: Students’ learning can be enhanced when they work together collaboratively in groups.
• Setting objectives and providing feedback: Help students to set goals for their learning, and be ready to adapt them along the way. Positive feedback will guide learners in the right direction.
• Generating and testing hypotheses: Using a general rule to make a prediction, have students test their theories and explain the outcomes.
• Questions, cues, and advance organizers: These help students dig into their background knowledge to organize what they already know, making sense of the information at hand and encouraging further learning.

How to Use the Marzano Teaching Framework to Conduct Teacher Observations

#1: know the components of classroom observation.

Observing a teacher isn’t just popping in, watching a lesson, and then departing. It’s a layered experience that we should be thinking about before the observation even begins.

A classroom observation serves the fundamental purpose of improving student outcomes by furthering the instructional capabilities of the teacher. A classroom observation typically includes the following components: 

• Determine what information you need to know before the observation.
• Consider what you’re looking for when you observe a teacher.
• Evaluate the techniques the teacher uses to achieve desired outcomes.
• Determine what percentage of students demonstrate achievement of the goal.
• Watch for the teacher to adapt based on student growth.

#2: Make Sure Coaches Deeply Understand the Marzano Framework

It matters less which framework you use and more that your coaches understand it deeply. It’s difficult to collect evidence around a set of standards you just don’t comprehend.

Ideally, coaches are the experts in your district about the standards of good teaching as described by Marzano (or whichever framework you choose). For this reason, coaches also need professional learning to build their knowledge of the framework and learn how to implement it in their coaching. 

TORSH Talent supports this effort by allowing districts to create professional learning pathways for their coaches, where coaches can access rubrics and resources as well as the support of other professional learning communities within this framework.  

The TORSH Talent system is designed to support coaching and professional learning using whichever instructional framework they use whether it is the Marzano or Danielson framework, Class System, or your own customized model.

TORSH is here to help you implement coaching that will strengthen and improve instruction, transforming your school culture and academic outcomes in the process..

TORSH Talent is a single, simple-to-use platform that supports observation, coaching, and professional learning in a robust and convenient package. If this sounds like the perfect solution for your school system, contact us today and request a demo .

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Homework and Practice: the “content” from Marzano Early Release Day Session #1

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9 High-Yield Instructional Strategies by Robert J. Marzano

In  Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement,   Robert J. Marzano (2001)  and his colleagues identified nine high-yield instructional strategies through a meta-analysis of over 100 independent studies.

They determined that these nine strategies have the greatest positive affect on student achievement for all students, in all subject areas, at all grade levels.

1. Identifying similarities and differences

Students should compare, classify, and create metaphors, analogies and graphic representations.

Examples within Mathletics:

• Problem-Solving eBooks 1-3 (#3 – T diagram, Venn diagrams, timelines)
• Concept Search (research acute angle vs. obtuse angle. Compare and contrast.)
• Problem-Solving games (Grade 4 – Venn Diagram)
• Dr. Marian Small  activity ( Lady Bug crawl  – students show the cause and effect when moving lady bugs)

2. Summarizing and note taking:

Students should learn to delete unnecessary information, substitute some information, keep important information, write / rewrite, and analyze information.

• Grade 7 Algebra eBook (start with a KWL chart- what you know, what you don’t know, etc.)
• Students journal after completion of a curriculum activity- reflect and self-assess completed questions
• Demonstrations- Teacher models an activity and then has students do a show/share with any curriculum activity, breaking down their strategies.

3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition:

Teachers should reward based on standards of performance; use symbolic recognition rather than just tangible rewards.

• Points  – have students collect as many points as they can through curriculum activities and Live Mathletics. As students collect points, they will earn awards to be displayed and printed.
• Credits  – students are rewarded with credits in Mathletics when showing improvement.
• Top performing students teach a mini lesson (e.g. using Concept Search to introduce a new subject) or shares their learnings with others
• Goal setting with students (e.g. points, gold bars, certificates, credits, connector points, most correct answers per Live Math Level or ranking improvement per level, Wall of Fame)
• Classroom bulletin board (teacher tracks earned gold bars earned by student)

4. Homework and practice:

Teachers should vary the amount of homework based on grade level, keep parent involvement to a minimum, state purpose and, if assigned, should be debriefed.

• Based on students’ grade level, teachers can assign up to 10 tasks to be completed as homework.
• Use  Rainforest Math  as a homework tool. Parents can help students in this portion of Mathletics and no data will be recorded. For additional at-home practice.
• Discuss Mathletics homework as a class and debrief concepts taught.
• Sending home eBooks for additional practice and debrief the next day.

5. Setting objectives and providing feedback:

Teachers should create specific but flexible goals, allowing some student choice. Teacher feedback should be corrective, timely, and specific to a criterion.

• Teachers can use Mathletics Results and Reporting features for immediate feedback for students. Use the reporting feature to look at individual strengths and weaknesses, and give critical and effective feedback to a student.
• Use gold bars for setting goals.
• eBook – Linear Relations follows a KWL Chart format. “I used to think… but now I think… and what do I know now that I didn’t know before.” Grade 9 Activities give instant feedback- reassign tasks.
• Use Mathletics lesson plans to set learning goals based on the curriculum expectations they are outlining.

6. Generating and testing hypothesis:

Students should generate, explain, test and defend hypotheses using both inductive and deductive strategies through problem solving, history investigation, invention, experimental inquiry, and decision making.

Examples within Mathletics: 

• Think, Pair, Share with the problem solving games. Share your thinking and reasoning.
• Dr. Marian Small rich learning tasks.  Students can use the interactive portion to complete the questions. Students can use a variety of strategies and store their work, e.g. What Triangle Is That – Grade 5.

7. Questions, cues, and advance organizers:

Teachers should use cues and questions that focus on what is important, use ample wait time before accepting responses, eliciting inference and analysis.

• When introducing a  Dr. Marian Small rich learning task , play the  Dr. Marian Small  video before the interactive section. Pause the video for Questioning.
• Concept Search & Dictionary – teacher uses demonstrations as a cue so the class may participate and provide ideas (angle can lead to acute angle, 90 degrees, etc.)
• Dr. Marian Small Rich Tasks  – questions and cues provided in teacher notes for facilitating lesson.
• Secondary – Interactives and Videos – use these resources to find specific topics and concepts. Use the search function in “My Study” to easily find a concept.

8. Nonlinguistic representations:

Students should create graphic representations, models, mental pictures, drawings, pictographs, and participate in kinesthetic activity in order to assimilate knowledge.

• Mathletics eBooks or  Dr. Marian Small  printed student problems can be completed in groups using manipulatives in the classroom. Use as centres, with students are moving from one task to another.
• Use Concept Search as a virtual manipulative.
• eBooks – Grade 3 Measurement – Page 18 and 19 use manipulatives to solve the problem.

9. Cooperative learning:

Teachers should limit use of ability groups, keep groups small, apply strategy consistently and systematically but not overuse.

• Encourage group engagement by playing a game of Cooperative Live Mathletics. Have students work as a group to determine answers to this live math fluency competition. Students can shout out the answers and have one student type the answers.
• Students can work in small ability groups with printed Sections of the Mathletics eBooks.
• Display one section of Mathletics on an Interactive Whiteboard. Have students work in small groups to complete these activities (curriculum activities through the Demonstrations tab in the Teacher Console) Or, try the  Dr. Marian Small  Interactive for students to store their answers and then debrief after all groups have completed the task and discuss strategies used.
• eBooks have activities that require collaborative work (Dice game in group setting – e.g. Grade 4 Multiplication Page 44).

Bring evidence-backed teaching strategies into your classroom with Mathletics

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Out on a Lim

Reflections on learning at a distance.

Marzano: Homework and Practice

May 7, 2009.

This post is part of a series on integrating the McREL research on classroom instruction that works with videoconferencing .

Homework: Generalizations The amount of homework assigned to students should be different from elementary to high school. Parental involvement in doing homework should be kept to a minimum. The purpose of homework should be identified and articulated. If homework is assigned, it should be commented upon. Recommendations Use these to improve your practice. Establish and communicate a homework policy. Design homework assignments that clearly articulate purpose and outcome. Vary approaches to providing feedback (Pitler, et al., 2007, p. 187-188). Practice: Generalizations Mastering a skill or process requires a fair amount of focused practice. While practicing, students should adapt and shape what they have learned. Recommendations Use these to improve your practice. Ask students to chart their speed and accuracy. Design practice assignments that focus on specific elements of a complex skill or process. Plan time for students to increase their conceptual understanding of skills or processes (Pitler, et al., 2007, p. 188).

Brainstorming for Videoconferencing

This is a tough one, because obviously kids aren’t going to use videoconferencing for homework, at least not room based videoconferencing! In addition, based on these recommendations, they really need to be able to do the homework on their own. If you’re teaching, you may want to review additional principles on assigning homework to refine your own teaching practice.

So, what about practice? How are students practicing skills already in videoconferences?

The first thing that pops into my brain is the Math Marvels format by Linda McDonald, Katy ISD. Sorry I couldn’t find them on your site, Linda!

There are many adaptations of this where two classes practice problem solving skills and then compare with each other the methods they used to solve the problems. I think this counts as practice right? Maybe this strategy best fits the math content area. What do you think?

If so, how do we improve our practice in giving students practice?

• Do the students understand clearly what skill they are practicing?
• Do they understand the expectations for performance?
• Do you have practice schedules for practice outside of the VC time?
• Are students evaluating their practice and adapting it to improve?
• Are students keeping track of their improving performance?
• Are there opportunities to practice specific components of the skill?

Hmm. Super Math Girl aka @sparky1fan , what do you think? Can we improve Math Marvels or are we doing it well already?

What other ways can you think of for practicing skills during a videoconference? Please comment!

Reference: Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Marzano 13 Teaching Best Practices for Virtual, Blended, and Classroom Instruction

Edmentum certainly believes in the promise of online solutions to improve student outcomes and empower teachers with additional tools to provide effective, individualized instruction. However, educational technology is a relatively young field, and everyone—educators, developers, and students alike—is still learning how best to use these tools. A lot of brain power is being dedicated to answering these complex questions. One such effort comes from the Marzano Research, whose experts conducted “A Study of Best Practices in Edmentum Online Solutions,” looking at Edmentum’s programs in various settings to evaluate the relationship between student learning and effective pedagogical practices with respect to the use of online instruction.

About the Study

The Marzano Research study considered Edmentum solutions being used in three instructional settings—purely virtual, a blended learning model, and as supplemental instruction in a classroom—for the purpose of original credit, credit recovery, intervention, or Advanced Placement instruction. The study identified 13 best practices across three dimensions of teacher behaviors and strategies that are correlated to significantly higher levels of student achievement in an online learning environment. Adopting these practices can help teachers effectively engage with their students in an online or blended environment and get the most out of online tools. Here, we will take a close look at all 13 best practices identified in the study, along with insights into how each can be implemented.

Marzano Dimension One: Strategies Involving Routine Events

1. Communicating course/assignment rules and procedures

Clarifying your expectations is key to a smooth-running classroom, whether it’s traditional or virtual. If your students don’t know what the rules are, they probably won’t follow them.

Implementation Tips

In the Classroom: Clearly communicating classroom rules and procedures should eliminate “I didn’t know that” from your classroom vocabulary. We can leverage the power of learning modalities and apply it to teaching students what is expected of them. For each expectation, think of ways it can be presented in visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile ways. You can begin teaching students a pencil sharpening routine by including verbal and poster instructions, along with a live demonstration. Next, explain how sharpening a pencil can look a lot like fishing, and ask students to get up by their seats and practice “reeling it in” before having them line up to practice using the sharpener themselves.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment: If helping students understand what is expected academically, behaviorally, and socially in the classroom is one of the most important parts of your teaching strategies, you need to bump that prioritization even higher if you are teaching online. Students entering a physical classroom are inserted into a rule-based system, whereas, for remote learners, class participation and academic goals are now being inserted into the home where they can easily be overwhelmed by the issues of family life. Turn classroom and virtual collaboration policies into an art project that students can hang near their work area as a great activity to help them internalize and value virtual classroom rules at home.

For Growth Opportunities: Make the communication of classroom policies an ongoing conversation rather than chiseled law. Remember that the physical classroom is a uniform experience for students, but homes are not. Create a survey that you send out periodically asking students how they feel about what is expected of them and their classmates. Send it out to parents too. Give families an opportunity to reevaluate their circumstances in the context of what is expected of them and to suggest what they think would help them continue to find success. Also, be open to revising or personalizing the policy as necessary.

2. Providing students with all materials needed to complete an assignment

Defining clear classroom and assignment expectations and procedures is only half the battle in ensuring that your students have the tools they need to be successful in the classroom. It is just as important to provide your students with the actual materials they need to accomplish the goals you set.

In the Classroom: There are many ways to make sure that materials are accessible to your students. The best strategies to use in your classroom can largely be determined based on how extensively you use technology. If you are relying on paper for most of your classroom activities, keep a bank of file folders in an organizational rack that are clearly labeled by assignment. As students work through an assignment, all they must do is go to the correct folder to access what they need. This method also makes it easier for students who have been absent to get their makeup work without interrupting class.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment: In a virtual model, the goal is to identify an online space for educators to store/share materials and for students to be able to access those materials anywhere. If you are open to managing a class website, Weebly for Education can be a great option for website creation—it’s quick, and there are free, easy-to-use templates. Google Classroom is a great choice, as easy access to documents is a primary feature of this solution; however, Google Classroom does not provide a built-in curriculum. If you are using a digital curriculum, such as Courseware from Edmentum , work with your education consultant to learn how to add in your own documents and make them available to your class.

For Growth Opportunities: The word “materials” takes on a new meaning in a remote learning environment. In addition to practice worksheets and teacher notes, we can create much more immersive experiences with podcasts, blogs, and videos. This educator filmed her road trip to bring history to life!

3. Clearly presenting the goal/objective for each assignment

Although there’s always room for creativity and experimentation in education, a lesson should never be delivered with an overall “let’s see where this goes” approach. Every instructional day, each task should have a clear goal associated with it. The clarity of these goals is key to this tip.

In the Classroom: Clarity in goals and learning objectives benefit learners. If students understand what is expected, then they can evaluate their work toward that mark. A longstanding best practice is to make the day’s or week’s goal and objective visible to the learners, likely on the instructional board. A stronger implementation is to rewrite the learning objective in age-appropriate, student-centric language. Stronger still is a teacher-facilitated conversation with students about their understanding of the shared objective.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment: Digital curriculum often lists the academic standard throughout the content but not always in student-friendly language. Therefore, a strong strategy for teachers is to aid that connection by using learner-centric language within the learning management systems (LMS), on the teacher webpage, or perhaps in the synchronous and asynchronous instructional interactions. Oversharing cannot be detrimental in this environment; consistency is a security blanket for learners. A conversation with students about understanding the objective can take place in real time in a digital meeting or in a discussion on the LMS.

For Growth Opportunities: Considering the value of student-centered language in goals and objectives, you can aid students in translating goals and objectives into their own voice. This process not only supports their understanding and retention but also develops their metacognition of the objectives themselves. Using action verbs, synonyms and antonyms, and examples and non-examples will ramp up the ability of students to communicate their learning. Bell ringers are an excellent way to utilize this technique.

4. Offering encouragement and positive feedback to students

Positive reinforcement is key to instilling a sense of confidence, self-worth, and motivation in children, but for some students, those kinds of interactions are hard to come by in their lives outside of school. This fact makes it that much more critical that the classroom should always be a safe and encouraging environment. Without any encouraging words, learners are likely to shut down from their entire educational experience.

Implementation Tips:

In the Classroom: Consistent encouragement and positive feedback are the social and emotional fuel that guides and motivates learners. The goal is five positive comments for every critical statement per learner to maintain positive learner motivation. Teachers should employ encouragement and positive feedback early and then maintain consistency in interactions. That consistency should be both timely and honest. Reinforce quickly when students demonstrate positive results in the learning process. Stickers, finger snaps, bulletin boards, and communication to families are all tried-and-true methods of positive reinforcement.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment: In online learning environments, emojis tend to replace stickers, and badges often replace bulletin boards. Many interfaces within LMS, online meeting spaces, and digital curricula include ways to communicate positive feedback. Some programs give blue ribbons, trophies, “likes,” or coins, and many systems automate positive responses as students successfully complete tasks. Then, teachers have more time to look at individual students and their assignments in order to analyze mastery of standards and provide positive feedback to incremental progress.

For Growth Opportunities: Direct, positive teacher feedback will always be valuable, whether in person or online, to students and their families. Schools could develop positive encouragement and feedback systems that are not bound by in-person schooling or online classes and that can maintain consistency wherever students are learning. These positive interactions can then add to the comfort of consistency for learners at any age. Additionally, students find great value in positive encouragement from peers. Consider introducing a way for classmates to celebrate one another for positive work.

5. Allowing students to keep track of their learning progress

Ownership of learning is key to student achievement. Students need to feel invested in their progress in order to thrive academically. They should be able to see the scoreboard so that they can be proud when they’re keeping up or when it’s time to kick it into gear to avoid falling behind.

In the Classroom: Digital gradebooks, family dashboards, and interface-based information are standard today. For graded activities, teachers input grades either manually or with automated support. The more frequently teachers post grades, the more connected families feel to student progress. The LMS era aids learners with access to data reports that include grading and provide a better glimpse of learning progress. Student pacing on completed activities, positive feedback on work, and areas for focus are now equally visible to students, families, and teachers. Schools that ease students and families into using dashboard-level data daily find that shared understanding of progress and proficiency empowers learners.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment: When away from the physical school building, students and their families depend on accessible and timely communication. Grades are nice and pacing in the course helps, but what students and families find most helpful is progress tracking in the long-term development of learners. Long-term development in a virtual setting is supported with skills-based prescriptions that cater to learner readiness and social-emotional paths that serve the management of personal development. Learners can feel an estrangement from the teacher and classmates that can hinder the momentum of growth. Virtual schools are becoming proficient in sharing data and dashboards that show families how learners are doing in a current class, how they are tracking in long-term development as a learner, and how they are progressing in supportive personal development curriculum.

For Growth Opportunities: Schools and families are seeking to track learners’ development of 21st century skillsets and transferable work skills. These represent student growth that draws on experiences both in and outside of school. Tracking these skills can identify issues outside of traditional academic skills. For example, you may find students who have trouble solving real-world problems or collaborating with teams. Progress tracking on student development of modern skills and workforce readiness helps communities develop the whole child.

6. Accessibility to students via electronic communication as well as face-to-face

Teachers and students can collaborate in many ways to advance their common goals. Often, that collaboration does not end with the last bell of the school day. In today’s connected world, the key is to find a balance between being easily accessible to your students without sacrificing your own productivity and free time.

In the Classroom: After setting clear expectations based on policies created for appropriate and documented communication, we can then find standard methods that will encourage students to become active learners. Try apps such as Remind and GroupMe to send and receive messages through text-messaging format. Social media outlets can also be used to provide informative announcements. As a teacher, make yourself a consistent schedule to be available electronically and stick to it. Consistency is key to ensure that students aren’t calling you at 1: 00 a.m. Remember to set boundaries and be mindful when setting a schedule for after-hours availability.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : In a virtual classroom, it is important to engage students in communication because you don't see them in person every day. Students and teachers can be equally active participants by threaded discussion posts, breakout rooms during video-conferencing classes, or interactive bulletin boards. Many educators are finding success with virtual office hours that allow for students to ask questions and get feedback. Make sure that your schedule allows time for your personal life outside of school. Set appropriate boundaries, and give yourself permission to give important personal matters priority. Remember that you are the one who gets to decide whether something is urgent or if it can wait. For some students, everything feels urgent.

For Growth Opportunities: Promoting communications with students can help you create a rapport, which can increase the ability to connect and identify your students’ needs. Establish virtual office hours where your students can reach out and ask questions or get help with assignments. Create a virtual bulletin board where you can post class information and helpful links for students. After a few weeks, review what has worked and what hasn’t, then poll students to see if their needs are being met in order to be successful in class. Some people find journal writing to be therapeutic; consider connecting journaling activities in your class to your district’s social-emotional learning (SEL) goals to provide mental health outlets for learners.

Marzano Dimension Two: Strategies Enacted on the Spot

7. Monitoring student work

Without an accurate view of student progress, effective classroom decision-making is challenging. Are your learners ready to move on to the next unit? Who is in need of remediation? Who would benefit from enrichment activities? Assessments, both formative and summative, are one good way of monitoring your students’ development.

In the Classroom: There are many ways to assess learning without adding to your grading pile. Informal assessment needs to occur regularly during lessons. By monitoring discussion and circulating the room while your students work, you can collect observational data to help drive instruction. Also, empowering your learners to keep portfolios of completed work and projects will help engage them in their own progress. This strategy gives your students a broad and tangible overview of their progress throughout the academic year.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : Monitoring student progress in a virtual environment can be more difficult, but it is not impossible. Educators can gather observational data by leveraging other informal strategies during synchronous learning like using a chat feature to ask and answer questions or to type in emojis, such as a thumbs up or thumbs down, to show if students understood a concept. Younger students can type in the chat box when answering problems. For older students, flipping the classroom can help stimulate deeper discussion during virtual class. Requiring students to view the lesson asynchronously helps stimulate a deeper discussion during the synchronous instruction where a teacher can observe student progress.

For Growth Opportunities: Reflect on how you are monitoring your students in your current class setting. Is it providing as much feedback as an in-person classroom would? Consider trying a new informal assessment to gather feedback, whether tweaking an in-person method to make it fit a virtual setting or implementing a brand-new task. Think of ways to monitor your students during asynchronous instruction as well, such as critiquing peer work using shareable documents, utilizing virtual collaboration boards, or using voice-recorded posts online. Allow students to redo assignments or turn in something else that allows them to choose how they understand a concept. Don’t be a stickler on the “how;” be a stickler on “what they mastered.”

8. Knowing every student by name and being able to recognize them outside of the online environment

Learning your students’ names might seem like common sense, but you won’t believe how many teachers are unable to call students by name a month, two months, or even several months after the first day of school. There are various reasons for this, but the bottom line is that your ability to connect with students whose names you don’t know is severely inhibited. For students with difficult home lives, forming this connection can be critical to their academic success.

In the Classroom: A great way to learn names is to arrange your students in alphabetical order—by first name. Taking attendance every day and saying students’ names every time you pass something out to them or take something from them at the beginning of the school year also gives you added practice in name and face recognition.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : Virtual classrooms should be no different when learning students’ names. For video calls, have students adjust their settings so that their first and last names are visible on screen. You can also get to know your students better by scheduling quick, virtual one-on-ones or small-group meetings where you can chat for a few minutes outside of the whole-class meeting. This will allow you to focus on a smaller group, giving you a more individual perspective of the students. You can also encourage students to log in a few minutes before class and give them some time to chat with each other, much like they would before a regular in-person class while they get settled. Whether it is in-person or a virtual setting, make sure that your school takes advantage of any of the tricks your LMS has to offer, like showing the previous year’s school pictures of your students.

For Growth Opportunities: Challenge yourself to get to know your students beyond just their names! Encourage them when they see you out in the hallways to say hello. Make it a point to know the names of all your students within the first two weeks and set mini goals throughout the first few days to learn a fun fact about each individual, such as a hobby or an interest. Share a few of your own interests, like if you happen to like pugs, Mr. Rogers, or have a favorite college sports team. These are the tiny details that will you and your students connect. Students will not always remember what you taught them, but they will always remember how you treated them.

9. Allowing students to progress through assignments at their own pace

We all know what it feels like to fall behind in a task or project. We also know what it’s like to excel at something over our peers. In both cases, the feeling can be awkward and distracting. Now, think about how students, who are just starting to find themselves and their talents, feel in one of those situations. Allowing students to progress through the curriculum at their own pace helps them get to know their own strengths and weaknesses, which builds their sense of confidence.

In the Classroom: Self-paced models allow students to design their own learning experience around not only pacing but also their interests and learning preferences. Providing small-group instruction is a go-to strategy to differentiate pace but not the only strategy. In many situations, small-group instruction can be most effective if the group of students has similar learning preferences and interests. Another strategy to consider is using online or computer-based curriculum to supplement instruction. With an adaptive platform, students can receive instruction in the appropriate areas and at the appropriate speed for their skill level.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : Virtual instruction allows for an easy transition to self-paced learning. In a virtual environment, the role of the instructor expands to provide guidance and feedback on proficiency and to tailor the learning environment to students’ needs. Start small by providing choice of assignments for the next learning goal. Allow students to see that you trust them to design their own learning; by doing this, students will feel a sense of responsibility for their academics. Self-paced learning allows students to show for themselves how they best learn.

For Growth Opportunities: Within your classroom, whether a virtual or in-person one, create an academic unit that will outline the learning goals, standards, and various activities of choice available for students. Allow students to pick an activity that interests them and to decide how they want to interact with the content. Once students feel they have mastered the material, have them check in and discuss the learning goal. If you feel they have demonstrated mastery, they can move on to the next learning goal. If not, they can select a different activity and try again.

10.  Providing help to understand and practice new knowledge

To help students acquire and master new knowledge is why teachers teach. It’s perhaps the most fundamental part of the job. That being said, it might also be the most complicated. Who do you help? When do you help them? How? Even veteran teachers struggle with these questions.

Implementation Tips: 

In the Classroom: Effective teachers employ multiple strategies that allow learners to demonstrate what they know. Most teachers prefer some sort of gradual release model, variations on “I do, we do, you do.” These kinds of models are where pacing and formative assessment take precedence. In theory, if curriculum is paced correctly and mastery has been achieved by all students in your class before moving on, no one should need help with the next topic. Of course, that’s rarely the case. And that’s why it’s important to perform some sort of formative assessment or pretest before each major topic or unit, with more informal assessments coming at the beginning and end of each lesson. You should also take the pulse of your class during a lesson. It may sound like a lot of work, but a deep understanding of formative assessment strategies is essential to help students grasp new material.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment: Within your program, ongoing practice and support can be individualized. You can offer scaffolded practice within your LMS with tools, apps, and widgets to afford learners opportunities to demonstrate mastery within their learning styles. An important thing to remember is that consistency is critical; maintaining a clear and present path. Make sure that things like logins, cadence, and routine—the various resources that are being utilized—don’t change. Mechanisms should be efficient and seamless between different settings.

For Growth Opportunities: The first barrier to effective teaching of new knowledge is simply time. Benchmarks have to be met. Tests have to have proper preparation. Often, students who are struggling the most need to be moved along for the sake of the rest of the class. The other barrier to this practice is a question of differentiation. In many classrooms, small groups, formative assessments, and online learning tools can help solve these challenges.

11.  Allowing students to ask questions during online courses/assignments

The process of Socratic questioning is cyclical and naturally occurs at various points of learning. Students are more engaged when they can ask questions throughout learning. Saving questions until the end of class risks running out of time and not serving students well.

In the Classroom: There are ways to encourage students to develop questions that will help the whole class progress through the lesson without completely overtaking class time. First, make your expectations clear. State that questions are welcome at almost any time during the class, but ask that no one interrupt while someone else is speaking and that questions only address the topic at hand. Make sure that these policies are available and easily visible as a reminder to your learners. Second, you should act as a model for your students of best practices for asking questions throughout the year. When your students are speaking, ask questions that drive the conversation forward. Always wait for them to finish a thought before launching your questions.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : Again, be sure to make your expectations for asking questions clear when holding class in a virtual environment. Some techniques that educators have had success with are asking students to mute their microphones unless they have a question and utilizing the “raise your hand” feature on video-conferencing platforms. Many video-conferencing platforms have a Q&A feature that does not interrupt the class during lecture time. Once you’ve compiled these questions, be sure to allow for 5 to 10 minutes before the lecture is over to address them.

For Growth Opportunities: Confusion is a natural part of the learning process. When faced with unanswered questions, students must have options to proceed. True learning occurs when learners persist—often assisted by various tools—to reach a moment of clarity and understanding. If classrooms have a clear protocol of where and how to find the “answer,” teachers are moving students closer to self-agency. Online learning offers the flexibility to access resources in real time with a supplemental structure of what to do and when and how to do it.

12. Treating all students equally

Every student is entirely unique, with different needs, strengths, ideas, and social-emotional requierments. With “students at promise,” by focusing on their potential as opposed to considering deficits first, educators can create an empowering environment and change the paradigm of what students need, both individually and collectively.

In the Classroom: When educators take the position of “guide” in the learning process, a shift takes place that gives learners more autonomy about discovering and synthesizing information and seeking out opportunities for practice. No two students will be on the same track at the same time. By offering multiple entry points for instruction—reteaching, practice, and reflection—educators are more likely to meet the varying needs of a diverse student group.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : One of the strengths of virtual learning is the removal of direct peer pressure during practice and review. Students who were prone to feeling defeated when peers move ahead quickly are more likely to persist in an independent space. Educators can remind learners that learning occurs after we go through a stage of confusion and that it varies from person to person and discipline to discipline. The more students discover and weave into their own learning styles and strengths, the more confidence and engagement they will realize.

For Growth Opportunities: Equity is a struggle throughout society, not just in educational institutions. Establishing growth models starts with obtaining baselines and setting reasonable, achievable marks for growth. Instead of relying solely on standardized test data, it is imperative for educators to recognize factors—such as trauma, disability, and poverty—related to social-emotional wellness and to do whatever possible to these mitigate those barriers.

Marzano Dimension Three: Strategies Addressing Content

13. Adding external resources to assignments aligned to local objectives

In today’s educational landscape, there is no lack of resources available to target standards and skills students need for graduation. It is a must that offerings of supplemental content and resources are in line and directly tied to specific and personalized learning goals. Implementing clear processes and protocol for learners regarding the organizing, accessing, and leveraging of the myriad of resources maximizes the return on the time investment for everyone.

In the Classroom: It is to both your own and your students’ benefit to use some filtering when students are seeking outside resources for assignments and projects. If possible, provide instruction not only in the curriculum but also in information gathering relative to the subject area your students are working on. Provide acceptable online options for students to consult in the course of their work by using a class website, blog, or other link-sharing system. This isn’t censorship; it’s a way to optimize the information-gathering process for your students and teach them about appropriate online research methods.

In a Virtual or Blended Environment : When supporting your “backbone” curriculum with supplemental resources in virtual programming, consider keeping it simple and clear. Target reliable and paid resources first to drive usage. Less can be more when putting together a resource list in your LMS. Invest in the front end, and take time to model the process and reasoning for using the specific supplemental content.

For Growth Opportunities: Students, particularly those in online learning settings, also need opportunities to unplug. Point out local real-world resources available like museums and libraries, even if they’re temporarily limited to online access. This is a great way to get students to venture out into the community. Consider offering extra credit in order to motivate your students to engage with the offline world. It also teaches students how to effectively research and use resources outside of the structured classroom.

Interested in hearing more about Marzano Research’s findings regarding online teaching best practices? Check out how Marzano Research peer-reviewed a research project that we conducted for our classroom practice and assessment program, Study Island !

This blog post was written by Edmentum’s Educational Programs Consulting Team: Angela Bilyeu, David Cicero , Laura Porter-Jones , Mark Radcliffe , Casey Stone , and Daryl Vavrichek .

Advanced Placement® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

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