Key takeaways
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Focus, and the coherence that it can bring, is key to implementing any system or framework
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Creating and implementing systems for high-quality, consistent instruction across every classroom is achievable with the right approach
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Using a framework for teaching that is grounded in the science of learning can yield exciting student achievement gains
Watch the full discussion on demand for more details.
Discovery Education held a webinar aimed at helping education leaders and their teams prepare for the upcoming school year. Toni Robinson, Teaching and Learning Director at Discovery Education, opened by noting that as a former educator herself, she always appreciated the slower rhythms of summer and the chance to reflect, reset, and think intentionally about the coming school year. But at the same time, summer is a busy time for instructional leaders and educators who are identifying priorities, refining curriculum, and organizing and completing professional learning to start the school year strong. Of course, the real challenge isn’t in creating the plan but in executing and sustaining it throughout the year so that it makes a significant difference for students.
Sustaining Instructional Improvement Throughout the School Year
Ms. Robinson explained that this webinar was designed to explore how school leaders and teachers can move beyond planning and professional learning to create high-quality Tier 1 instruction to be purposeful and stick, so that students ultimately benefit. She then introduced the two panelists who were going to lead the discussion: Stephanie Workman-Bolden, Senior VP of Partner Success at Discovery Education, and Bryan Goodwin, CEO of McREL Institute.
Backed by 10 years of experience in education and 10 years with Discovery Education, Ms. Workman-Bolden expressed that she most loves sitting with educators and district leaders to help them navigate complex decisions around students but also creating spaces for innovation.
Mr. Goodwin pointed out that McREL has partnered with Discovery Education for 10 years and that their main mission has always been to help people translate research into practical application in the classroom. For the last seven years, McREL’s focus has been on “the science of learning, how our brains work, and then looking at the science of teaching.” He explained that he would share practices they’ve seen in rigorous research, such as randomized control trials with a treatment group and a control group that help reveal causal connections about what’s happening.
The Secret to District Success
In response to Ms. Robinson’s question about what differences he sees between districts that can sustain instructional improvement throughout the year and those that struggle, Mr. Goodwin brought up focus. He elaborated, “What good systems do is they say, ‘Let’s focus on one spot. Let’s do one thing really well instead of a bunch of things poorly.’” In the end, it comes down to improving the quality of instruction in classrooms to boost student performance.
Matched Comparison Schools Study
In one study, a researcher named Sam Stringfield chose two schools that seemed to be the same on the surface—similar socioeconomic status of students, size, and context (rural, suburban, etc.). But they had one big difference: performance (high versus low). People who were not educators were asked to record and submit their observations of each school, but although they were not told which was high performing or low performing, they were able to figure it out. Dr. Stringfield then analyzed their observations, which covered:
- Expectations
- Student engagement
- Structure
- Use of data
- Relationships
- Student discourse
- Teacher morale
The Difference in High-Performing Schools
Rather than one or a few of these areas being key to high performance as a school, it turned out to be all of them together. And the high-performing school demonstrated consistency of high-quality instruction across classrooms. Mr. Goodwin pointed out, “It’s hard to have high-quality instruction if we’re not clear what that is, right? And some teachers define it really well.” So that connects to the focus of the webinar: How can leaders and educators move all of their systems to high-quality, consistent instruction and guarantee that every classroom has that kind of instruction.
Watch the full discussion on demand for more details.
How Districts Are Approaching High-Performance Expectations
Ms. Workman-Bolden, who works with leaders in districts across the country, spoke to how they are managing this kind of work and trying to ensure consistency as they prepare for the next school year. She noted that despite all the differences among states (standards, legislation, policies, accountability systems, etc.), leaders and teachers are all tackling the challenge of supporting Tier 1 instruction.
In getting ready for this webinar, Ms. Workman-Bolden asked a variety of people involved in education this question: “As you prepare for the next school year, what is your biggest opportunity or challenge in strengthening Tier 1 instruction?”
Responses varied by role:
- Teachers: Feeling confident in the content they’re teaching and that the instructional strategies they’ve learned will work with the new students
- Principals: Doing too much, there’s no through line through the district, and what to look for in classrooms that indicates engagement
- Curriculum and instruction: Knowing that professional learning is showing up in classrooms, assessing what worked and what didn’t, finding consistency without scripting, and creating shared frameworks/language in their district
Lasting Impact of Professional Learning During the Summer
Ms. Robinson asked Mr. Goodwin what he would recommend to increase the likelihood of transferring summer preparation and learning to fall classroom practice. Mr. Goodwin said, “I think it’s always best to start with what you’re hearing from teachers as their number one problem of practice. Don’t give them a new problem to solve.” He then mentioned having a consistent way of thinking about teaching and learning—a sort of operating system for classrooms, like a framework for teaching grounded in the science of learning.
Tapping Into the Science of Learning
The real power of starting with the science of learning is that it’s universal, although context always matters. This means thinking about how to apply a principle of the science of learning to local context.
Mr. Goodwin explored the three “buckets” that encompass the phases of learning and how educators can use an understanding of those phases to tailor their instructional strategies accordingly.
- Activate Thinking
- Become interested: Use cognitive interest cues
- Commit to learning: Students goal setting and monitoring
- Build Knowledge
- Focus on new learning: Present new knowledge using dual coding (visual and verbal)
- Make sense of learning: Allow time to pause and process new information
- Apply Learning
- Practice and reflect: Quizzing and independent practice
- Extend and apply learning: Cognitive writing and project-based learning
One surprising finding from Mr. Goodwin: “Learning objectives are necessary but not sufficient. Putting a learning objective on your board—that’s probably important to know where you’re going with the lesson. But if kids don’t take that learning objective and turn it into a personal goal for learning, it really is not going to make a difference.” Students owning their learning is what activates it.
Ms. Workman-Bolden noted that educators are tasked with creating these environments for students, but they need to be able to practice this level of instruction themselves as a learner. So professional learning should help educators see what these environments look like to prepare them for creating them in their own classrooms.
When asked about effect sizes in research studies, Mr. Goodwin shared that in the roughly 100 randomized control studies, McREL has seen some large effect sizes: anywhere from a 10 percentile point gain to a 49 percentile point gain!
See instructional strategies in action with our Discovery Education Experience interactive. Explore how Experience connects the phases of learning to engaging classroom activities to deepen learning and support instructional planning.
Putting It All Together in the Classroom
With all the demands on educators, how do they fit everything in, especially when working on the last two phases? Mr. Goodwin had some ideas that he brings up when helping educators think things through, such as:
- Teach more than one standard at a time
- Use cross-curricular units
- Ask administrators about slowing down to go deeper
- Incorporate bell ringer activities for retrieval practice
He also mentioned a school in Australia in which teachers focused on curiosity, literacy, and numeracy rather than test scores, and they leaned in to guided investigations as afternoon activities. What was the result? Higher test scores.
Building a system that connects in multiple ways, such as professional learning, PLCs, and co-teaching, along with coherence is essential for sustainability, Ms. Workman-Bolden and Mr. Goodwin concluded.
Framework Implementation and Scaling
Asked about adopting and scaling the use of a framework like McREL’s throughout a district, Mr. Goodwin came back to focusing on immediate needs and taking it step by step, yet seeing the big picture of how everything will tie together. In fact, another key ingredient in successful systems is the creation of a playbook that gives teachers an idea of what implementation looks like and practical strategies to use in their classroom. Ms. Workman-Bolden then spoke about how scaling will look different for each district, based on educator availability, culture, what leaders and their teams are open to and have been exposed to before, and where they are in adoption and implementation.
Discovery Education Support
What could you and your team do with some practical strategies to help you close the gap between how students learn and how instruction is designed? Try our free guide Instructional Design in Practice with Discovery Education Resources.
If you’d like professional learning that can inspire educator confidence and strengthen their efficacy, explore our in-person, virtual, hybrid, and microlearning options.
Moderator and Presenters
Toni Robinson, Teaching and Learning Director at Discovery Education
Stephanie Workman-Bolden, Vice President of Partner Success at Discovery Education
Bryan Goodwin, CEO of McREL Institute
