Effective Supervision: Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching

Robert J. Marzano, Tony Frontier, and David Livingston

Table of Contents

About the Authors

About This Book

In Effective Supervision, Robert J. Marzano, Tony Frontier, and David Livingston show school and district-level administrators how to set the priorities and support the practices that will help all teachers become expert teachers.

Their five-part framework is based on what research tells us about how expertise develops. When these five conditions are attended to in a systematic way, teachers do improve their skills:

• A well-articulated knowledge base for teaching
• Opportunities for teachers to practice specific strategies or behaviors and to receive feedback
• Opportunities for teachers to observe and discuss expertise
• Clear criteria for success and help constructing professional growth and development plans
• Recognition of the different stages of development progressing toward expertise.

The focus is on developing a collegial atmosphere in which teachers can freely share effective practices with each other, observe one another’s classrooms, and receive focused feedback on their teaching strategies.

The constructive dynamics of this approach always keep in sight the aim of enhancing students' well-being and achievement.

As the authors note, "The ultimate criterion for expert performance in the classroom is student achievement. Anything else misses the point."

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About the Authors

ROBERT J. MARZANO is cofounder and CEO of Marzano Research Laboratory in Englewood, Colorado. A leading researcher in education, he is a speaker, trainer, and author of more than 30 books and 150 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. During his 40 years in public education, Marzano has worked in every U.S. state as well as countries in Europe and Asia.  Read more

TONY FRONTIER is a consultant, award-winning educator, and assistant professor of leadership studies at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He consults internationally on topics of effective instruction, student engagement, teacher supervision, and school leadership. He is coauthor of Five Levers to Improve Learning: How to Prioritize for Powerful Results in Your School, and a frequent contributor to Educational Leadership^® magazine.  Read more

DAVID LIVINGSTON is an associate with Marzano Research Laboratory, specializing in school- and district-level leadership and school improvement. He began his career in education in 1968 with the Chicago Teacher Corps. After a decade of teaching, he served for 20 years as principal of four elementary schools in Oregon and Colorado. From 1998 to 2005, he was executive director of elementary education for the Cherry Creek Schools in Colorado.  Read more