Foreword to the Second Edition: The Importance of Evidence

Why? Because we continue to be more enamored with "innovation" than with evidence. In the main, educational initiatives are rarely selected on an empirical basis; they are chosen on the basis of "whims, fads, opportunism, and ideology" (Corcoran, Fuhrman, & Belcher, 2001; Sawchuk, 2015). For decades, we have preferred the easier work of adopting new, unproven initiatives to the harder work of mastering and implementing proven practices. It is within our power to change this—to enable unprecedented numbers of students to live longer, happier, more productive lives.

In the years since the first edition of this book was published, the case for the evidence-based elements advocated here has grown prodigiously: our best researchers now agree that their effect—if implemented—would be both rapid and dramatic.

That may sound intemperate. It is not. The notion that schools can improve both swiftly and significantly is not new and continues to gain support (Ripley, 2013). Michael Fullan, among our most eminent educational researchers, doesn't hedge: if we actually implemented the most "high-leverage" practices, they would result in "stunningly powerful consequences" for students (Fullan, 2010). And as researcher Bruce Joyce discovered, the best evidence-based practices are (1) virtually always effective and (2) they work "rapidly"—within the first year of implementation (in D. Sparks, 1998, p. 34). The schools described in these pages affirm this.

In my own effort to promote such "stunningly powerful consequences," I have updated every chapter to help educators navigate recent educational developments and mandates; to share the upsurge in evidence that supports the core elements advocated here; and to add more detailed guidance on how to implement them.

To that end, I have added:

• Late-breaking research and school evidence for the importance of simplicity—ensuring that improvement efforts are focused on an exceedingly clear, minimal set of essential actions.
• New evidence of the surging concurrence among researchers about the critical role of coherent, content-rich curriculum for improving both reading ability and educational quality. Because of this, I have clarified the process for building coherent, literacy-rich curriculum in any discipline.
• A detailed analysis of the Common Core standards, which emerged just as the first edition of Focus went to press. Since then, we have learned vital information about their best and worst features—and how to implement them successfully.
• An update on the growing acknowledgment of the power of explicit instruction—and how it is the friend, not the enemy, of the best open-ended, inquiry-based lessons, projects, and activities.
• A section, in Chapter 3, on the "obstacles to effective instruction"—the popular but unproven pedagogic fads and mandates that prevent us from focusing on the most high-leverage, evidence-based practices.
• Samples of learning objectives and stems at the end of each of the subject-area chapters, as these critical components of effective teaching continue to be a challenge for many educators.
• Updated treatment of the most straightforward ways to integrate literacy into the subject areas that includes a succinct set of "essential moves of writing instruction" that any teacher could adapt and implement routinely—without having to spend excessive time grading papers.
• Recent information about the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which also emerged after the first edition. There is explicit guidance on how to capitalize on the new, reduced "Progressions" (a positive development) while simplifying teachers' use of the (unfortunately) complex ancillary documents. I've also expanded the sections on science inquiry, investigations, and activities.
• Numerous new tasks, prompts, and questions; these can form the basis of ready-made, literacy-intensive lessons in each subject area.
• Expanded treatment of how we can create authentic, high-quality local assessments in every subject area. The effects of such changes would be transformative.
• Enhanced guidance on how we can significantly increase success rates in mathematics—in which failure rates are highest. We'll also look (for those interested) at the emerging consensus that math education is still in need of revision—well beyond the Common Core math guidelines.
• New evidence, from multiple schools, that reinforces the case that improvement can occur quite swiftly—within a single school year of focusing intensively on the best-known practices.

I hope these updates and additions will make this second edition clearer and more helpful to readers as they seek to achieve "stunningly powerful" results in their own schools.