"There is a knowledge base" in education, Gordon Cawelti assured the packed audience at his session on the Handbook of Research on Improving Student Achievement. The Handbook identifies classroom practices that, according to research, improve student achievement. Cawelti, who edited the Handbook, served for 19 years as ASCD's executive director.
Practices supported by research do not necessarily produce large benefits relative to the alternatives, Cawelti noted. "On the whole, the results are modest." But if these practices are used in concert, over time they should yield bigger effects, he said.
One of Cawelti's copresenters, Herb Walberg of the University of Illinois, discussed "generic" practices supported by research (the subject of a chapter he wrote for the Handbook). Most of this research is based on standardized test scores, Walberg said. The following proven practices cut across the subject areas:
The "curriculum of the home". Schools can boost learning by encouraging parents to stimulate their children's intellectual development.
Graded homework. Students learn more when they are assigned homework that is graded, commented on, and discussed by their teachers.
Time on task. This factor has "an obvious relationship" with learning. Students who focus on educational goals master subject matter best.
Direct teaching. This approach is most effective when teachers use daily review, rapid presentation of new material, guided practice, corrective feedback, individual practice, and weekly and monthly reviews or tests.
Advance organizers. Giving students a "roadmap" helps them focus on key ideas. Showing students how new ideas relate to the real world increases the depth and breadth of learning.
Teaching of learning strategies. Students learn better when they have some control over learning goals and monitor their own progress.
Tutoring. Teaching one student or a small number with the same abilities and instructional needs can be "remarkably" effective.
Mastery learning. When subject matter needs to be learned through a sequence, teachers should ensure that students have mastered each step before they proceed to the next one.
Cooperative learning. Students can support and increase one another's learning when they are placed in small, self-instructing groups.
Adaptive education. Teachers can raise achievement by using a variety of instructional techniques to adapt lessons to individual students and small groups.
For more information about the Handbook of Research on Improving Student Achievement, contact the Educational Research Service, 2000 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201; (703) 243-2100.