Written By Carolyn Goode
For decades, schools and districts across the country have searched for ways to improve their students’ academic performance. Numerous articles and books are available, and educators continue to implement strategies proven to work with all children, regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds. Successful schools and districts know that the solution to improving student performance and closing the achievement gap is simple, they must Teach to the Objective (T2O), not merely explain a concept or skill. There is a big difference. Students retain and transfer information when teachers directly instruct what they are going to learn and why a skill or concept is important to learn, Teachers who include teaching to the objectives achieve optimal student achievement.
Research shows that teaching for learning involves engaging students in the learning process and making lessons relevant. There is evidence proving that teachers who analyze data, identify needs, align standards, preplan lessons, and implement T2O at the correct level of difficulty (Webb/Bloom), increase students’ chances of retaining what they learn and transferring it to new learning. Therefore, the key to student success is to teach so that students learn, retain, and transfer skills and concepts taught rather than memorize, and then forget.
For example, if s standard requires students to Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns, the teacher cannot simply assign tasks that require students to repetitively identify or match regular and irregular plural nouns, Students must be taught how to form, use, and contextualize regular and irregular plural nouns. Teachers should help students understand how they will use regular and irregular plural nouns in life. Not only must the teacher make the lesson understandable, but they must make it relevant. Teachers must decide how to help students connect with their learning and understand how it will benefit them. When lesson relevancy is established, students are motivated to learn. This will help students retain and transfer their knowledge of the skill or concept taught.
In 1987, the Madelyn Hunters’ process for teaching and learning was established as an effective teaching and planning tool. More than 30 years later, Madelyn Hunter’s Direct Instruction (DI) process for teaching remains just as effective as an instructional tool. Schools and districts who achieve measurable and optimal success at closing achievement gaps report that their teachers routinely implement a research-based process like Hunter’s DI model.
There is ample research indicating that schools where lessons are standard aligned and research-based get better results. Research also shows that when teachers use processes like T2O, and Hunter’s DI model to teach these lessons, their students understand the content, retain skills, apply concepts, and crystalize their knowledge. As a serendipitous result, they also perform better on summative assessments.
Standards Plus instructional materials were developed and implemented in a district that won national accolades for improved student achievement. Every Standards Plus program is research based. Every direct instruction lesson in every program has verified content validity, was developed to teach grade-level standards and teaches to the objective. All program formats are flexible and easily aligned to adopted curricula and instructional calendar. Most importantly Standards Plus programs have been implemented in multiple districts and the materials are proven to be effective.
About the Author: Carolyn Goode was assigned as principal to lead the lowest performing school in a large urban school district. Under her leadership, the school became a national award-winning model for school improvement. Her school relied on Standards Plus materials to support her successful outcomes.