High Impact Teaching Strategies

Examples tHAT illustrate the Strategy

Example 1: Years 7-9 – Languages

Language teachers at a Melbourne secondary school were aware many students were not progressing at the expected rate. In their Professional Learning Community (PLC) during Term 2, they discussed their existing differentiation practices (giving students’ either extension or revision tasks). They agreed these strategies were failing to extend all students. PLC members decided to monitor students’ learning using student assessment data. Their analysis of the data prompted the PLC to consider how they could use student assessment data to improve design of differentiation strategies that meet diverse student needs. In Term 3, the school appointed data managers for each year level. They assisted teachers to build accurate class profiles, and to establish precise learning objectives that specifically targeted student needs. The data enabled teachers to match learning goals with teaching and learning strategies, and supported lesson planning based on explicit teaching (see HITS 3). Teachers adopted flexible groupings which fostered mastery of new skills, allowing students to progress quickly to new learning. Teachers agreed to implement new strategies consistently, and to monitor their impact on student outcomes. They used formative assessment to monitor individual student progress and to provide students with real time feedback. Teachers used on-the-spot interventions to clarify and correct misunderstandings, and when appropriate, to guide students to the next learning objective. Throughout Terms 3 and 4, student data was shared at PLC meetings. The PLC studied the data to identify trends, evaluated student progress, and refined the strategies put in place. The data flow was encouraging as it showed students were more engaged and individual achievement levels were increasing. Teachers welcomed this school-wide approach. They were empowered to use the collective knowledge and expertise in the PLC. They found the approach effective because it enabled them to target their teaching to the exact point of student need.