Get it right the first time!

High-quality classroom instruction is paramount to student achievement. It strengthens their confidence, cuts down on the need for remediation, and increases opportunities to extend learning beyond mere proficiency. Quality instruction is what every parent hopes for his or her child, what every educator aspires to provide, and what every student needs.

In this article, we focus specifically on what constitutes high-quality initial instruction, by which we mean instruction that has been carefully planned to include research-based strategies and elements known to help students acquire new knowledge. For example, such strategies include chunking content into manageable pieces, putting students into pairs or small groups to help each other assimilate new material, providing graphic organizers to help students see patterns, and focusing lessons on key content to avoid wasting time on less important material.

Additionally, we suggest that teachers can support each other in providing effective initial instruction by engaging in collaborative conversations — within their existing professional learning communities — about how specific academic standards translate to classroom practices.