From the First Days of School Book, read Chapters 16 and 17, pages 131-146.  Write a 2 page synopsis for each chapter.  Include the following from each chapter:
For Chapter 16:  Key Idea, Effective Roll Taking, Three Ways to take Roll Effectively 
For Chapter 17: Key Idea, Grade Book, Grade Record Book, Three Basic Records, Electronic Grade Book
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THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL
HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER
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HARRY K. WONG
ROSEMARY T. WONG
Some people go into teaching because it is a job. Some people go into teaching to make a difference. We are
pleased to share with the teaching profession our contribution to making a difference.
HARRY K. WONG PUBLICATIONS, INC.
www.EffectiveTeaching.com
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Dedication
Dedicated to my father and mother,
Who wanted me to be a brain surgeon.
I exceeded their expectations.
I became a scholar and a teacher.
—Harry K. Wong
Dedicated to Mr. Frederick McKee,
My first principal, whose evaluation of me said
I needed better “classroom management” skills.
Thank you for telling me I needed to improve my skills.
I did. It worked!
—Rosemary T. Wong
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Copyright © 2009 by Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication or any related materials referenced herein may be stored in a
retrieval system, transmitted, reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, or be the basis for any derivative works, without the prior agreement and written
permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-9764233-1-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008903342
Executive Producer: Rosemary T. Wong
Graphic Design Team: Heidi Heath Garwood, Nancy Roberts, Mark Van Slyke
Production Team: Jean Bong, Tim Chen
Editorial Team: Eric Gill, Megan Pincus Kajitani
Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.
943 North Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA 94043-1932
Telephone: 650-965-7896
Facsimile: 650-965-7890
Internet: www.EffectiveTeaching.com
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Contents
About the Authors
Unit A
Basic Understandings _The Teacher
The successful teacher must know and practice the three characteristics of an effective teacher.
Chapter 1
Why You Need to Succeed on the First Days of School
Chapter 2
What Is an Effective Teacher?
Chapter 3
How You Can Be a Happy First-Year Teacher
Chapter 4
How to Close the Student Achievement Gap
Chapter 5
Why You Should Use Proven, Research-Based Practices
Unit B
First Characteristic _Positive Expectations
The effective teacher has positive expectations for student success.
Chapter 6
Why Positive Expectations Are Important
Chapter 7
How to Help All Students Succeed
Chapter 8
How to Dress for Success
Chapter 9
How to Invite Students to Learn
Chapter 10
How to Increase Positive Student Behavior
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Unit C
Second Characteristic _Classroom Management
The effective teacher is an extremely good classroom manager.
Chapter 11
How to Have a Well-Managed Classroom
Chapter 12
How to Have Your Classroom Ready
Chapter 13
How to Introduce Yourself to Your Class
Chapter 14
How to Arrange and Assign Seating
Chapter 15
How to Start a Class Effectively
Chapter 16
When and How to Take Roll
Chapter 17
How to Maintain an Effective Grade Record System
Chapter 18
How to Have an Effective Discipline Plan
Chapter 19
How to Teach Students to Follow Classroom Procedures
Chapter 20
How Procedures Improve the Opportunity to Learn
Unit D
Third Characteristic _Lesson Mastery
The successful teacher knows how to design lessons to help students achieve.
Chapter 21
How to Create an Effective Assignment
Chapter 22
How to Test for Student Learning
Chapter 23
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How to Assess for Student Learning
Chapter 24
How to Enhance Student Learning
Unit E
Future Understandings _The Professional
The teacher who constantly learns and grows becomes a professional educator.
Chapter 25
How to Be a Teacher-Leader
Epilogue
How to Develop a Culture of Effective Teachers
She Succeeded on Her First Day of School
Photo Credits
Appendices
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About the Authors
Who are Harry and Rosemary Wong?
They are teachers.
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Unit A
Basic Understandings _The Teacher
The successful teacher must know and practice the three characteristics of an effective teacher.
Chapter 1
Why You Need to Succeed on the First Days of School
Your success during the school year will be determined by what you do on the first days of school.
Chapter 2
What Is an Effective Teacher?
The beginning teacher must become proficient in the three characteristics of an effective teacher.
Chapter 3
How You Can Be a Happy First-Year Teacher
The beginning teacher must perform the full complement of skills while learning those skills.
Chapter 4
How to Close the Student Achievement Gap
The effectiveness of the teacher determines the level of student achievement.
Chapter 5
Why You Should Use Proven, Research-Based Practices
Effective teachers use proven, research-based practices that are employed by thousands of other teachers.
Unit A is correlated with Part 1: “The Effective Teacher” in the DVD series The Effective Teacher.
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CHAPTER 1
Why You Need to Succeed on the First Days of School
THE KEY IDEA:
Your success during the school year will be determined by what you do on the first days of school.
Success on the First Day of School
Successful teachers have a script or a plan ready for the first day of school.
What you do on the first days of school will determine your success or failure for the rest of the school
year. Knowing how to structure a successful first day of school will set the stage for an effective classroom
and a successful school year.
College professor Douglas Brooks videotaped a series of teachers on their first day of school. Looking at the
recording afterward, he made a startling discovery. The ineffective teachers began their first day of school by
covering the subject matter or doing a fun activity. These teachers spent the rest of the school year chasing
after the students.
The effective teachers spent time organizing and structuring their classrooms so the students knew
what to do to succeed. He wrote his findings in an article, “The First Day of School.” (Brooks, Douglas M.
(May 1985). “The First Day of School.” Educational Leadership, pp. 76–78.)
The most important thing to establish in the first week of school is CONSISTENCY. People want to know
exactly what they are getting and what will be happening. Students do not want surprises or disorganization.
Consistency prevents them from asking, “What are we doing today?”
Students want a safe, predictable, and nurturing environment—one that is consistent. Students like wellmanaged classes because no one yells at them, and learning takes place. Effective teachers spend the first two
weeks teaching students to be in control of their own actions in a consistent classroom environment.
Effective teachers teach classroom management procedures that create consistency. Their classrooms
are caring, thought-provoking, challenging, and academically successful. A well-managed classroom is the
foundation for learning in the classroom. Therefore, Unit C in this book may be the most important for you to
read and implement as you start the first days of school.
Effective teachers have lesson plans and procedures that produce student learning. Unit D in this book
will walk you through how to get your students to achieve.
Click to read the Sidebar story: Hand in the Work
Please read this link about Going Beyond information
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Effective Teachers Script Their First Day of School
A coach scripts the first 10 to 20 plays of a football game. A wedding coordinator has a plan or agenda for the
sequence of events at a wedding. Likewise, an effective teacher is ready with a script or classroom
management plan on the first day of school.
Diana Greenhouse, a teacher in Texas, says, “What an incredible first year of teaching this has been. When I
look back at all I accomplished, it takes my breath away. My students learned and I loved every minute of
teaching.
“And it all started with that very first minute of the first day. I started the school with a PowerPoint
presentation of my classroom management plan.”
Kazim Cicek, a teacher in Oklahoma, says he spent his first three years in the profession as a warrior. The
students fought him and he fought them. Then, four days before the start of his fourth year—one that he did not
want to start—he heard Harry Wong speak at a preschool meeting and had a “light bulb moment.” Over a long
weekend, he created a PowerPoint presentation of his classroom management plan.
At the end of his fourth year he said, “The wish I wished my students was also given to me. I, too, had a
wonderful year.”
Today, he is a very happy and successful teacher.
Click to read the Sidebar story: teachers.net
Click for GoBe folder information: Classroom Management Plans
Student achievement at the end of the year is directly related to the degree to which the teacher
establishes good control of the classroom procedures in the very first week of the school year.
The effective teacher establishes good control of the class in the very first week of school. Control does
not involve threats or intimidation. Control means that you know (1) what you are doing, (2) your classroom
procedures, and (3) your professional responsibilities. It is very reassuring to your students that you know
what you are doing.
There is overwhelming evidence that the first two to three weeks of school are critical in determining
how well students will achieve for the remainder of the year.
You must have everything ready and organized when school begins. Your success during the school year will
be determined by what you do on the first days of school.
Click to read the Sidebar story: Don’t Be a Pal
Effective Teachers Produce Results
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The subtitle of this book is “How to Be an Effective Teacher.” Effective means “to effect,” “to produce
results.”
When you interact with people, such as a plumber, salesperson, dentist, or lawyer, you expect that person to
be effective—to produce results. Likewise, the effective teacher is someone who can produce learning.
To be effective, a person is firstly proficient. Proficient refers to someone who continually acquires
knowledge and skills to, in turn, be able to teach effectively.
PROFICIENT: possessing knowledge and skills
EFFECTIVE: to produce results
The EFFECTIVE teacher IMPACTS lives.
The Four Stages of Teaching
There are four stages to teaching, yet many teachers never progress beyond the Survival stage. (Ryan, Kevin.
(1986). The Induction of New Teachers. Bloomington, Ind.: Phi Delta Kappa.) The purpose of The First
Days of School is to get you out of stage two, Survival, and on to the third stage, Mastery, so you can be the
difference in the lives of your students.
The Four Stages of Teaching
1. Fantasy
2. Survival 3. Mastery
4. Impact
Stage 1—Fantasy. Many neophyte teachers have the naïve belief that to be a successful teacher, all they need
to do is relate and be a friend to their students. They rarely talk about standards, assessment, or student
achievement. Entertaining students with activities is their concept of teaching.
Stage 2—Survival. Teachers in the Survival stage have not developed instructional skills as explained in Unit
D. They spend their time looking for busywork for the students to do, such as completing worksheets,
watching videos, and doing seatwork—anything to keep the students quiet. Student learning and achievement
are not their goals; they teach because it’s a job and the paycheck is their Survival goal.
Stage 3—Mastery. Teachers who know how to achieve student success employ effective practices. These
teachers know how to manage their classrooms. They teach for mastery, and have high expectations for their
students. Effective teachers strive for Mastery by reading the literature and going to professional meetings.
Student learning is their mission and student achievement is their Mastery goal.
Stage 4—Impact. Effective teachers make a difference in the lives of their students. These are the teachers to
whom students come back years later and thank for affecting their lives. To make an impact on your students,
you need to use effective teaching practices, which is the subject of this book. A student learns only when the
teacher has an appreciable impact on the student’s life. When you reach this stage, you have gone beyond
Mastery; you have arrived as a teacher.
When you reach the Impact stage, you will return to the Fantasy stage—and fulfill your fantasy or dream of
making a difference in the lives of your students. You’ll also become a teacher-leader and live a happier life
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with a sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that you are contributing to the profession.
Impact
Teachers universally say they go into teaching to make a difference.
You more than make a difference.
You ARE the difference.
Click to read the Sidebar story: It’s Never Too Late
Effective Teachers Impact Lives
Teachers who are proficient and effective are more capable of impacting the lives of students than
teachers who are not proficient and effective.
The effective teacher knows how to bring the class to order quickly, explain rules and procedures, find out
important information about the students, and let them know what to expect in the coming days. The next
chapters will teach you these skills.
Relationships are created in an effectively run classroom. There is a trusting relationship between an effective
teacher and the students. Finding out about the students is important in an effectively run classroom.
You were hired to impact lives. You were hired not so much to teach third grade, or history, or physical
education, as to influence lives. Touch the life of a student, and you will have a student who will learn history,
physical education, even science and math, close the windows, staple all the papers, and turn cartwheels to
please you.
The beginning of school is critical. What you do in the first days of school to affect the lives of your
students will determine your success the rest of the year.
THE EFFECTIVE TEACHER
1. Uses a script to organize the class the first week of school.
2. Continually acquires knowledge and skills.
3. Produces results.
4. Impacts and touches lives.
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CHAPTER 2
What Is an Effective Teacher?
THE KEY IDEA:
The beginning teacher must become proficient in the three characteristics of an effective teacher.
The Effective Teacher
The Three Characteristics of an Effective Teacher
1. Has positive expectations for student success
2. Is an extremely good classroom manager
3. Knows how to design lessons for student mastery
There are three characteristics of an effective teacher, and they apply to all teachers. (Good, Thomas
L., and Jere Brophy. (2007). Looking in Classrooms. Needham, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon, pp. 8, 9, 12, 47, 71,
and 301.) These characteristics are known, and you can easily learn how to be a very effective teacher.
Teaching is a craft, a highly skilled craft that can be learned!
What works in a kindergarten classroom or a high school classroom also works with modification in any
other classroom.
The teacher with an ineffective classroom is constantly looking for activities to grab the students’ attention.
They are eager to present their lessons, do their exciting activities, and share their wonderful knowledge. But,
none of these techniques will be successful until you become skilled in the characteristics of an effective
teacher. Teaching is not covering chapters or doing activities.
It’s not what you put in; it’s the outcome you get from the students.
Every one of us is both a student and a teacher.
We are at our best when we each teach ourselves what we need to learn.
Research consistently shows that of all the factors schools can control, the effective teacher has the greatest
impact on student achievement.
Decade after decade of educational innovations and fads have not increased student achievement. The only
factor that increases student achievement is the significance of an effective teacher.
Positive Expectations
Positive expectations, sometimes called high expectations, should not be confused with high standards.
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Having positive expectations simply means that the teacher believes in the learner and that the learner
can learn.
The belief in positive expectations is based on research, which demonstrates that the learner will produce
what the teacher expects the learner to produce. If you believe a student is a low-level, below-average, slow
learner, the student will perform accordingly because these are the beliefs you transmit to the student. If you
believe a student is a high-ability, above-average, capable learner, the student will perform at that level
because these are the expectations you transmit to the student.
It is essential that the teacher exhibit positive expectations toward all students. Unit B discusses ways to
convey positive expectations and explains the importance of positive expectations, an attitude that benefits the
teacher and the student, as well as the overall classroom environment.
Classroom Management
Classroom management consists of the practices and procedures that a teacher uses to maintain an
environment in which instruction and learning can occur. For this to happen, the teacher must create a wellordered environment.
Discipline has very little to do with classroom management. You don’t discipline a store; you manage it. The
same is true of a classroom. Unit C explains how to manage a classroom, applying the principle that a wellordered environment leads to an effective classroom. The effectiveness of such an environment is the
result of how well the teacher learns the skill of managing the classroom.
Click for GoBe folder information: Close to a Miracle
Click to read the Sidebar story: Students Work Without the Teacher Present
Lesson Mastery
Mastery refers to how well a student can demonstrate that a concept has been comprehended, or
perform a skill at a level of proficiency, as determined by the teacher. Unit D explains how to teach for
mastery.
When a home is built, the contractor receives a set of blueprints from the architect. The blueprints specify the
degree of competence that will be acceptable. The inspector who periodically checks on the construction
always looks at the blueprint first and then checks the workmanship to see if the work has been performed to
the degree of competence specified.
Well-Ordered Environment + Positive Academic Expectations = Effective Classroom
Teaching is no different. To teach for mastery or competence, an effective teacher must do three things:
1. Know how to design lessons in which a student will be able to learn a concept or a skill to a goal or
standard.
2. Know how to deliver the instruction to teach to the goal or standard.
3. Know how to assess and provide corrective action for learning so the student can master the concept or
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the skill.
Student success in the subject matter of the class depends on how well the teacher designs lessons and
checks for mastery.
THE EFFECTIVE TEACHER
1. Exhibits positive expectations for all students.
2. Establishes good classroom management techniques.
3. Designs lessons for student mastery.
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CHAPTER 3
How You Can Be a Happy First-Year Teacher
THE KEY IDEA:
The beginning teacher must perform the full complement of skills while learning those skills.
The First Year Can Be Successful
Here’s the biggest secret to teaching success: Beg, Borrow, and Steal!
It’s really not stealing. It’s really research and learning. You walk into the classrooms of effective teachers,
look around, and if you see something that you think might help you, say, “Gimme, gimme, gimme.” There are
many veteran teachers who will be happy to share with you and help you.
We are in a community of equals, not a community of experts. We are members of a common community. Don’t
be afraid to ask and learn. Through mutual support and sharing, we improve our profession.
Your first day of teaching will be an exciting, anticipated event but very frightening at the same time. Yet you
can succeed if you learn how to be effective on the first days of school.
Click to read the Sidebar story: The First Year of Teaching Is the Most Crucial
Teacher Education Will Not Have Prepared You
The schools of education are not to be blamed. No one ever said that education ends with a college degree.
Some people enter teaching by way of an alternative certification route. Regardless, the best teachers are also
the best students. Good teachers are continually improving themselves by going back to college; joining
professional organizations; attending conventions, conferences, and workshops; participating in staff
development meetings; and working cooperatively with others on the staff in collegial support networks and
learning communities to improve student achievement.
Student Teaching Will Not Have Prepared You
Your master teacher is not to be blamed. No one ever trained your master teacher in what to teach you. Few
student teachers enter teaching with any experience in what to do on the first day of school. Typically, the
master teacher started the class and then turned the class over to the student teacher. Thus, most student
teachers enter the teaching profession with no training and no experience in what to do on the first day of
school.
The First Year of Teaching Can Be Frightening
1. Teacher education will not have prepared you.
2. Student teaching will not have prepared you.
3. The district may not have prepared you.
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4. Yet, you will be expected to perform immediately.
Some Districts Have Induction Programs to Prepare You
In teaching, entry into the profession can be sudden. In the business world, new employees receive
comprehensive training from day one, allowing them to gradually gain knowledge, experience, and
responsibility until retirement.
Have you ever wondered why your seemingly problem students do so well at a local store or fast-food
restaurant? Restaurants such as McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza have sophisticated training programs to
prepare workers before they face the public. Go behind the scenes at any place of business and you will see
workers in training reviewing videos, reading instruction manuals, and learning various aspects of their jobs.
Effective districts and schools, likewise, have a training or comprehensive induction program for all
newly hired teachers.
Regretfully, in some schools, newly hired teachers are merely given a key to a room and told to go teach,
leaving you to
Figure it out yourself. Do it yourself. Keep it to yourself.
The beginning teacher is expected to assume the same tasks and responsibilities as the most seasoned
teacher on the staff.
What will really prepare you for teaching in your district is an organized new teacher induction program.
Induction is a structured multi-year program that will train and support you as you become an effective
teacher. To learn more about induction, go to NewTeacher.com and read many of the articles on the website.
Also, read New Teacher Induction: How to Train, Support, and Retain New Teachers. (Breaux, Annette, and
Harry K. Wong. (2003). New Teacher Induction: How to Train, Support, and Retain New Teachers.
Mountain View, Calif.: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.)
Attention New Teachers: If you are a new teacher looking for a teaching job, you need to ask if the
district has an induction program. Do not sign a contract until you ask. Districts with induction programs
care that you succeed. This entails more than simply giving you a mentor.
Effective districts want to help their newly hired teachers succeed. They offer induction programs that begin
before the first day of school and may extend for several years thereafter. Induction is more than orientation,
mentoring, or evaluation. It’s the training a district gives to bring out the teacher you are meant to be. Please
do not be so naïve to think that you can succeed on your own without help.
Click for GoBe folder information: 10 Questions to Ask
You Will Be Expected to Perform Immediately
When you become a first-year teacher, you will be an equal with all the other teachers. You will have the
same students they teach, you will teach from the same curriculum, and you will have the same administrators.
You will have the same duties and responsibilities as all the other teachers.
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Yet, you will be expected to be perfect on the first day of school and then get better each year. You can
do it, but you will be able to do it better if your district puts you through an induction program and you
recognize that becoming an effective teacher is a never-ending learning process.
You will be expected to perform your full complement of duties immediately while learning them at the
same time.
Education is not a product; it is a never-ending process. The purpose of this book is to give you some
insight, ideas, and choices about how to start your first days of school. Note the word, “choices.” The quality
of the choices you make today will dictate the quality of your opportunities tomorrow.
There are no pat answers in education, no simple answers, no quick-fixes, no sure model, no foolproof
methods. There are teachers, who become effective because they make teaching a profession and not a job.
They continue to learn, and from their fund of knowledge they make choices about each appropriate
strategy they should use.
Your whole life is ahead of you, and it can be filled with happiness and success. If you want positive results
from your professional career, know that your colleagues are your best resource.
Work in a collegial manner with your colleagues.
Associate with and learn from positive mentors and coaches.
Join a professional organization.
Continue to learn through classes, workshops, conferences, professional meetings, books, journals, CDs,
DVDs, the Internet, and advanced degrees.
Click for GoBe folder information: Websites
You now have the rest of the school year and your professional years ahead of you to truly enjoy. You can be a
happy, successful, and exciting teacher.
Inside Every Great Teacher there is an even better one waiting to come out.
Click to read the Sidebar story: You Can Have Any Job in Education in Three to Five Years With a Raise
in Salary of 25 Percent or More
THE EFFECTIVE TEACHER
1. Works cooperatively and learns from colleagues.
2. Seeks out a colleague who serves as a role model.
3. Goes to professional meetings to learn.
4. Has a goal of striving for excellence.
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CHAPTER 4
How to Close the Student Achievement Gap
THE KEY IDEA:
The effectiveness of the teacher determines the level of student achievement.
The Importance of Effective Teachers
The greatest asset of a school is its people.
School does not begin until the teacher walks into the classroom. It is the teacher—what the teacher knows
and can do—that is the most significant factor in student achievement. The more effective the teacher, the
more successful the students.
The Difference Between an Effective Teacher and an Ineffective Teacher
There’s only one difference: The ineffective teacher is simply not doing what the effective teacher is doing.
Do what the effective teacher is doing, and the ineffective teacher will be effective—instantly.
Successful teachers are innovative planners, exceptional classroom managers, adept critical thinkers,
and competent problem solvers. Successful people MAKE themselves do the things unsuccessful people
will not do.
Ineffective teachers look for busywork to kill class time. They are survivors. They whine that nothing useful
ever applies to them, fully expecting others to tell them what to do.
The effective teacher is a creative teacher—one who can think, adapt, and implement. Effective teachers
steal from the best and learn from the rest. They look at the resources available to them and reorganize
those resources to work toward a goal.
Effective teachers are problem solvers. They analyze, synthesize, and create materials to help students learn.
A true professional and effective teacher is a learner who learns along with the students.
Here are some observations on the importance of effective teachers:
The most effective teachers can produce 9 months or more of learning, essentially a full year, than
ineffective teachers. (Rowan B., R. Correnti, and R. Miller. (2002). “What Large-Scale Survey Research
Tells Us About Teacher Effects on Student Achievement.” Teachers College Record, 104, pp. 1525–
1567.)
Teacher expertise accounts for a greater difference in student performance—40 percent—than any other
factor. (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. (November 1997). Doing What
Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching. NCTAF, 2100 M Street NW, Suite 660, Washington, D.C.
20037, p. 8.)
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Students who have several effective teachers in a row make dramatic achievement gains, while those
who have even two ineffective teachers in a row lose significant ground. (Sack, Joetta. “Class Size,
Teacher Quality Take Center Stage at Hearing.” Education Week, May 5, 1999, p. 22.)
Teacher quality accounts for more than 90 percent of the variation in student achievement. (National
Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, p. 9.)
The single greatest effect on student achievement is not race, not poverty—it is the effectiveness of the
teacher. (Rivers, June C., and William L. Sanders. “Teacher Quality and Equity in Educational
Opportunity: Findings and Policy Implications.” Presented at the Hoover/PRI Teacher Quality
Conference, Stanford University, May 12, 2000, p. 4.)
As teacher effectiveness increases, lower-achieving students are the first to benefit. (Sanders, William L.
(1996). “Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Academic Achievement.”
University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center, p. 7.)
Click to read the Sidebar story: Quality Teaching
Teachers Want Success
It’s the teachers and their instructional practices—not the curriculum programs or a change in the school
structure—that improve student learning. Teachers do not want programs; they want achievement for their
students.
Programs do not produce achievement; teachers produce student achievement. Money is much better
spent training and developing teachers than for buying one program after another. Educational leaders know
that what matters most is whether schools can offer their neediest students good teachers who are trained in
effective strategies to teach strong academic knowledge and skills.
Click to read the Sidebar story: Successful Teachers Come in All Subjects and Grade Levels
Click for GoBe folder information: Stories of Successful Teachers
How to Improve Student Achievement
The ineffective teacher affects little, if any, growth in students. The effective teacher, even in an ineffective
school, produces improved student learning and increased student achievement.
Imagine the student is achieving at the 50th percentile and the student is placed in one of the following
situations. After two years, Robert Marzano’s research concludes the following:
If the student has an ineffective teacher in an ineffective school, student achievement will drop from
the 50th percentile to the 3rd percentile.
If the student has an ineffective teacher in an effective school, student achievement will still drop to the
37th percentile.
However, if the student has an effective teacher in an ineffective school, student achievement will rise to
the 63rd percentile.
It’s the teacher. It’s the teacher.