We have never known more than we do now about teaching multilingual students -- nevertheless, we teeter on the edge of retreating to old-think practices. The next generation depends upon our getting this right, and this spare, salient guide helps ensure we do. "Kids Come in All Languages" provides teachers and leaders with all they need…

Although research indicates that feedback can be one of the most effective instructional strategies for improving student performance, getting students to listen and act on feedback can be complicated. If feedback is vague and personal, students may pay attention only to positive comments that are positive and boost their self-image ("That…

The metaphor of the mirror, the window, and the doorway embodies the principles of culturally sustaining and academically rigorous classrooms. Effective classrooms provide all students with a mirror in which they can see themselves. The books, topics, and issues they encounter foster insights into their own personal and cultural experiences.…

Students love to talk. So do teachers. When there's a balance in the classroom between student and teacher discourse, good things happen. When students assume increased responsibility for discussions, when they interact with a wide range of peers on diverse topics and supply evidence for their thinking, great things happen. Noted educators…

Chula Vista Elementary School District, the largest in California, dramatically raised its student achievement while taking on increasing proportions of English learners by focusing on what it calls teacher talk--the way lessons are developed, delivered, and executed.

This study examined teachers' actions during small-group guided instruction as they scaffolded students' understanding. The data suggest that expert teachers use a process that has four components: questions to check for understanding, prompts for cognitive and metacognitive work, cues to alter the learners' attention, and direct explanations. As…

Comprehension strategies, while helpful, are not sufficient to produce student achievement at high levels. The authors examine the role of background knowledge and vocabulary in developing understanding and facilitating achievement. Through purposeful instruction in vocabulary and by building and activating background knowledge, teachers can help…

In this book, the authors explain why telling students things over and over--and perhaps more slowly and more loudly--does not result in understanding. Instead, discover how to use a combination of questions, prompts, cues, direct explanations, and modeling to guide students' learning and build their understanding. Explore an approach to…

Motivation has long been viewed as a key element of learning. A study of over 300 high school juniors and seniors demonstrated that motivation was at least as predictive of achievement in a subject as was intelligence. Among younger students, motivation is a linchpin to learning, even at a time developmentally when overall motivation for…