Teaching Practices from America's Best Urban Schools

Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the National Center for Urban School Transformation and Provost and Senior Vice President Emeritus, Dean Emeritus of the College of Education, and Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, USA. Cynthia L. Uline, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, USA. Lynne G. Perez, Ph.D., served as the Deputy Director of the National Center for Urban School Transformation at San Diego State University, USA.

About the Authors

Acknowledgments

Preface

Intended Audience

About the Schools Studied, Awarded, and Featured in This Book

Contents of the Book

How to Use This Book

1 Making Students Feel Valued and Capable

Caring Enough to Know and Value Individual Students

Caring Enough to Model Courtesy and Respect

Caring Enough to Praise and Acknowledge

Caring Enough to Demand the Best

Caring Enough to Transform Classroom Practices

Caring Enough to Create Attractive and Educationally Rich Physical Environments

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

2 Focusing on Understanding and Mastery

Planning for Understanding and Mastery

Designing Objective-Driven Lessons

Generating Depth of Understanding

Maximizing Time on Objective

Focusing on All Students

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

3 Promoting Clarity

Promoting Clarity in Learning Outcomes

Promoting Clarity in Lesson Organization

Promoting Clarity in the Representation of Ideas

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

4 Ensuring Culturally, Socially, and Personally Responsive Teaching

Assuming Student Ability

Building Connections

Ensuring Culturally Responsive Teaching

Ensuring Socially and Personally Responsive Teaching

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

5 Checking Understanding, Providing Feedback, and Adapting

Frequency of Checking for Understanding

Well-Distributed Checking for Understanding

Checking for Higher Levels of Understanding

Providing Feedback

Adapting Instruction

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

6 Building Fluency with Gatekeeper Vocabulary

Pre-Identifying Gatekeeper Vocabulary

Making New Vocabulary Seem Familiar

Building Fluency with and "Ownership" of Critical Vocabulary

Sustaining Fluency

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

7 Promoting Successful Practice

Guiding Students toward Independent Learning

Guided Students to Learn Difficult Concepts

Monitoring Independent Work

Building Student Capacity to Self-Monitor

Providing Independent Work (Including Homework) Worth Completing

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

8 Leading Students to Love Learning

Teaching Enthusiastically

Highlighting Relevance

Utilizing Project-Based, Problem-Based, Experiential Learning

Integrating the Arts, Technology, and Physical Education throughout Curricula

Maximizing Student-to-Student Engagement

Providing Students Opportunities to Excel with Challenging Content

Summary

What It Is & What It Isn’t

Practice Guide

Practical Next Steps

References

9 Developing Best Teaching Practices Throughout a School

Pursuing the Right Goal

Building a Coherent Educational Improvement System

Summary

References

Conclusion

Appendix A: America’s Best Urban Schools Award 2019 Eligibility Criteria

Appendix B: About the Schools Awarded and Studied

Appendix C: America’s Best Urban Schools Award Winners

References