Improving Student Achievement
One Teacher at a Time

Learning Targets-Curriculum
Planning for Instruction
Assessment Strategies
Grading and Recordkeeping
Reading and Learning
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Improving Student Achievement begins with the classroom teacher.

Student achievement improves when teachers use the Big Four (©2005,Jane E. Pollock, Learning Horizon, Inc.). The tenets of the Big Four© include: use learning targets, plan for instructional strategies, use varied assessment, and give useful feedback to students to improve learning.  In other words, Big Four teachers:

  • Know and use learning targets, ones that are robust generalizations or procedures, not simply daily classroom objectives or activities
  • Plan and use instructional strategies that work to help the learner remember and apply information and skills, not just do schoolwork
  • Use varied assessment strategies to provide important feedback to help the learner accomplish the learning targets, not just evaluate them
  • Use data to give methodical feedback to individual students, verbally, in writing, and in succinct reports, in order to improve learning

Begin your exploration of the Big Four© by using the menu links and by reading the Big Four Discussion Topics (©2005, Jane E. Pollock, Learning Horizon,Inc.).