Discover the Proven Strategies Behind Two Successful School Turnarounds and Remarkable Gains for a district—Then Share Your Own Success Story.
The following is just a summary...please email Dr. Masters at the following to learn more: effectiveeducators1@gmail.com
Clearly define what students need to know and be able to do. Select or develop an evidence-based curriculum that aligns with these expectations. For example, Henry County K-8 adopted Amplify CKLA for literacy and Eureka Squared for mathematics after teachers conducted a thorough evaluation using the Kentucky Department of Education HQIR framework and EdReports.com for comparison. The "why" behind an evidence-based curriculum is powerful:
It is the variable most strongly related to student success at the school level providing a swift and stunningly powerful effect on achievement
It ensures common content and teacher expectations - reduces the startling variance in topics, rigor and expectations among teachers
It ensures students read and write in adequate amounts with a clear purpose and prevents text quality from drifting down
It discourages the use of inferior materials - worksheets or activities that stray from the standards
It saves teachers tremendous time in lesson planning
It enables students to more easily acquire general knowledge - i.e. social studies and science - this is a key to reading comprehension
It better enables teachers to collaborate - organized schedule of content and skills - not self-selected jumble of topics
NOTE: It is imperative that teachers schools/districts use teacher feedback to drive professional learning and support regarding using a new curriculum. A "one and done" PD will fail! There must be on-going support for the curriculum to be implemented with integrity. Email for details on what that looks like!
Teacher clarity has an effect size of 0.75 when the learning intention and success criteria is brought "alive" in the classroom through introduction, catch-and-release and reflection. This results in almost twice the effect size on one year of formal schooling
It reduces student's cognitive burden, which consequently allows them to direct mental resources toward cognitive processes associated with learning - in other words, kids know what they need to do to feel successful
It allows students to identify where they are going in their learning, how they are progressing and where they will go next- thus providing student enough clarity to their own learning
It allow teachers to better collaboratively plan and organize instruction
It better enables teachers to show students what success looks like and have a laser-like focus on formative assessment feedback opportunities
It allows for common formative assessment opportunities with specific feedback while allowing for students to self-monitor their own learning. When this happens, students become assessment-capable learner and this has an effective size of 1.33 (triple the rate of learning)
NOTE: Note: We gradually implemented Learning Intentions and Success Criteria, beginning with the why, then focusing on what they look like, and finally, how to engage students with the Success Criteria. As a result, we saw a noticeable improvement in students' ability to articulate "What are you learning today?" Email us for more information and a copy of our walkthrough instrument.
Our approach to Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), interventions, and evidence-based teaching strategies is built on collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and high-impact instructional practices.
PLCs Drive Student Growth – When teachers engage in meaningful collaboration, analyzing student data and planning instruction together, student learning accelerates. At HCPS, PLCs focus on clarity in learning, ensuring that students understand their learning targets and receive timely, targeted support.
Interventions that Work – Effective interventions are systematic, data-informed, and responsive. Using tools like iReady growth monitoring and common formative assessments, we ensure that struggling students receive the right support at the right time. We have achieved significant growth in literacy scores with the implementation of mClass and UFLI.
Evidence-Based Strategies for Maximum Impact – Research-backed strategies make the difference. With a focus on teacher clarity (effect size 0.75), student self-assessment (1.33), and structured feedback (0.70), our classrooms are designed for high engagement and deep learning.
Email us for details on how we structure PLC work, intervention frameworks, and the instructional strategies that have made the biggest impact.