research paper

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THE NEW Art and Science OF
TEACHING

ROBERT J. MARZANO

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Marzano, Robert J., author.

Title: The new art and science of teaching / author: Robert J. Marzano.

Other titles: Art and science of teaching

Description: [Revised and expanded edition] | Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree
Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016049161 | ISBN 9781943874965 (perfect bound)

Subjects: LCSH: Effective teaching–United States. | Classroom management–
United States. | Teaching–Aids and devices. | Learning, of.

Classification: LCC LB1025.3 .M3387 2017 | DDC 371.102–dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016049161

mailto:[email protected]

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http://go.solutiontree.com/instruction

https://lccn.loc.gov/2016049161

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Table of Contents

About the Author
Introduction: The History of The New Art and Science of Teaching

The Research Supporting the Model
The Major Features of The New Art and Science of Teaching
The Old and New Art and Science of Teaching
A Framework for Change

1 Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals
Element 1: Providing Scales and Rubrics
Element 2: Tracking Student Progress
Element 3: Celebrating Success
Planning
Implications for Change

2 Using Assessments
Element 4: Using Informal Assessments of the Whole Class
Element 5: Using Formal Assessments of Individual Students
Planning
Implications for Change

3 Conducting Direct Instruction Lessons
Element 6: Chunking Content
Element 7: Processing Content
Element 8: Recording and Representing Content
Planning
Implications for Change

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4 Conducting Practicing and Deepening Lessons
Element 9: Using Structured Practice Sessions
Element 10: Examining Similarities and Differences
Element 11: Examining Errors in Reasoning
Planning
Implications for Change

5 Conducting Knowledge Application Lessons
Element 12: Engaging Students in Cognitively Complex Tasks
Element 13: Providing Resources and Guidance
Element 14: Generating and Defending Claims
Planning
Implications for Change

6 Using Strategies That Appear in All Types of Lessons
Element 15: Previewing Strategies
Element 16: Highlighting Critical Information
Element 17: Reviewing Content
Element 18: Revising Knowledge
Element 19: Reflecting on Learning
Element 20: Assigning Purposeful Homework
Element 21: Elaborating on Information
Element 22: Organizing Students to Interact
Planning
Implications for Change

7 Using Engagement Strategies
Element 23: Noticing and Reacting When Students Are Not Engaged
Element 24: Increasing Response Rates
Element 25: Using Physical Movement
Element 26: Maintaining a Lively Pace
Element 27: Demonstrating Intensity and Enthusiasm
Element 28: Presenting Unusual Information
Element 29: Using Friendly Controversy
Element 30: Using Academic Games
Element 31: Providing Opportunities for Students to Talk About

Themselves
Element 32: Motivating and Inspiring Students
Planning
Implications for Change

8 Implementing Rules and Procedures

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Element 33: Establishing Rules and Procedures
Element 34: Organizing the Physical Layout of the Classroom
Element 35: Demonstrating Withitness
Element 36: Acknowledging Adherence to Rules and Procedures
Element 37: Acknowledging Lack of Adherence to Rules and Procedures
Planning
Implications for Change

9 Building Relationships
Element 38: Using Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviors That Indicate

Affection for Students
Element 39: Understanding Students’ Backgrounds and Interests
Element 40: Displaying Objectivity and Control
Planning
Implications for Change

10 Communicating High Expectations
Element 41: Demonstrating Value and Respect for Reluctant Learners
Element 42: Asking In-Depth Questions of Reluctant Learners
Element 43: Probing Incorrect Answers With Reluctant Learners
Planning
Implications for Change

11 Making System Changes
Recommendation 1: Create a System That Ensures Teacher

Development
Recommendation 2: Focus on Unit Planning as Opposed to Lesson

Planning
Recommendation 3: Use Blended Instruction
Recommendation 4: Ensure a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

Involving Cognitive and Metacognitive Skills
Recommendation 5: Rely on Classroom Measurement
Recommendation 6: Change Report Cards
Recommendation 7: Adjust Scheduling to Address the Differential

Effectiveness of Teachers
Recommendation 8: Gradually Move to a Competency-Based System
Conclusion

References and Resources
Index

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About the Author

Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the cofounder and chief academic
officer of Marzano Research in Denver, Colorado. During his fifty
years in the field of education, he has worked with educators as a
speaker and trainer and has authored more than forty books and
three hundred articles on topics such as instruction, assessment,
writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership,
and school intervention. His books include The Art and Science of
Teaching, Leaders of Learning, The Classroom Strategies Series,
A Handbook for High Reliability Schools, Awaken the Learner, and
Managing the Inner World of Teaching. His practical translations of
the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are
known internationally and are widely practiced by both teachers
and administrators.

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He received a bachelor’s degree from Iona College in New
York, a master’s degree from Seattle University, and a doctorate
from the University of Washington.

To learn more about Robert J. Marzano’s work, visit
marzanoresearch.com.

To book Robert J. Marzano for professional development,
contact [email protected].

Marzano Research

mailto:[email protected]

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INTRODUCTION

The History of The New Art and
Science of Teaching

The history of The New Art and Science of Teaching reaches back
to the 1980s when my colleagues and I synthesized the research
and theory on the effective teaching of thinking in the book
Dimensions of Thinking (Marzano et al., 1988). Relatively soon
after, I authored A Different Kind of Classroom (Marzano, 1992),
which combines strategies for teaching thinking with more general
strategies for classroom management, engagement, and
assessment. These works present a comprehensive synthesis of
the research on teaching and provide deep-level background to
The New Art and Science of Teaching.

The more proximal ancestry of The New Art and Science of
Teaching dates back to the turn of the 21st century. In the book
Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock,
2001), my colleagues and I identify nine research-supported
instructional strategies. In 2003, with my colleagues I wrote a
companion book titled Classroom Management That Works
(Marzano et al., 2003) and then another companion book in 2006,
Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work (Marzano, 2006).

While I am gratified that each book has been relatively popular
and influential, I am not pleased that some have interpreted them

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as listings of instructional strategies that are “proven” to enhance
learning for students. In fact, the nine instructional strategies in
Classroom Instruction That Works have been commonly referred to
as high-yield instructional strategies—a term I do not endorse. To
illustrate, one need only enter the phrase “high-yield strategies”
into an Internet search engine and thousands of results will be
generated. In fact, in 2009, I wrote an article, “Setting the Record
Straight on High-Yield Strategies” (Marzano, 2009b), to counteract
the growing incorrect belief that research could ever produce a list
of instructional strategies that would guarantee student learning.
Specifically, I note that no single instructional strategy can
guarantee student learning for a number of reasons. One is that
many factors other than the use of instructional strategies affect
student learning. Another is that instructional strategies work in
concert or sets and should not be thought of as independent
interventions. Still another is that educators have to use strategies
in specific ways to produce positive results.

Over time, I created an instructional model that ties the
strategies, pieces, and points together in an interactive manner; it
appears in The Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2007). I
chose the phrase art and science purposefully to communicate a
message. Specifically, research and theory will never validate the
notion that teaching is simply a set of preprogrammed moves
manifested as strategies. Rather, instructional strategies are best
likened to techniques an artist might develop and refine over years
of practice. The artist then uses these techniques to create works
that are not only unique and complex but elegantly focused. The
more skill the artist exhibits with available techniques, the better his
or her creations. Likewise, the more skill the classroom teacher
has with the instructional strategies that research and theory have
uncovered over the decades, the better the teacher will be able to
create lessons that optimize student learning.

The New Art and Science of Teaching, then, represents my
perspective on the current state of knowledge about effective
teaching. It is a perspective that certainly draws from the past but
also shines light on the possible future.

The Research Supporting the Model

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The research supporting The New Art and Science of Teaching
is extensive since it covers so many years and so many previous
works. I discuss the complete research history in detail in
“Research Base for The New Art and Science of Teaching”
(Marzano, 2017). I briefly summarize it here.

Narrative and Meta-Analytic Studies
The first works constituting the ancestry of The New Art and

Science of Teaching provide narrative reviews of the literature
(Marzano, 1992; Marzano et al., 1988). These reviews are quite
extensive. For example, the Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development (ASCD) sponsored Dimensions of
Thinking (Marzano et al., 1988), but a consortium of twenty-eight
organizations—the Association Collaborative for Teaching Thinking
—supported it. That consortium included the American Educational
Research Association, the International Reading Association (now
International Literacy Association), the National Council of
Teachers of English, the National Council for the Social Studies,
the National Science Teachers Association, and the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics, among others. In effect, The
Art and Science of Teaching is based on some of the most widely
vetted narrative reviews of the literature to that point. As the name
implies, narrative reviews are author centric in that they depend on
the author’s ability to organize research and theory into logical
categories. The author’s views on the extant literature greatly
influence them.

While narrative reviews were the norm at that time, the norm for
research syntheses changed with the popularization of meta-
analysis in the early 1990s. In How Science Takes Stock, Morton
Hunt (1997) describes the nature and function of meta-analysis in
nontechnical terms. Briefly, meta-analytic techniques translate
findings into effect sizes that report how much increase or
decrease in student learning can be associated with a particular
intervention. Table I.1 reports the meta-analytic findings from a
number of studies on the effect of goal setting as an instructional
strategy.

Table I.1: Meta-Analytic Results for Goal Setting

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a Two effect sizes are listed because of the manner in which effect sizes were
reported. Readers should consult that study for more details.

b As reported in Hattie (2009).
c Both Tubbs (1986) and Locke and Latham (1990) report results from

organizational as well as educational settings.
d As reported in Locke and Latham (2002).
e As reported in Hattie and Timperley (2007).

Source: Marzano, 2009a, p. 5.

Table I.1 reports eighteen synthesis studies (each row
represents a synthesis study) on the topic of goal setting. The third

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column lists the number of effect sizes in each study. In their 1993
study, Mark Lipsey and David Wilson report 204 effect sizes; in
2007, Steve Graham and Dolores Perin report 5 effect sizes. Each
effect size represents a comparison between two groups—in this
case, one group that used the strategy of goal setting and one
group that did not. The fourth column reports the average effect
size in the synthesis study, and the fifth column reports the
expected percentile gain in achievement associated with the
average effect size. For example, the average effect size of 0.55
from Lipsey and Wilson (1993) is associated with an increase of 21
percentile points for an average student. The average effect size of
0.70 by Graham and Perin is associated with an increase of 26
percentile points for the average student.

Lists of meta-analytic studies like that in table I.1 appear in the
following works: A Theory-Based Meta-Analysis of Research on
Instruction (Marzano, 1998), Classroom Instruction That Works
(Marzano et al., 2001), Classroom Management That Works
(Marzano, 2003a), Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work
(Marzano, 2006), The Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano,
2007), Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives
(Marzano, 2009a), and Formative Assessment and Standards-
Based Grading (Marzano, 2010b). These works as a whole include
lists of effect sizes for virtually every element in The New Art and
Science of Teaching. The studies in table I.1 include over one
thousand effect sizes. If one were to list all effect sizes across
these works that are foundational to The New Art and Science of
Teaching, the final count numbers in the tens of thousands.

Teacher-Designed Studies
Since The Art and Science of Teaching was published in 2007,

Marzano Research has conducted its own studies. Specifically,
hundreds of teachers at various grade levels and in various
subjects have undertaken studies of specific elements or strategies
in their classrooms. In general, teachers selected a strategy they
wished to study and identified content to teach to two different
classes or sets of students. Instruction was the same for both
groups with the exception that teachers used the selected strategy
with one group of students but not the other. They used the same
pretests and post-tests with both groups. Researchers at Marzano

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Research then analyzed the findings and reported back to
teachers.

To date, over five hundred teachers have been involved in such
studies resulting in over one thousand findings reported as effect
sizes. Visit marzanoresearch.com/research/database to access
the results of each study. A series of studies summarizes many of
the overall findings (see Haystead & Marzano, 2009). One of the
more interesting aspects of these studies is that they were
conducted with minimal and sometimes no teacher training. For the
most part, teachers received either a very brief training (one half
day or less) on a specific strategy, or they simply read a few pages
about the strategy. This level of training probably represents the
typical environment for a teacher, which involves minimal time for
extensive training. The fact that the majority of teacher-designed
studies demonstrated positive effect sizes in a short period of time
(a few days to a few weeks) is an indicator that teachers can
integrate the strategies into their repertoire of techniques relatively
quickly.

Schoolwide Studies
Schoolwide studies examine the effects of The Art and Science

of Teaching model on the average achievement scores for the
school as a whole as opposed to the average achievement scores
of students in the classes of specific teachers. For example, one
study involves fifty-nine schools and 1,117 teachers. It examines
the relationship between teachers’ usage of instructional strategies
and the school’s average score on state tests of mathematics and
reading (see Marzano Research, 2010, 2011). Effect sizes ranged
from 0.53 in mathematics to 0.74 in reading.

Teacher Evaluation Studies
The Art and Science of Teaching as a teacher evaluation model

is used in eleven countries, three provinces in Canada, and forty-
three states (Basileo & Marzano, 2016). Data from these
implementations indicate a relationship between teachers’ use of
the strategies in the model and growth in student learning. Growth
is commonly determined by value-added measures that are based
on state tests at the end of the year. The book Teacher Evaluation

http://marzanoresearch.com/research/database

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That Makes a Difference (Marzano & Toth, 2013) discuses value-
added measures in depth. Briefly though, the strength of value-
added measures is that they compute student learning over a
given year while controlling for students’ previous learning and
demographics. These studies demonstrate that teachers’ scores
on the model as a whole are positively and significantly correlated
with value-added measures based on state tests (see Basileo,
Toth, & Kennedy, 2015). Perhaps more important, the studies
demonstrate that the individual elements in the model are
positively and significantly correlated with value-added measures
(see Basileo & Marzano, 2016). Most noteworthy about these
studies is that they involve over one hundred and eighty thousand
teacher observations spread over three school years (2012 to
2015).

The Major Features of The New Art and Science
of Teaching

The New Art and Science of Teaching is new, even though the
original strategies are intact, albeit greatly expanded. One of the
major changes in The New Art and Science of Teaching is that it
takes a student-outcomes perspective as opposed to a teacher-
outcomes perspective. To illustrate, The Art and Science of
Teaching identifies specific teacher behaviors. Teachers can use
rating scales for each element of the model to determine the extent
to which they are effectively deploying instructional strategies.
While this is useful information, The New Art and Science of
Teaching has a focus on student outcomes. This makes intuitive
sense since instructional strategies generate certain mental states
and processes in learners’ minds which, in turn, enhance students’
learning. Figure I.1 illustrates the teaching and learning
progression.

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Figure I.1: The teaching and learning progression.

According to figure I.1, specific mental states and processes in
learners’ minds are the mediating variable between the effective
application of instructional strategies and enhanced student
learning. Without these mental states and processes, a given
strategy will have little or no effect on students. As subsequent
chapters in this book illustrate, this single fact changes the way
districts, schools, and classroom educators should monitor the use
of instructional strategies, provide teachers with feedback, and
analyze students’ learning. Table I.2 depicts the specific mental
states and processes that should be present in the learner’s mind.

Table I.2: Teacher Actions and Student Mental States and
Processes

Teacher Actions Student Mental States and Processes
Feedback Providing and

Communicating Clear
Learning Goals

1. Students understand the progression of knowledge they
are expected to master and where they are along that
progression.

Using Assessments 2. Students understand how test scores and grades relate
to their status on the progression of knowledge they are
expected to master.

Content Conducting Direct
Instruction Lessons

3. When content is new, students understand which parts
are important and how the parts fit together.

Conducting Practicing
and Deepening
Lessons

4. After teachers present new content, students deepen
their understanding and develop fluency in skills and
processes.

Conducting
Knowledge Application
Lessons

5. After teachers present new content, students generate
and defend claims through knowledge application tasks.

Using Strategies That
Appear in All Types of
Lessons

6. Students continually integrate new knowledge with old
knowledge and revise their understanding accordingly.

Context Using Engagement
Strategies

7. Students are paying attention, energized, intrigued, and
inspired.

Implementing Rules
and Procedures

8. Students understand and follow rules and procedures.

Building Relationships 9. Students feel welcome, accepted, and valued.
Communicating High
Expectations

10. Typically reluctant students feel valued and do not
hesitate to interact with the teacher or their peers.

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The mental states and processes in table I.2 are organized in three
major categories: (1) feedback, (2) content, and (3) context.
Feedback refers to the information loop between the teacher and
the students that provides students with an awareness of what they
should be learning and how they are doing. Content refers to
lesson progression, which allows students to move from an initial
understanding of content to application of content while
continuously reviewing and upgrading their knowledge. Context
refers to the following student psychological needs: engagement,
order, a sense of belonging, and high expectations.

The column Teacher Actions corresponds to each desired
mental state and process. For example, the desired mental state of
students understanding the progression of knowledge they are
expected to master and where they are along that progression (the
first row in table I.2) is associated with the teacher action of
providing and communicating clear learning goals. Students’
understanding which parts of newly presented content are
important and how the parts fit together (the third row) is
associated with the teacher action of conducting direct instruction
lessons. Students paying attention, being energized, being
intrigued, and being inspired (the seventh row) is associated with
the teacher’s use of engagement strategies, and so on.

The teacher actions and student mental states and processes
translate nicely into a set of questions that help teachers plan units
and lessons within those units. In The New Art and Science of
Teaching, these are referred to as design questions. Table I.3
depicts these.

Table I.3: Design Questions
Design Areas Design Questions

Feedback 1. Providing and
Communicating
Clear Learning
Goals

How will I communicate clear learning goals that help
students understand the progression of knowledge they are
expected to master and where they are along that
progression?

2. Using
Assessments

How will I design and administer assessments that help
students understand how their test scores and grades are
related to their status on the progression of knowledge they
are expected to master?

Content 3. Conducting Direct
Instruction Lessons

When content is new, how will I design and deliver direct
instruction lessons that help students understand which
parts are important and how the parts fit together?

4. Conducting
Practicing and

After presenting content, how will I design and deliver
lessons that help students deepen their understanding and

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Deepening Lessons develop fluency in skills and processes?
5. Conducting

Knowledge
Application Lessons

After presenting content, how will I design and deliver
lessons that help students generate and defend claims
through knowledge application?

6. Using Strategies
That Appear in All
Types of Lessons

Throughout all types of lessons, what strategies will I use to
help students continually integrate new knowledge with old
knowledge and revise their understanding accordingly?

Context 7. Using Engagement
Strategies

What engagement strategies will I use to help students pay
attention, be energized, be intrigued, and be inspired?

8. Implementing
Rules and
Procedures

What strategies will I use to help students understand and
follow rules and procedures?

9. Building
Relationships

What strategies will I use to help students feel welcome,
accepted, and valued?

10. Communicating
High Expectations

What strategies will I use to help typically reluctant students
feel valued and comfortable interacting with me and their
peers?

These ten design questions and the general framework with the
three categories provide a road map for lesson and unit planning
that not only points to specific strategies but also ensures a focus
on student outcomes. Additionally, the framework helps organize a
wide array of instructional strategies into a comprehensive
network. To illustrate, consider table I.4 (page 8).

Table I.4 depicts forty-three categories of instructional
strategies (referred to as elements) embedded in the ten design
areas found within three general categories. These forty-three
elements address instructional strategies detailed in the multiple
and diverse sources briefly mentioned at the beginning of this
introduction (Marzano, 1992, 2006, 2007, 2010; Marzano et al.,
1988; Marzano et al., 2001; Marzano et al., 2003). Additionally,
each element involves multiple strategies. For example, consider
element twenty-four within the design area of engagement:
increasing response rates. It includes the following nine strategies
—nine different ways to increase students’ response rates.

1. Random names
2. Hand signals
3. Response cards
4. Response chaining
5. Paired response
6. Choral response
7. Wait time
8. Elaborative interrogation
9. Multiple types of questions

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In all, The New Art and Science of Teaching involves over 330
specific instructional strategies embedded in the forty-three
elements.

Table I.4: Elements Within the Ten Design Areas

The Old and New Art and Science of Teaching
The New Art and Science of Teaching has many similarities

with the initial framework, although it has undergone significant
changes. For example, both the original and revised framework
have three overarching categories. The original three overarching

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lesson categories are (1) routine segments, (2) content segments,
and (3) on-the-spot segments. As their names imply, classrooms
engage in routine segments on a systematic basis, content
segments address content lessons, and on-the-spot segments
address strategies that teachers use when unplanned, immediate
situations occur. Again, these three categories emanate from the
perspective of what the teacher does. The three overarching
categories in The New Art and Science of Teaching emanate from
a perspective of what must occur in students’ minds to learn
effectively. Specifically, (1) they must receive feedback, (2) they
must receive content instruction that triggers specific types of
thinking, and (3) they must have a psychological context in which
their basic needs are met.

The Art and Science of Teaching has design questions, as does
The New Art and Science of Teaching. Indeed, eight of the design
questions in The New Art and Science of Teaching are basically
identical to the originals. However, The New Art and Science of
Teaching has two design questions that are not part of the original:
one deals with assessment (design question 2: How will I design
and administer assessments that help students understand how
their test scores and grades are related to their status on the
progression of knowledge they are expected to master?); the other
deals with the continuous development of understanding (design
question 6: Throughout all types of lessons, what strategies will I
use to help students continually integrate new knowledge with old
knowledge and revise their understanding accordingly?).

Both versions of The Art and Science of Teaching have
categories of instructional strategies referred to as elements. The
original version has forty-one elements; the new version has forty-
three. Of the forty-three elements in the new model, thirty-nine are
identical to the old model. Thus, four elements in the new model
are not in the old. (For a detailed comparison of elements from the
old and new models, visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction to
view the Compendium Crosswalk.)

Finally, both The Art and Science of Teaching and The New Art
and Science of Teaching identify specific instructional strategies for
each element. As mentioned previously, The New Art and Science
of Teaching has more strategies than the original version.
Specifically, the book Becoming a Reflective Teacher (Marzano,

http://go.solutiontree.com/instruction

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2012), which is based on the original model, identifies 280
strategies. The New Art and Science of Teaching identifies over
330 specific strategies.

A Framework for Change
The New Art and Science of Teaching, however, is much more

than an update of the original model. Rather, it is a framework for
substantive change. Indeed, one might even consider it a
manifesto.

At its core, a manifesto is a written statement that describes a
person’s or …