The Highly Engaged Classroom: The Classroom Strategies Series (Generating High Levels of Student Attention and Engagement)

If students are not engaged, there is little, if any, chance that they will learn what is being addressed in class. A basic premise of The Highly Engaged Classroom is that student engagement happens as a result of a teacher s careful planning and execution of specific strategies. In other words, student engagement is not serendipitous.

This book was designed as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of how to generate high levels of attention and engagement. Engagement is obviously a central aspect of effective teaching. Using the suggestions presented in this book, every teacher can create a classroom environment in which engagement is the norm instead of the exception.

Part of the Classroom Strategies That Work library, this clear, highly practical guide follows the series format, first summarizing key research and then translating it into recommendations for classroom practice. In addition to the explanations and examples of engagement strategies, each chapter includes helpful exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the content.

Because research and theory can provide only a general direction for classroom practice, The Highly Engaged Classroom (and each book in the series) goes one step further to translate that research into applications for the classroom. Specifically, it addresses four emblematic questions students ask themselves, the answers to which determine how involved students are in classroom activities: How do I feel?, Am I interested?, Is this important?, and Can I do this? For each of these four emblematic questions, specific classroom strategies are provided in chapters 2 through 5.

Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the cofounder and CEO of Marzano Research Laboratory in Denver, Colorado. Throughout his forty years in the field of education, he has become a speaker, trainer, and author of more than thirty books and 150 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention His books include: Designing & Teaching Learning Goals & Objectives, District Leadership That Works, Formative Assessment & Standards-Based Grading, On Excellence in Teaching, and The Art and Science of Teaching. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are internationally known and widely practiced by both teachers and administrators. 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. Debra Pickering, PhD, consults with schools and districts nationally and internationally as a senior scholar for Marzano Research Laboratory. Throughout her educational career, Dr. Pickering has gained practical experience as a classroom teacher, building leader, and district administrator. For many years, she has used this experience to provide training and support to K 12 teachers and administrators as they seek to continually improve student learning. In addition to her work with schools, Dr. Pickering has coauthored (with Dr. Robert Marzano) educational books and manuals, including Dimensions of Learning, Classroom Instruction That Works, Classroom Management That Works, and Building Academic Vocabulary. With a combination of theoretical grounding and over three decades of practical experience, Dr. Pickering has worked with educators to translate theory into practice. Her work continues to focus on the study of learning and the development of resources for curriculum, instruction, and assessment to help all educators meet the needs of all students. Dr. Pickering has a master s degree in school administration and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis in cognitive psychology. Tammy Heflebower, EdD, is vice president of Marzano Research Laboratory in Englewood, Colorado. She is a consultant with experience in urban, rural, and suburban districts throughout North America. Dr. Heflebower has served as a classroom teacher, building-level leader, district leader, regional professional development director, and national trainer. She has also been an adjunct professor of curriculum, instruction, and assessment courses at several universities. Dr. Heflebower began her teaching career in Kansas City, Kansas, and later moved to Nebraska, where she received the District Distinguished Teacher Award. She has worked as a national educational trainer for the National Resource and Training Center at Girls and Boys Town in Nebraska. A prominent member of numerous educational organizations, Dr. Heflebower has served as president of the Nebraska Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and president-elect for the Professional Development Organization for Nebraska Educational Service Units. She was president-elect of the Colorado Association of Education Specialists and legislative liaison for Colorado Association of School Executives. Her articles have been featured in the monthly newsletter Nebraska Council of School Administrators Today, and she is a contributor to The Teacher as Assessment Leader and The Principal as Assessment Leader. Dr. Heflebower holds a bachelor of arts from Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, a master of arts from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and an educational administrative endorsement from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She also earned a doctor of education in educational administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.