Robert J. Marzano





Introduction
Quoting from http://www.marzanoandassociates.com/html/staff/marzano.htm:


 * Over his 35 years in education, Dr. Robert "Bob" Marzano has worked in every U.S. state and a host of countries in Europe and Asia. The central theme of his work has been translating research and theory into practical programs and tools for K-12 teachers and administrators. In addition to his duties at Marzano & Associates, he is a Senior Scholar at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) and an Associate Professor at Cardinal Stritch University.


 * Bob received his B.A. degree in English from Iona College, his M.Ed. degree in Reading and Language Arts from Seattle University, and his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington.


 * Bob is the author of more than 20 books, 150 articles and chapters in books, and more than 100 curriculum guides and related materials for teachers and students in grades K-12.

A 7/15/08 Google search of "Robert Marzano" OR Robert J. Marzano" returned about 70,100 hits.

Review by Phillip Bowles, a Preservice Teacher.
Marzano, R, Pickering, D, & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works.

Recently I read Robert Marzano’s book Classroom Instruction that Works, and found it to be very informative and helped me justify a lot of things I do in my class. One chapter in his book is called “Cooperative Learning”, I do a significant amount of project-based assignments in my class and I wanted to know if I was helping or hurting my students. Basically it states that using cooperative learning the right way can increase learning by 22 %, something I can live with.

The first part of the chapter is about “ability grouping” and how if used extensively tends to hurt student learning and not help it. Research I tend to whole-heartedly believe is absolutely correct. Marzano uses “ability grouping” as a foundation on which cooperative learning should not be based. He basically states to get the most out of cooperative learning you need to group kids as diversely as possible, and in small groups. However, what surprised me is that Marzano states that cooperative learning should not be overused, basically once a week in a well-structured environment. Before I read this I had thought cooperative learning was a tool to be used as much as possible and in any situation. Apparently, I was wrong, and now that I do use it sparingly, I do see better results in the work I am getting. The next part of the book explains how students should be grouped. This section says that there is not a correct way to group students; however, you should change the style on which you group. Marzano gives three basic structures-Informal, Formal, and Base Groups. Informal groups are those “turn to your neighbor” groups, Formal groups are used to complete a lengthy academic task, and base groups are used for student support-the cohort! I tend to use more formalized grouping in my classroom because my informal groups tend to get off tasks, middle school go figure. However, I have implemented base groups this year and have found some success in using them. Marzano then goes on to talk about group sizes, “smaller is better” and using cooperative learning with or classroom structures. These two paragraphs are just supporting his thesis that cooperative learning is best used in small groups and used with other classroom learning styles. This chapter did support what I do in the classroom; I really enjoyed looking at other chapters in the book and would gladly share if anybody wants to use it.

Review by Greg Ericksen, a Preservice Teacher.
Marzano,R. (1995). A New Paradigm for Educational Change.

I read a Robert Marzano article titled "A New Paradigm for Educational Change." It discusses why so many "good" programs fail to take hold in our education system. The article discusses the possibility that these programs do not fail because they are bad, but they fail due to the nature of the change process. The article explains two different theories on how paradigms shift regarding change. It suggests that some paradigms shift through a psychological approach and some are done through an ontological approach. The psychological theory suggests that paradigm shifts take place as a reaction only when necessary due to uncontrollable forces. Thus, the old paradigms don't work anymore and new ones are needed. The ontological theory seems to be more pro-active and states that paradigm shifts can be planned, thought through, or calculated when one decides the old paradigms aren't working effectively anymore. The article states that this ontological approach is not only superior to the psychological approach, but that it also can be taught/learned and would make future educational improvements or programs easier to implement due to an alleged foreseen understanding that change is necessary. Therefore, that "buy in" that helps new programs take off is more likely to be present.

For me personally, I think I understand what Marzano was getting at and I agree with his ideas. However, this particular article is theory based and presented little or no practical use for implementing an ontological approach to change. I assume my own further research would be necessary to get much "real world" information on how to improve. Unfortunately, I also feel that our reactions to change are only one factor in the real world. No matter how much our metacognitive abilities improve regarding paradigm evaluation, factors involving bureaucracies, politics, and budgets will continue to play a large role in what changes do and don't take place.