The most important factor affecting student learning isn't standards, textbooks, or testing--it's teachers. And when it comes to improving learning, research has shown teachers what works. But the real challenge comes when it's time to do what works and do it well. In this book, Jane E. Pollock explains how making the right adjustments in four critical areas of practice--curriculum, instruction, assessment, and feedback--can help any teacher improve student learning significantly. Here, you'll find out how to

-- Create a classroom curriculum document that's truly useful and incorporates robust concepts, generalizations, and procedures.

-- Plan instruction that's focused on helping students become master learners who can apply information and skills, not just do schoolwork.

-- Design varied classroom assessments that yield evidence of mastery and pinpoint where further instruction is required.

-- Use criterion-based feedback to improve individual student achievement and refine instruction.

Along with step-by-step procedures, practical guidelines, and specific models, this book features the voices of individual teachers who share their experience using the author's "Big Four" approach. Like them, you may find it's the missing link you need to transform your pedagogy and achieve unprecedented levels of both student success and professional satisfaction.