Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence

This digest is based on a report published by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence: Pedagogy Matters: Standards for Effective Teaching Practice, by Stephanie Stoll Dalton.

The Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE) has developed the following five pedagogy standards for effective teaching and learning for all students, including students placed at risk for academic achievement: (1) teachers and students producing together, (2) developing language and literacy across the curriculum, (3) connecting school to students' lives (4) teaching complex thinking, and (5) teaching through conversation. These standards emerge from principles of practice that have proven successful with majority and minority at-risk students in numerous classrooms in several states. They incorporate the broadest base of knowledge available and reflect the emerging professional consensus about the most effective ways to educate linguistically and culturally diverse students. (See the full report to learn more about all five standards.)

This digest focuses specifically on two of these standards—developing language and literacy across the curriculum and connecting school to students' lives—and provides examples of how they are implemented in the classroom. Indicators are introduced for each standard, revealing its action components and their functions in teaching and learning.