The Power of Strategy Instruction
By Stephen D. Luke, Ed.D.

Combining Strategy Instruction with Direct Instruction

Because Children with Disabilities differ widely in their individual strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles, it would make sense that no single instructional model can be recommended for all. Regardless, it may be assumed that certain fundamental teaching principles exist and that effective interventions include components that leverage these principles, adapting them for use with students with diverse learning needs, across different content areas and classroom settings.

The impressive teaching and learning gains realized with strategy instruction suggest that many of these fundamental components are embedded within this approach. It's worth noting, however, that an equally strong evidence base exists for direct instruction, an alternative instructional method that emphasizes fast-paced teacher probes and sequenced drill-repetition-practice routines. Surely within direct instruction, fundamental teaching and learning components can also be found, so how does one choose? The answer is--you don't have to.

Lee Swanson at the University of California, Riverside, has conducted several detailed meta-analyses to determine exactly which underlying instructional principles help students with LD learn best. Together with Maureen Hoskyn, Swanson has found that, in fact, academic performance--particularly in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary, and creativity--improved significantly whether students were taught using either strategy instruction or direct instruction. Perhaps more interesting, however, was the finding that outcomes were greatest for instructional approaches that combined aspects of each method (Swanson, 2001; Swanson & Hoskyn, 2001).

Swanson has taken this work further by conducting a second level of analysis where he identified the following eight clusters of instructional components shared across interventions utilizing strategic or direct instruction:

1. Explicit direct instruction (sequencing & segmentation)
2. Explicit strategy instruction
3. Monitoring
4. Individualized training
5. Small interactive group instruction
6. Teacher-indirect instruction
7. Verbal questioning
8. Technology-mediated instruction

Though these clusters of components were found across interventions, not all contributed equally, if at all, to improved student outcomes. Of these clusters, explicit strategy instruction was found to have the most significant impact on student performance and was characterized by the following components:

Explicit Practice--encompasses many activities related to review and practice (e.g., repeated practice, weekly reviews, and/or daily feedback).

Strategy Cues--includes think-aloud models, the teacher verbalizing steps or procedures during a lesson, and other reminders to use specific strategies or steps.

Elaboration--includes explanations about concepts, repetition of information or text, or additional information provided by the teacher.

For more information on these studies:
Searching for the Best Model for Instructing Students with Learning Disabilities, at:
http://research.nichcy.org/MetaAnalysis.asp?ID=94

Experimental Intervention Research on Students with Learning Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis of Treatment Outcomes, at:
http://research.nichcy.org/MetaAnalysis.asp?ID=95

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The Power of Strategy Instruction:

-Introduction
-Early Studies of the Good Learner
-Spotlight on the Sim Model
    -SIM Content Literacy Continuum: A Working Example
-Spotlight on SRSD for Writing
-Combining Strategy Instruction with Direct Instruction
-Promise Beyond LD
    -CALLA: Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach
    -The SODA Strategy
-Conclusion
    -References