Robert Marzano on Student Engagement 

(Originally Titled “Ask Yourself: Are Students Engaged?”)

In this Educational Leadership article, author/consultant/researcher Robert Marzano has four questions on maximizing engagement:

• Do I provide a safe, caring, and energetic environment? Without this, engagement will be minimal. The key is clear classroom rules (periodically revisited), evidence that the teacher likes students and appreciates their efforts, a high energy level, and getting students up out of their seats on a regular basis. 

• Do I make things interesting? Marzano distinguishes between triggered interest (a teacher captures students’ attention by singing) and maintained interest (a teacher asks an intriguing question and hooks students’ interest for much longer). Teachers can also maintain academic interest with games like Jeopardy, cold-calling (students don’t know when they will be asked to participate), and setting up debates on controversial topics. 

• Do I demonstrate why the content is important to students’ lives? Many kids will be more interested in polynomials upon learning that they are used to compute NFL quarterback ratings. A teacher’s genuine enthusiasm for a topic can also capture students’ interest – plus a story about how the teacher came to love it.

• Do I help students see the role of effort? If students don’t think they can be successful in the classroom, they won’t engage. The best way to handle this is explicitly teaching the growth mindset – the belief that individual effort is what matters – including teaching about the changes that take place in the brain when people learn. 

“Ask Yourself: Are Students Engaged?” by Robert Marzano in Educational Leadership, March 2013 (Vol. 70, #6, p. 81-82), www.ascd.org

From the Marshall Memo #477