Overview
This program provides educators with unique opportunities to read contemporary pieces of education literature both in a book club model and author's talk. Participants will receive a copy of the book as well as a study guide so that they can engage in a book club around the
text in their local schools. Robert Marzano will come to Hartford to lead a keynote and question and answer session exclusively for club
members on April 7, 2005.

2004 - 05 Book Selection: What Works in Schools (2003)
Any school in the United States can operate at advanced levels of effectiveness-if it is willing to implement what is known about effective schooling. "If we follow the guidance offered from 35 years of research," says author Robert J. Marzano, "we can enter an era of unprecedented effectiveness for the public practice of education." In What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, Marzano synthesizes that research to provide clear and unequalled insight into the nature of schooling. Marzano defines the factors affecting student achievement and offers compelling answers to once-elusive questions:

• How can schools set academic goals that do not underestimate student potential?
• How critical are staff collegiality and professional development?
• Do all students have equal opportunity to learn given current curriculum requirements?
• Supplemental versus required content-is there room for redefinition?
• What types of parental and community involvement make a real difference?
• What instructional strategies really work?
• What influence can an individual teacher have on students?
• How can teachers manage classrooms that promote positive student-and-teacher relationships?
• How can teachers structure their curricula to better sequence and pace content?
• Can teachers really overcome a student's negative home environment?
• How does an understanding of motivation theories help students and teachers overcome learning obstacles?
• What specific learning strategies can enhance learned intelligence and background knowledge?

In each chapter, Marzano recommends specific-and attainable-action steps to implement successful strategies culled from the wealth of research data. Schools can and do affect student achievement. In his latest work, Marzano leads the way in establishing positive approaches that can make the long-held dream of effective public education a reality.

About the Author
Robert J. Marzano is a Senior Scholar at Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning in Aurora, Colorado; an Associate Professor at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Vice President of Pathfinder Education, Inc.; and a private consultant operating out of Centennial, Colorado. He is responsible for translating research and theory into classroom practice. His most recent book, A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Norford, Paynter, Pickering, & Gaddy, 2001; ASCD), is a practical handbook for using the groundwork and theory found in Classroom Instruction That Works: Research Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001; ASCD). In addition, Marzano headed a team of authors who developed Dimensions of Learning (ASCD), and is the senior author of Tactics for Thinking (ASCD). Other notable publications address standards as described in the two books Essential Knowledge: The Debate Over What American Students Should Know (Marzano, Kendall,& Gaddy, 1999; ASCD/McREL) and A Comprehensive Guide to Designing Standards-Based Districts, Schools, and Classrooms (Marzano & Kendall, 1996; ASCD/McREL). Marzano has also recently completed books entitled Transforming Classroom Grading (2000, ASCD) and Designing a New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (2000, Corwin Press). He has developed programs and practices used in K-12 classrooms that translate current research and theory in cognition into instructional methods. Marzano was a Senior Fellow with McREL from 1981 until 2001; before that he was a tenured associate professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, and a high school English teacher and department chair. An internationally known trainer and speaker, Marzano has authored 19 books and more than 150 articles and chapters in books on such topics as reading and writing instruction, thinking skills, school effectiveness, restructuring, assessment, cognition, and standards implementation.