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STAR Framework

The STAR Framework for Powerful Teaching and Learning is an instructional framework that organizes the indicators of Powerful Teaching and Learning into an understandable construct. Educators use the STAR Framework to guide their practices - instructional strategies and pedagogical habits - that improve their effectiveness and help all students learn.
A clear and common definition of effective teaching and learning is critical to learning how to change instructional practice. Both brain-related and school-related research findings point to common elements of student experience that correlate with higher achievement scores.

These elements are identified in the STAR Framework as Essential Components of Powerful Teaching and Learning. Using the STAR Framework as a tool to improve pedagogy, educators first internalize the philosophy of Powerful Teaching and Learning and learn to recognize its components in classroom practice, before considering specific classroom strategies. There are five Essential Components: Skills, Knowledge, Thinking, Application, and Relationships.

Essential Components of Powerful Teaching and Learning

S
Skills and/or Knowledge are manifested as the teacher provides opportunities for students to develop rigorous conceptual understanding, not just recall.

T
Thinking is evident as the teacher provides opportunities for students to respond to open-ended questions, to explain their thinking processes, and to reflect to create personal meaning.

A
Application of skills, knowledge, and thinking is evident as the teacher provides opportunities for students to make meaningful personal connections and to extend their learning within and beyond the classroom.

R
Relationships are positive as the teacher creates optimal conditions for learning, maintains high expectations, and provides social support and differentiation of instruction based on student needs.
You will notice that the STAR Framework is titled with a four-part acronym, although it is comprised from five Essential Components. The “S” in the STAR Framework encompasses both the Skills and Knowledge necessary to acquire or express conceptual understanding. When using the STAR Protocol as a data-collection research instrument we look for Skills and/or Knowledge in the classroom. The overall Powerful Teaching and Learning score is not impacted if we only see one or the other during a 30-minute research observation because some lessons are knowledge-focused and some are skills-focused. Therefore, during the development of the STAR as a research tool, we combined the two (S/k). When the STAR Framework is used to organize Powerful Teaching and Learning for professional development and lesson planning, however, Knowledge appears as a separate Essential Component, with its own Indicators (SkTAR). In essence, the “K” is silent in STAR. Of course you have probably noticed the “K” is silent in “knowledge” as well, so we follow a well-established precedent.

Indicators and Strategies of Powerful Teaching and Learning

Each of the five Essential Components is manifested through a set of three Indicators. Indicators describe what each Essential Component looks like in practice, so that participants can recognize when each is or is not present. One Indicator in each set focuses on teacher planning and behaviors; the other two Indicators focus on student behaviors that demonstrate learning. This structure illustrates that the STAR is a Framework for the reciprocal process of teaching and learning, distinct in nature from a teacher-centered instructional framework. The 15 Indicators help educators organize their thinking and language around Powerful Teaching and Learning and select strategies that support learning goals.

The STAR Framework for Powerful Teaching and Learning

Combining the Indicators and their Strategies with the Essential Components creates the STAR Framework.
SKILLS
1.    Teacher provides an opportunity for students to develop and/or demonstrate skills 
2.    Students' skills are used to demonstrate conceptual understanding
3.    Students demonstrate appropriate methods and/or use appropriate tools to acquire/represent information
KNOWLEDGE
4.    Teacher assures the focus of the lesson is clear to all students and that activities/tasks are aligned with the lesson objective/purpose
5.    Students construct knowledge and/or manipulate information to build on prior learning, to discover new meaning, and/or to develop conceptual understanding, not just recall
6.    Students engage in significant communication, which could include speaking/writing, that builds and/or demonstrates conceptual knowledge and understanding
THINKING
7.    Teacher uses a variety of questioning strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and/or communication skills
8.    Students develop and/or demonstrate effective thinking processes either verbally or in writing
9.    Students demonstrate verbally or in writing that they are intentionally reflecting on their own learning
APPLICATION
10.    Teacher relates lesson content to other subject areas, personal experiences and/or contexts
11.    Students demonstrate a meaningful personal connection by extending learning activities in the classroom
12.    Students produce a product and/or performance for an audience beyond the classroom
RELATIONSHIPS
13.    Teacher assures the classroom is a positive, inspirational, safe, and challenging academic environment
14.    Students work collaboratively to share knowledge, complete projects, and/or critique their work
15.    Students experience instructional approaches that are adapted to meet the needs of diverse learners (differentiated learning)

STAR Sections

Powerful Teaching & Learning
STAR Framework
STAR Process
STAR Protocol
STAR Learning Walks
STAR Lesson Plans