HLP 16

Explicit instruction is one of the most well-researched practices in special education.  In a recent synthesis of special education meta-analyses (Nelson et al., 2022), researchers identified 20 meta-analyses representing over 500 studies about using explicit instruction.  The meta-analyses represented students from various disability groups, including specific learning disability, autism, emotional disturbance, and intellectual disability.  The studies were also conducted in different content areas, such as reading, mathematics, and behavior.  Of the 500 studies on explicit instruction, Nelson and colleagues (2022) found that 72% of them demonstrated large positive effects of explicit instruction on the dependent variable, and 19% demonstrated moderate positive effects.  The only other HLP with such strong positive results was HLP 15: Use Scaffolding, which is a critical component of explicit instruction.  Combined, these results bolster the research support for the explicit instruction approach.  

Studies have addressed the effects of explicit instruction as an overall model and the specific behaviors or supports that comprise it, such as modeling (Hattie, 2009; Hattie & Yates, 2014), step-by-step demonstrations (Deshler et al., 2001), and guided and supported practice (Capin et al., 2017).  Explicit instruction has been used to effectively teach vocabulary (Gallagher et al., 2019; Patrona et al., 2022), reading comprehension (Shanahan et al., 2010), word recognition skills in reading (Connor et al., 2009), writing skills and strategies (Graham et al., 2012; Granado-Peinado et al., 2023), math skills and concepts (Frye et al., 2013), and a variety of cognitive learning strategies (Hughes, 2011). 

There are many elements of explicit instruction that naturally connect to practices associated with culturally inclusive pedagogy, but educators need to specifically consider how they will support their students’ cultures and backgrounds when preparing to deliver explicit instruction.  The gradual release of responsibility inherent in explicit instruction, for example, aligns with a critical feature of Ladson-Billings’ (1995) description of culturally responsive pedagogy: the importance of students feeling academically successful, which comes from students feeling and demonstrating academic competence.  By carefully monitoring students’ responses and removing supports and prompts only when they are ready for more independence, educators ensure that students feel supported and experience success.  By removing those supports as soon as students are able to work independently, the teacher shows they have high expectations, which is essential for students to feel and demonstrate competence (Sebastian, 2023). 

One key feature of culturally inclusive pedagogy is “using students’ culture as a bridge to the curriculum” (Sebastian, 2023, p. 29), so teachers should consider their students’ cultures and backgrounds when designing or selecting the examples and non-examples they will model or demonstrate during explicit instruction.  Educators should include concepts and contexts with which students can relate and connect.  To support demonstrations and think-alouds, educators should include linguistic supports for multilingual learners, such as visual cues and student-friendly definitions of critical terms.  Educators should be consistent in the language they use for models, examples, and non-examples.  When choosing texts to use in modeling, educators select or create multicultural texts that reflect different cultures and social structures (Freeman-Green et al., 2021; Kourea et al., 2018).

Providing frequent opportunities to respond is, in itself, a culturally inclusive practice (Green & Stormont, 2018).  Educators can use engagement strategies that are familiar to students and facilitate interaction with the material in ways that support their priorities, social structures, and natural ways of learning.  For example, collaborative learning is valued in many cultures because learning is viewed as a social activity, so educators should look for ways to build in collaborative opportunities to engage, such as Think-Pair-Share or cooperative learning groups (Kourea et al., 2018). 

Providing culturally inclusive opportunities to respond also means avoiding engagement strategies that may be uncomfortable for students.  Some students may experience anxiety if they are asked to share personal details or to read or perform in front of a large group of peers.  Using total group participation techniques such as response cards or individual whiteboards allows students to respond actively and individually without added pressure.  Additionally, centering opportunities to respond on topics common in the dominant (White) culture, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas traditions, can be exclusionary for students who do not share those cultural touchstones (Kourea et al., 2018) and may result in some students disengaging from the lesson. When planning questions and prompts, include a variety of topics to include all students’ cultures and/or allow for choice and flexibility in how and when students engage.