A practical reference for teachers, coaches, and leaders. All the core ideas from Visible Learning research — phases, strategies, frameworks, and effect sizes — in one place.
The Strategy Reference is the center of the site. Use it to choose the learning phase, SOLO level, and evidence-based strategy. Then use the ALDO prompt, Prompt Library, and Sources page as support tools.
Turn the strategy reference into a coach-style lesson design conversation.
Use source files to ground AI responses and reduce invented effect sizes or standards.
"Ask not what technology can do with students, but what students can do with technology."
— Miguel Guhlin, TCEAEffect size measures how much a strategy accelerates student learning compared to typical growth. A score of 0.0 means no effect. A score of 0.4 represents a full year of expected growth. Strategies above 0.4 are in the "Zone of Desired Effects" — they accelerate learning beyond what students would gain on their own.
Mike Bell's research focuses on how long-term memories form. New information enters working memory, which is limited. Deep processing — connecting ideas, teaching others, applying knowledge — moves information into long-term memory. Strategies that force elaboration work better than passive review.
"What the hand does, the mind remembers."
A strategy's effect size can drop significantly when used in the wrong learning phase. Reciprocal Teaching is powerful for Deep Learning but less effective if students have no surface knowledge to work with. The same strategy, wrong timing, wrong result.
Building foundational knowledge — facts, vocabulary, concepts, and basic procedures. Students need this before they can go deeper. Surface learning is not shallow; it is essential.
Making connections between ideas. Students move from knowing facts independently to understanding how they relate. This is where real comprehension lives.
Applying knowledge to new, novel situations. This is the highest level — students generalize principles, solve unfamiliar problems, and create something new. Requires strong Surface and Deep foundations first.
Problem-Based Learning has a strong effect size — but only when used after students have built foundational and conceptual understanding. Used too early, before Surface and Deep learning are in place, it can actually slow progress. This is one of the most common implementation errors in classrooms. The question is never just which strategy — it's when.
A student may speak at a Relational or Extended Abstract level in discussion, but produce Unistructural written work. Before concluding the student lacks understanding, diagnose the barrier: Is it vocabulary? Writing mechanics? Language proficiency? The fix differs entirely depending on the cause.
Students can produce work that looks Extended Abstract — a polished paragraph, a detailed concept map — without genuine understanding behind it. AI-generated work or heavy scaffolding can mask this. Always check that the work reflects the student's own thinking.
SOLO is most useful when you assess student work before deciding what to teach next. A student at Multistructural needs help making connections — not more facts. A student at Unistructural needs more examples and varied exposure, not relational tasks yet. Match the strategy to the level.
| Strategy | Effect Size | Phase | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collective Teacher Efficacy | 1.01 | All | Teachers believe together they can impact student outcomes — the most powerful lever in the system |
| Video Microteaching | 0.99 | PL | Teachers record, watch, and reflect on their own teaching — one of the highest-impact professional learning approaches |
| Jigsaw Method | 0.92 | Surface Deep | Only strategy effective across both Surface and Deep phases; students become the expert and teach others |
| Argumentation | 0.86 | Deep | Students construct, evaluate, and counter arguments — builds relational thinking and academic discourse |
| Teacher Clarity | 0.85 | All | Clear learning intentions and success criteria so students know what they're aiming for and why |
| Self-Reflection / Self-Reported Grades | 0.81 | All | Students who accurately predict their own performance understand their learning deeply — metacognition as strategy |
| Critical Thinking | 0.79 | Deep Transfer | Analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information — essential for both Relational and Extended Abstract levels |
| Transfer Strategies | 0.75 | Transfer | Explicit instruction in how to apply learning to new contexts — not assumed, taught directly |
| Reciprocal Teaching | 0.74 | Deep | The Fab Four: Predict, Question, Clarify, Summarize — students take over comprehension roles from the teacher |
| Concept Mapping | 0.66 | Deep | Visual representation of how concepts connect — moves students from Multistructural to Relational thinking |
| Success Criteria | 0.64 | All | Explicit, student-facing descriptions of what quality work looks like at each stage |
| Vocabulary Programs | 0.62 | Surface | Systematic vocabulary instruction is foundational — word knowledge directly drives reading comprehension |
| Problem-Solving Teaching | 0.61 | Transfer | Authentic, complex problems with multiple solution paths — only effective after Surface and Deep foundations are built |
Source: John Hattie, Visible Learning / Corwin Visible Learning MetaX database
Works in Surface (building expert knowledge) and Deep (teaching others requires relational understanding). SOLO levels: Unistructural/Multistructural through Relational. Requires multiple implementations before it runs smoothly — plan for at least 3 sessions before judging effectiveness.
Deep Learning phase. SOLO level: Relational. Works with text, video, podcasts, and any media — not just reading class. Implement 15–30 minutes daily for 15–20 days for full effect.
Students anticipate what comes next, activating prior knowledge and creating a purpose for reading. Keeps students engaged as active hypothesizers, not passive consumers.
Students generate their own questions about the content — moving beyond recall into analysis and inference. The act of forming good questions requires deep processing.
Students identify confusing elements and use strategies to resolve misunderstandings. Makes metacognitive repair visible and teachable rather than private and assumed.
Students synthesize key information, distinguishing essential from non-essential. Requires integrating the content — a Relational-level task, not just a Surface one.
The tool matters less than the structure. Students doing the cognitive work is what drives the effect size.
"Students not only improve their comprehension almost immediately, but maintain those improvements when tested a year later."
— Reciprocal Teaching research synthesisDeep Learning phase. Moves students from Multistructural (knowing separate facts) to Relational (understanding connections). Useful across all content areas and grade levels.
Structured problem-based learning implemented after students have built the necessary Surface and Deep understanding. Not a discovery activity for beginners — a transfer activity for prepared learners.
Not a personality trait — a set of teachable skills. Critical thinking requires explicit instruction and practice, not just exposure to complex material.
Use PRISM to design problems that require genuine transfer, not just application of a memorized procedure
Science (Simple Machines): Design a playground structure that uses at least two simple machines. Students must explain their choices using what they know about force and motion.
Math (Proportional Reasoning): Create a pricing model for a school store that ensures profitability while remaining affordable for all students. Justify every decision with data.
English (Literature): Create a modern adaptation of a classic work that preserves the core themes but changes setting, characters, or medium. Defend your choices in a written rationale.
A five-step lesson architecture grounded in SEL, brain-based learning, and high-impact strategies
ALDO is most useful as a planning template — not a rigid sequence. The key principle: select your strategy after you know your students' current SOLO level, not before.
A structured model for instructional coaching grounded in evidence-based practice
The EIIR cycle is a coaching model, not an evaluation framework. The difference matters: coaching is collaborative, goal-oriented, and teacher-directed. The coach's role is to support, not direct.
Goal-setting criteria for the Empower & Engage phase of the EIIR cycle
Teacher
Implement Jigsaw (ES: 0.92) in science. Create expert groups for 5 key concepts with structured note-taking templates. Target: move students from Multistructural to Relational understanding within the unit.
Instructional Coach
Guide 5 teachers through Video Microteaching (ES: 0.99) — record, collaboratively reflect, and implement one improvement per cycle.
Campus Leader
Build Collective Teacher Efficacy (ES: 1.01) by implementing monthly data meetings with structured protocols focused on student work and SOLO levels.
Mike Bell's instructional design cycle, aligned to how long-term memory forms
Bell's model is grounded in cognitive science. New information must be connected to existing knowledge (Locate/Explore) before being processed deeply (Apply). Without the Review and Nurture steps, most new learning is forgotten within days.
"Stop using strategies shown not to work. Replace them with methods that have strong evidence behind them."
— Mike BellMelanie Trecek-King's framework for critical evaluation of information and claims
Critical thinking has an effect size of 0.79 — but it has to be explicitly taught, not just expected. FLOATER gives students a concrete checklist for evaluating any claim: in advertising, news, social media, science reports, or historical arguments.
It fits naturally into Transfer Learning because it requires students to apply reasoning skills to unfamiliar content — exactly what Extended Abstract thinking looks like in practice.
"The brain works by taking shortcuts, deceiving us into seeing things that aren't there and believing things that aren't true."
— Series content, Part 6A four-step method for evaluating online information before sharing or acting on it
SIFT is faster and more student-friendly than FLOATER — good for quick in-the-moment evaluation, especially of social media content. Use SIFT as a first-pass filter; use FLOATER for deeper analysis of a specific claim.
"Learning is deeper and more durable when it's effortful. There has to be that productive struggle."
— Miguel Guhlin, TCEAStudents at this level need foundational exposure, not AI partners. Teachers use AI to generate retrieval practice questions, entry tickets, and formative prompts that activate prior knowledge without overwhelming.
AI can provide additional examples, analogies, and explanations in multiple formats. Goal: help students encounter the same concept from different angles until one sticks. Still teacher-supervised.
AI can surface diverse viewpoints, organize information into categories, and introduce frameworks like SIFT or FLOATER for evaluating that information. Students are now working with multiple ideas — AI helps manage the complexity.
AI as a brainstorming partner, devil's advocate, or question generator. Use PRISM prompts to push AI to challenge the student's thinking, not just confirm it. Students drive the conversation; AI complicates and extends it.
Students use AI to rapidly prototype solutions, test hypotheses, generate counterarguments, and model scenarios. The student is in full control — AI is a tool for accelerating what the student has already conceptualized.
AI can produce Extended Abstract-looking work instantly — polished arguments, complex concept maps, sophisticated analyses. This creates a real risk: students can bypass Surface and Deep learning entirely, producing outputs they do not understand. The solution is not to ban AI, but to design tasks where the process is visible and assessed, not just the product.
Access the TCEA Strategy Partner — a custom AI trained on all Visible Learning content, SOLO Taxonomy, EIIR coaching, PRISM, FLOATER, and RISE goals:
Open in BoodleBox Web VersionAccess: Aug 1, 2025 – Aug 1, 2026 · Do not submit student PII into any AI tool