Visible Learning for Literacy, Grades K-12: Implementing the Practices That Work Best to Accelerate Student Learning

by Douglas B. Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Hattie

Ensure students demonstrate more than a year’s worth of learning during a school year Renowned literacy experts Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey work with John Hattie to apply his 15 years of research, identifying instructional routines that have the biggest impact on student learning, to literacy practices. These practices are "visible" because their purpose is clear, they are implemented at the right moment in a student’s learning, and their effect is tangible.  Through dozens of classroom scenarios, learn how to use the right approach at the right time for surface, deep, and transfer learning and which routines are most effective at each phase of learning.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Professional Development, Nonfiction, School

216 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2016

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design."

Years of education research have made clear there are effective and ineffective - even harmful - instructional practices. The authors clearly outline and explain the most effective practices for accelerating literacy learning. What we do as teachers in the classroom matters. We have the privilege to impact the literate lives of children, and we have an obligation to use practices that are proven to accelerate deep and transferable learning.

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective teaching requires measuring your impact on student learning (change from pre- to post-test), celebrating errors as a "hallmark of learning," providing effective feedback, and structuring opportunities for students to practice what they are learning while self-assessing in relation to predetermined success criteria.

The book discusses surface, deep, & transfer learning while highlighting which strategies are most effective (based on Hattie's meta-analysis) for that particular stage of learning. Each stage of learning has its place. "... A reader's ability to engage in interpretive and critical thinking can be inhibited if she hasn't had the opportunity to acquire and consolidate the knowledge and skills she will need. You need surface learning to be able to relate, extend, and think deeply" (p. 36).

Definitely a title to revisit as it contains many nuggets of wisdom for educators.

[Stevi Quate]

This book is filled with important information for all teachers, especially those who focus on literacy (which should be every teacher). Using Hattie's research, Fisher and Frey (along with Hattie) show the effect size of a long list of influences. See if you can rank the following based on how powerful the influence is in creating change in students' achievements: time on task, discussion, ability grouping for gifted students, metacognition, and class size.

For the answer, pick up the book and check out pages 169+.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

...let's just say I really liked this book. It reaffirmed much of what I think and helped me find hangers to make what I do better.

[Matt Carton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of reiteration and clarification of Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers. The information on how to work out effect sizes was fun - it will help me crunch numbers before the year starts.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reflective and informative resource that will help all educators understand and refine their impact on students' literacy and overall academic development!

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good use of some data to backup suggestions. Some Avid and RTI suggestions can be better found in other books. Still, I appreciate the dedication of this project.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's because we've done so much work with Hattie and assessment for learning in my district, but it feels like reading any book by Fisher, Frey, and Hattie is reading the same book. It's all about effect sizes and teacher impact and reflection on teaching to CHANGE how you teach to be a change agent for your learners. That is all great and no teacher will disagree, but I continue to be disappointed with the lack of examples from lower grade classrooms. I know you can't include an example from every grade, but the vast majority apply to older grades so I continue to be put off by the K-12 descriptors that are included in their titles.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for a class this summer. It uses the statistical tool of effect size to discuss different literacy strategies based on whether learning is surface, deep or transfer. The best part is the discussion about the different levels of learning and fitting literacy strategies to the level. One negative is that it doesn't give detailed information about how to implement different strategies. It seems to assume that you can find that information elsewhere and just use this as a way to find the best practices.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on literacy I have ever read, and as such, changed the way I view literacy. This is not like a lot of literacy books I've read that rehash ideas that have been presented before. It is a fresh perspective that is data based (that's the Hattie influence), simple to read and offers practical, useful advice. Highly recommend.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for a resource to grow your students in the areas of reading and writing, you have found the holy grail.

[Lysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

We teachers all know the saying; “Know Thy Impact”. We understand that “every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design”. But the measurement of that impact and the blueprints of that design can be confusing to face. Further, when it comes to literacy, we are well aware of its importance in students’ learning outcomes. Without literacy skills and knowledge, one is unable to access and participate fully in what society has to offer. This is where visible learning for literacy steps in to help. If you are after a practical and informative text to aid you in your visible learning journey, then I highly recommend this book.

In this text, Fisher, Frey and Hattie delve further into the groundwork of visible learning, surface literacy learning, deep literacy learning, teaching literacy for transfer, and determining your impact then responding when your impact is insufficient. Each chapter is well organised and easy to follow.

As an aside, I am mindful of the complexities of meta-analyses and how they can potentially skew the effect sizes of the data so they are meaningless in a given context. Don’t get me wrong, I am appreciative of Hattie’s work with visible learning, but I believe that this conversation needs to be furthered beyond just “this has a high effect size that will work everywhere”, which seems to be the current tone in education. We do still need to remain critical in our interpretation of this data and analyse it appropriately. As someone with a (very limited, but still informed) background in data analysis I can see problems occurring if this trend and lack of knowledge in the interpretation of meta analyses continues. We can’t let that happen.

With that out of the way, this particular text utilizes the effect size data from Hattie’s research to provide practical methods of improving literacy outcomes for children. It is user friendly and uses key examples to demonstrate concepts clearly. I appreciated the inclusion of blank tables that I can use in class to further my students’ education.

I would certainly recommend attending the workshop linked to this text presented by Douglas Fisher as it only helps to delve deeper and further reflect on your professional practice.

Recommended to teachers
Format: paperback
Rating: 5/5 Stars
2018: 18/40 books

[David Doty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Building on the outstanding research of John Hattie, this excellent book provides compelling guidance for educational leaders and teachers about how to teach literacy effectively. I especially liked the authors' concluding statement: "Hattie (2012) noted that about 50% of the achievement variation found in schools is attributed to student characteristics and demographics. Unfortunately, in many schools, that 50% gets all the play. After the students themselves, teachers have the biggest impact on student achievement, followed by school effects, the principal, parents, and the home. This is really, really important: a significant amount of the variance in student achievement is attributed to teachers. What teachers do matters. How teachers think really matters. Making informed decisions about what actions to take, based on evidence, should be the focus of professional development sessions and grade-level or department conversations rather than admiring problems and blaming students for the conditions in which they live."

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent textbook. The biggest takeaway I got from it was actually from its structure. The book divided its look at best practices into WHEN the practice is most effective: whether the practice serves to help students with surface acquisition, deep learning, or transfer of knowledge, with an emphasis that all three of these phases of learning are necessary and worth attention in the right order for student growth. I would not be surprised to find myself looking back at the book later to remember which practices are most effective when. Otherwise, there was nothing exceptionally stunning about the book. The pacing or level of detail was a little off sometimes and I often finished a chapter quickly while not being quite sure what I had just learned, but some parts of it were very nice, and the focus on teacher-capabilities and the big-picture structure is definitely something I am glad to have dwelt inside for a time.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as teaching and learning resources go, this one is up there with the best.

It is very easy to read. The authors get straight to the point and don't confabulate on each strategy they list as effective. They have research to back their statements and approach the topic with insight from many educators.

At certain points some particular strategies deserved more explanation or practicable examples, and because the book is quite economical and concise it does read like a list of bullet points at times. But most of the time this is what teachers want. Leave out the history and theory, just give us the tips and tricks and an example of how to implement it.

And that is what makes this book so effective. It is written in with natural voice and doesn't get bogged down in academese but still gives the best practices in education.

[Larry Jarocki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, and one that combines input from Fisher and Frey, and Hattie. I've been following all of them for years, and it's interesting to see them pool their knowledge. The shallow, deep, transfer learning paradigm gave me food for thought. And the emphasis on teachers and PLCs determining their own effect sizes and acting on this data makes for more effective collaboration, though I can imagine teachers shrugging and ignoring the need to look at hard data when making curricular and instructional decisions. The book makes a strong case for how teaching could be made more effective and efficient, but I wonder how many collaborative teams will actually heed it.

[Ann Warren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m really trying to give Visible Learning a chance since our district adopted its PD plan for the next few years. This is the third VL book I’ve read, this time it focused on literacy. Again, an entire book full of platitudes and fun lesson ideas without real content for teachers to use for planning. Foundational skills were briefly addressed in the “surface learning” section, and the rest of the book were ideas for “deep” and “transfer” learning that left me scratching my head. It feels like a drive by of common sense good practices without actual workable ideas. Teachers need real knowledge and curricular tools that support them. This wasn’t it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great examples of strategies in action, as well as a strong message to educators that WE make the impact but we need to be aware and actively examine this impact on our students. Affirming in many of the aspects we already have built into our instruction as well as tools to strengthen them. I’m glad I read Hattie’s ‘Visible Learning for Teachers’ first as it had a more in-depth account for his research on the different effect influences. However, I am using it with a staff for professional development and using other online sources to fill in that understanding.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Learning is a process, not an event." This quote extracted from this book really sums up visible learning and its many components within English language arts. Learning about what truly impacts a student and their learning is of vital importance simply because there are so many methods and ideas out there for the most effective means of teaching. I appreciate how the work of John Hattie was taken and broken down in terms of literacy and how English teachers can use these concepts in their classes. So much great material going into a new school year!

[Natalie Shear · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of notes about the text aka my take away.

1. Push for the understanding of content first.
2. teach discussions with a routine and have accountability for students for their discussions.
3. peer to peer teaching is great way for students to learn .
4. grouping classes by level isn't great neither grouping all the same level kids all the time together ( my interpretation).
5. structure for deeper learning is needed especially in the beginning of the year.
6. small groups for interventions works best.

Overall, I picked up a few ideas but the book was a bit dry at times.

[Joyce Yattoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many learning tasks and activities that teachers can choose to teach a particular standard. At times it can be overwhelming. This book is a great resource as it includes Hattie’s instructional strategies and those that produce the most learning growth for students. It is a great resource in planning lessons especially when your unit is crunched for time. What do you choose? Choose the strategy you are going to get “the most gain for your buck”. There is also a math one too.

[Sheri Forsdick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book providing strategies that give the most bang for the buck in teaching. The author’s provide rational behind using these types of strategies and why they are so effective in teaching students. The authors explain why surface learning is so important, but why it’s important to assess students so that a teacher can move beyond surface learning to deep and transfer learning.

[Emily Anderle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so helpful when deciding what and how to teach, and how not to teach. The authors use research to prove what is actually beneficial to students in literacy classrooms. It divides the strategies into surface learning, deep learning, and transfer learning. Then it discusses strategies we should avoid (labeling students, retention, etc.).

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biggest takeaways: the TEACHER is the most important factor in the classroom. Often, the RTI suggested was done during regular instruction, not in addition to their normal instruction. There is NO mentioning of "switching students" and often times, they recommend a specialist to do the intervention.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of new information and a bit more elementary/middle school focus in the second half of the book. Adaptable but not a lot of ah-ha’s throughout. I LOVED Rigorous Reading so I was a little disappointed in this.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had a definite textbook feel to it, but it gave many specific examples that made John Hattie's data come to life. This was a lot more practical than simply looking at the methods and effect sizes.

I recommend it for any ELA teachers.

[Lauren Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great resource! In teaching we are often told to use “best practice” without specifically defining what is the “best” practice. This book methodically goes through practices in literacy comparing their efficacies in regards to their yearlong effect. Very useful!

[Sonja Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The TEACHER has the biggest effect on student achievement. Mic drop. A must-read for all educators.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many excellent ideas in here. I'm excited to read the 6-12 one and begin implementing everything in here to really make sure my students are learning.

[Megan Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dull sometimes, but there are a few good resources.