Successful Learning Conference 2019: doctor’s masterclass in explicit instruction

One of the busiest and most engaging presentations at this year’s conference was Dr Devin Kearn’s Using explicit instruction to increase student achievement. Kearns prefaced his presentation with the fact that, while explicit instruction is essential for students with learning and attention difficulties, it is also “effective for kids in general education”. Research has repeatedly shown that explicit instruction, when delivered correctly, leads to greater student achievement (Adams & Engelmann, 1996; Hattie, 2009, 2018) and is effective for both mathematics and language arts (Hattie, 2018).