These features and schools are explained in much greater detail in Langer s forthcoming report, English Instruction in Schools That Beat the Odds . Instead of primarily depending on one approach to teaching an important skill such as using quotation marks, teachers artfully interweave the skill into a variety of lesson types. They might teach it directly at one point out of context and as a lesson in itself. At other points they find a way to teach it in context, perhaps examining how quotation marks are used in a literary text they are reading.
Colleagues teaching in more typical schools often rely primarily on one lesson type.
For example, they tend to teach primarily out of context or primarily within the context of larger activities, but do not use all three lesson types to permeate the students learning experiences. Rather than teaching students merely how to take a specific test, these teachers dissect the test to understand the knowledge and skills needed to succeed. Then they infuse their ongoing English instructional program with those goals. Through writing and reading activities and instruction, such test preparation occurs throughout the school year. In contrast, teachers in more typical schools confine their test preparation if any to the week or two before the test.