updated 1/2023
Do you have an observation coming up? Impress your supervisor with your knowledge of Marzano’s model for SLPs.
Are you attending school-wide trainings that discuss the work of Robert Marzano? Marzano’s model is about supporting the needs of all learners, a task tht SLPs and special educators know well. Marzano proposed a new taxonomy of educational goals in 2000 that has made significant contributions to teaching techniques and teacher evaluations. His model set out to capture a wider range of factors that explain how students think and provides a research-based theory to help students learn! Marzano’s taxonomy is made up of the knowledge domain (the content of what our students learn) and these three systems:
Marzano’s Three Systems:
1. The Self System:
It decides whether to keep up the current behavior or engage in a new activity. These are attitudes, beliefs and feelings that contribute to a student’s motivation to learn.
2. The Meta cognitive System:
The mission controls system of the thinking processes sets goals and keeps track of how well these goals are being achieved.
3. The Cognitive System:
It processes all the necessary information that is being taught in class.
This isn’t just dry theory, it supports all the wonderful techniques and interventions that SLPs have done for years!
Marzano’s Model for SLPs: 3 Systems at Work in Speech Therapy!
You are in your speech room with two kindergarten students, Henry and Shawna. You’ve introduced a lesson on the velars K and G. You’ve written these letters on your whiteboard or i pad and have shown your students how to make the sound using a video. Your students begin to squirm a few minutes into your session, (squirming is a rite of passage for many of our students). Let’s think about what’s happening in their subsystems:
1. Self-system:
Henry doesn’t like school but he does like technology and adult attention. The i pad has been put away and he starts looking around the room. Shawna loves coming to speech and loves everything about school. She notices Henry looking around but tells herself to stay focused on her learning! Her self system has given her the motivation she needs to learn.
2. Meta cognitive System:
Henry tries to stay focused but he is distracted by the toys on your shelf. Shawna tries hard to focus on you but her eyes are averted to the toy shelf. You note this and quickly point to the “I can” statements/student goals that were written out at the beginning of the year. Shawna sees hers and tells herself to stay focused so she’ll be able to effectively practice these sounds. The K and G sounds are one of her therapy goals. Henry is out of his seat. You grab the visual that shows a child sitting on his chair and gently redirect Henry back to his seat. He sits down as he needed your physical help and visual to refocus his thinking!! You point to his clothes pin on the speech ladder and remind him that if he can make these sounds today, he might move his clip to the next step on the ladder! He didn’t have the motivation to learn or the meta cognitive skills to keep himself focused but you have helped him strengthen these systems.
3. Cognitive System:
You have both student’s attention so you move on quickly with your lesson. Your students are practicing these sounds in isolation with a mirror. Shawna is familiar with the letters K and G and has heard her teacher and parents model this sound for her. Given this background knowledge and her strong receptive language skills, she quickly processes your instructions about what to do with her tongue. Henry does not know the letters K or G much less their associated sounds. His delays in language comprehension make it difficult for him to understand your directions. While Shawna practices her sounds and rates her productions, you move Henry to a therapy ball on his back. He practices these sounds with a mirror and gravity and shortened instructions help him understand that his tongue should be retracted for these “back” sounds.
The session ends. Shawna is off to a good start with the velar sounds. Her sub systems were all set for learning! However, Henry’s self system, meta cognition and cognitive systems ALL let him down. He needed your specialized supports and instructions for every step of this session.
Marzano’s Model for SLPs: supporting two diverse learners!
- RAPPORT-BUILDING: You have an excellent rapport with your students. Even when they lack motivation to learn, they want to please you!
- META COGNITIVE STRATEGIES WERE BUILT INTO YOUR ROUTINE! Goal setting was done at the start of the year with each student. Student’s wrote “I can” statements that summarized their goals and you posted them in your therapy room! Way to make goal setting part of your routine!
- SUPPORTS FOR VISUAL LEARNERS: Henry’s auditory processing difficulties made it challenging for him to understand your directions or why he is in Speech! Your strategically placed speech ladder helped him understand the goal of speech and your visuals help him understand behavioral expectations.
- MATERIALS FOR ALL TYPES OF LEARNERS: You had material available for your motivated learners (Shawna rating her own productions with your feedback) and your unmotivated learners! Henry needed help maintaining attention and regulating his emotions and you had the tools (and the patience) available!!
Ah, Marzano’s theory really is not so new for the SLPs of the world!!
Are you interested in incorporating Marzano’s taxonomy and meta cognition into your therapy? Check out these links to products from TPT sellers that incorporate goal setting and other aspects of meta cognition into therapy:
1. Self-rating Forms for SLPs!
by Badger State Speechy
A collection of 14 forms: Students rate their own responses and productions, take part in goal setting, determine their step on the speech ladder and even assess their own effort!
2. Student Self Rating Scales for Articulation, Phonology and Stuttering for SLPs
by Natalie Snyders
A series of 10 student self-rating and teacher scales designed to help understanding of how students feel about speech therapy.
3. Progress Monitoring Toolkit
by Marisha McGorty
Quick and easy tools to increase student awareness of their goals!
4. Superhero Speech Ladder and Classroom Decor
by Badger State Speechy
This packet includes speech room rules, “I can” speech shields (for documenting goals), exit tickets (given if students know their speech goal) a large speech ladder and so much more!
5. Social Pragmatic Rubrics (student directed)
by SLPrunner
Student-directed rubrics for social pragmatic language and generalization!
by Smartmouth SLP
Strategies and activities for organizing backpacks, determining the best solution to problems and more!
by Speech Paths
Students design a video game while working on communication and executive functioning.
Looking for ideas on Marzano’s model for older students? Check out this blog piece on Social Skills Activities with Vocabulary Components! or making self-assessments meaninful that are useful for your older students!
Thank you so much for reading about Marzano’s model for SLPs!
Great post Donna! Executive function and cognition are so interwoven with language–strengthening these skills during therapy will have significant positive outcomes for our students!
What great examples and a fabulous blog post! I will be sharing your post with my fellow SLPs this week!
Daria and Heidi,
Thank you for stopping by to read the post!