Results Now 2.0: The Untapped Opportunities for Swift, Dramatic Gains in Achievement

by Mike Schmoker

Decades of research clearly show what works in schools, yet a huge gap persists between those instructional best practices and what is widely taught—and not taught—in classrooms today. In Results Now 2.0 , Mike Schmoker expands on his bestselling book and offers a broader, deeper analysis of the entire K–12 education system and how it can improve. He describes a systemic buffer of policies, pedagogy, and initiatives that prevents everyone—teachers, students, and parents—from understanding our collective failure to align instruction with evidence of what works. We need to bridge the gap between proven practice and common practice. By focusing on the fundamental elements of curriculum, literacy, and effective instruction, Schmoker offers hope for the future. He describes schools that have successfully used evidence and strategic practice to remove the buffer, and he shows how schools can improve—quickly. This book is a call for both educators and the public to demand transparency and fidelity to the most effective actions that transform our schools and help us see results now .

Genres: Education

190 pages, Paperback

Published May 5, 2023

Reviews

[Jack Kemp · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m glad there’s only 5 reviews of this book. Ups my chance of ole Mikey boy reading this. You don’t need to read this book, it has 3 things that he “passionately” (honestly it’s just mean haha) rambles about over and over again to show how crappy teachers are today.
- teachers should have curriculum and a plan. revolutionary.
-teachers should make students read more bc shockingly that increases literacy.
- teachers should make your write more bc it wildly makes you a better writer.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. I'll start by saying this: I have read a lot of ed books -- some by choice, some for classes, and some for required PD. It is extremely rare for me to like one wholesale in the way I do this one, especially one with a cover design this tragically unappealing.

But here we are. This book is just about entirely spot on.

Things I like:

It's well organized, both the chapter sequence and the content within the chapters.

The content is research-based and agrees with what I have observed in 25+ years in K-12 education, myself. So, as a narcissist, I very much like that this book agrees with my own thinking and, furthermore, offers other folks' research as evidence of my inherent rightness.

In terms of writing style, Schmoker is unapologetic and direct in enumerating (and demonstrating) the "brutal facts of K-12 education." And, he is concise. I read it thoroughly in a few hours. There is little to no fluff in this book, which is rare for an ed book. There is also little to no authorial hubris.

It is also not filled with jargon and edubabble. It neither assumes complete ignorance and lack of experience on the part of the reader (by explaining concepts educators already know) nor requires the reader to consult a thesaurus or musty old past education course textbook to dust off pretentious disciplinary terminology. It hits the "I respect my reader's intelligence and abilities" sweet spot just right. This is an inherently readable book. Another rarity in the ed book genre.

What I Grapple With:

While I agree that there are absolutely limits on the value of things like collaborative learning, differentiation, RTI, and individualized instruction, I am not sure I agree with how dismissive of these practices Schmoker appears to be in chapter 5. I do agree that these "pedagogic fads and distractions" have unduly and erroneously eclipsed the importance of high-quality first instruction; however, I am not sure they are as snake-oily as chapter five makes them out to be.

I would like to see Schmoker expand the thin volume a bit to acknowledge some of the realities that teachers face in terms of classroom make-ups that are the result of the big differentiation movement of the 1990s. I'm thinking of secondary education here, where "tracking" became a pejorative term (for some very good reasons) and resulted in students being scheduled into completely non-leveled classes ("all of our classes are college-prep classes"), with the exception of honors or AP courses. For example, in 7th grade English class, the vast range of ability levels in a single 25-student class is staggering. Teachers need to know how to contend with that reality while delivering quality tier 1 instruction (or else we need to talk about whether scheduling all students into a single level of a subject actually works).

I also think it would be easy for someone to read this book, with its emphasis on direct structured instruction, as permission to spend a 90-minute block in "sage on the stage" mode. I don't think that's what Schmoker is advocating, but I can see some readers interpreting his message that way.

I could see some avowed woo-woo educators reading Schmoker's insistence on the paramount nature of well-wrought curricula to be an indication that he's a proponent of scripted, canned, "dummy-proofed" pacing guides that leave little to no room for the art of teaching or teacher autonomy—despite the fact that he states outright on page 20 that this is not what he's saying at all.

All-in-all, as someone whose job it is to shape division-wide curriculum and train teachers in instruction, I found this book affirming of the work I'm currently trying to do and the direction I'm hoping to take the department. See? Told you I'm a narcissist.

[Paula Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not one to read a book on education and appreciate it, much less enjoy parts of it. This book covers comprehensively what doesn’t work in education- which is a whole lot. It also talks about the basic and simple ways we should teach. This is a good, quick read and one that will make everyone close to my age (50’s) repeatedly say, “That’s what I’ve been saying!”

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homework completed. Now comes the truly challenging work of creating a strategic implementation plan. 😬

[Dave Moyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schmoker is nothing if not passionate about the need to prioritize high quality literacy instruction and consistently implement research supported strategies in all classrooms every day. While I find nothing to dispute in his assertions about how to quickly improve learning for students, I fear that there is the potential that too many people would not look at his recommendations as a both and proposition and would discard, rather than incorporate other important elements that promote hihg levels of learning for all students.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's good ideas in here, and I appreciate the push for evidence-based teaching strategies. However, the author is incredibly preachy (and a know-it-all), so his tone is off-putting. He never explains HOW to implement his strategies except to cite the pages of his OTHER book 🙄

[Mylie McKissack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent information.