The Most Effective Teaching Strategies To Use In Your School: Evidence Based And Proven To Work

March 18, 2026 | 9 min read

Gather a room of teachers together and they will give you as many teaching strategies as there are topics in the K-12 curriculum. This article introduces the 13 most important teaching strategies you should be using – the ones that have real impact on learning outcomes and the ones that we use every week...

Teaching and learning strategies taken from the best of global education research

One of the greatest advances that has been made in the last 5 years in the education sector in the U.S. and globally is the increasing influence of large scale research and evidence informing what we know about how children learn, and consequently, how we can better teach them.

Whether that’s the emphasis on evidence-based interventions under ESSA, the growing ResearchEd movement, or even just the vibrant #edutwitter community, many more teachers now are taking their professional development into their own hands.

What are teaching strategies?

Teaching strategies are methods and techniques that a teacher will use to support their students through the learning process; a teacher will choose the teaching strategy most suitable to the topic being studied, the level of expertise of the learner, and the stage in their learning journey.

13 teaching strategies for elementary and middle school

These are the 13 most important teaching strategies that you and all the teachers in your school should have in your teaching toolkit to make the most out of class time and increase student engagement.

1. Know your students and develop their respect

Your teaching is built on an understanding of your students and their learning needs. Aligned to this is the respect between you and your students.

2. Appropriate use of summative and formative assessments

Summative assessments take place after a block of work, while formative assessments gauge students' day-to-day understanding.

3. Teach the vocabulary

Students need the words to confidently speak about a topic. Pre-teach important vocabulary at the start of a lesson.

4. Explicit instruction

This teacher-led strategy focuses on frequent questioning and guided practice.

5. Effective questioning techniques

Use questioning strategies like “Are you sure?” and “How do you know?” to gauge student understanding.

6. Deliberate practice

Break learning down into sub-skills that can be deliberately practiced in turn.

7. Differentiation

Effective differentiation strategies can minimize gaps in student learning.

8. Reinforcing effort/providing recognition

Linking effort to recognition fosters active learning.

9. Metacognition

Teaching students about their own learning processes can significantly enhance their progress.

10. Personalized learning

Targeted learning that appeals to students' interests enhances engagement.

11. Collaborative learning

Structured group work promotes interaction and learning.

12. Explicitly teach thinking skills & problem-solving techniques

Teaching problem-solving techniques ensures students apply critical thinking effectively.

13. Modeling and scaffolding

The “I do, We do, You do” method aids in ensuring student understanding without overwhelming them.

Other teaching strategies to consider

  1. Use of education technology
  2. Behavior management
  3. Inquiry-based learning
  4. Class discussions
  5. Feedback process and understanding
  6. Growth Mindset

6 learning strategies

  1. Spaced practice
  2. Retrieval practice
  3. Elaboration
  4. Interleaving
  5. Concrete examples
  6. Dual coding

References

[List of references and further reading]