This is one of the most cited and practically useful pieces in the instructional design literature. Barak Rosenshine, emeritus professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois, distils decades of research from three converging sources — cognitive science, studies of master teachers, and research on learning supports — into ten principles that consistently characterise effective teaching. The fact that three independent research traditions point to the same conclusions gives the framework unusual credibility.
The principles cover the full arc of a lesson: beginning with short review of prior learning to activate and strengthen existing knowledge, presenting new material in small manageable steps rather than all at once, asking frequent questions to check understanding and give students practice with the new content, providing worked examples and models so students can see expert thinking made visible, guiding practice carefully before releasing students to work independently, and building in regular weekly and monthly review so that knowledge becomes automatic and deeply connected rather than superficial and fragile.
The thread running through all ten principles is cognitive load — the recognition that working memory is limited, and that good instructional design reduces the burden on it by sequencing learning carefully, providing sufficient scaffolding, and ensuring that foundational knowledge is secure before students are asked to apply it in more complex ways. When students are set loose on difficult tasks before they are ready, they don’t learn — they practise errors. When instruction is well-sequenced and well-supported, students succeed, and that success itself becomes an engine of engagement.
For teachers and school leaders thinking about why students disengage during the secondary years, Rosenshine’s framework offers a clear and actionable lens. Students who consistently feel confused, underprepared or unable to succeed are students who disengage. Getting the instructional design right is not separate from the engagement question — it is central to it.