Complex Instruction

Classrooms in which students are diverse in terms of their previous academic achievement, oral and written proficiency in the language of instruction, and social and cultural backgrounds present the serious pedagogical challenge of providing equitable learning opportunities, rigorous and intellectually deep curriculum, and equal outcomes for all students. Developed at Stanford University, complex instruction is a pedagogical approach designed to create and support equitable classrooms for diverse student populations. Complex instruction emphasizes equal-status interactions among students and specifies the conditions under which teachers can establish and support such interactions. Teachers build equitable classrooms by crafting group-worthy learning tasks, organizing the classroom for productive collaboration, developing the student's facility with the academic discourse of the discipline, assessing and providing feedback to groups and individuals, and, most ...