Zach Groshell

Take an Edu-Trip to New York City When I first started teaching, the best professional development I received came from two people: the math coach at my school and my assigned mentor teacher. It wasn’t perfect. The math coach only …

Join me and @Steplab_co at FLACS Middle School in the Bronx for a rip roaring intensive training on building an instructional coaching program that works.

Registration in link below 👇

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/29/t...

Take an Edu-Trip to New York City When I first started teaching, the best professional development I received came from two people: the math coach at my school and my assigned mentor teacher. It wasn’t perfect. The math coach only …

Here’s a little about my experience with coaching as a new teacher, and some of the Steplab instructional coaching courses happening this winter -online and in person.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/29/t...

Explicit and Direct Instruction Systematically Manages Cognitive Load—It’s Not Just Lecturing I recently presented a two-part series for an organization called POPEY (the Provincial Outreach Program for the Early Years). A B.C.-based organization, they support K–3 educators with research-ba…

Explicit and Direct Instruction Systematically Manages Cognitive Load

It’s Not Just Lecturing!

educationrickshaw.com/2025/10/02/e...

Direct Instruction Embodies the Science of Learning In one of my more popular posts, I argued that we need to do better than just nod politely at Direct Instruction (DI). Cognitive Load Theory is honored through DI’s ruthless efficiency: every word …

Hey folks, free webinar coming up in an hour (1pm Pacific)

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/30/d...

S5E04: Marcie Samayoa on NGSS and Explicit Science Instruction In this episode, I’m joined by Marcie Samayoa—science teacher, cognitive science enthusiast, and blogger of Scientists in the Making. Marcie shares the origin story behind her innovative classroom …

As a longtime listener, it was surreal to be on the other side of the mic! Thanks @mrzachg.bsky.social for the opportunity to discuss science education and how teachers can balance explicit instruction with NGSS. Check it out below ⬇️

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/28/s...

Zach Groshell series The Provincial Outreach Program for the Early Years (POPEY) is a British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care Provincial Resource Program with an outreach focus.

Two fantastic PD sessions available for free on the Popey website, which is evidence of Canada’s growing commitment towards all learners

www.popey.ca/webinars/zac...

Direct Instruction Embodies the Science of Learning In one of my more popular posts, I argued that we need to do better than just nod politely at Direct Instruction (DI). Cognitive Load Theory is honored through DI’s ruthless efficiency: every word …

Free Webinar Opportunity:

Direct Instruction (DI) Embodies the Science of Learning

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/30/d...

Take an Edu-Trip to New York City When I first started teaching, the best professional development I received came from two people: the math coach at my school and my assigned mentor teacher. It wasn’t perfect. The math coach only …

🚨 Announcement 🚨

Join me for the Instructional Coaching Intensive in New York City!

It's a great opportunity to get out and hone your feedback and observation skills.

Supercharged by Steplab, this is the coaching approach schools are waiting for.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/29/t...

The feedback I use for coaching educators isn’t just theory—it’s been field-tested in 14,000 Steplab schools. At this point, I’m convinced: it’s a formula for feedback that actually lands, every time.

Learn all about it in this training program:

steplab.co/news/steplab...

S5E03: John Mighton on Building Math Confidence, One Problem at a Time In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. John Mighton — mathematician, playwright, best-selling author, and founder of JUMP Math. John shares his insights into one of the most misunderstood concepts in e…

The greatest myth of math education is not learning styles, not timed tests, and not productive struggle.

It’s that we should pretend that kids hating math has to do with some mystical mindset and not the quality of instruction.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/20/s...

Direct Instruction Motivation, Part 3: Success, Not Struggle This series explores a rarely discussed strength of direct instruction: its power to motivate students. While critics often paint explicit teaching as boring or uninspiring, the truth is that its s…

Success breeds success. Direct and explicit instruction propels a virtuous cycle. It gets kids on a winning streak.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/16/d...

S5E02: Linda Diamond & Paige Pullen on Connecting Learning, Literacy, and Instruction In this powerful episode, I’m joined by two of the most influential voices in literacy education today—Linda Diamond and Paige Pullen. With decades of experience in education, Linda and Paige bring…

S5E02: Linda Diamond & Paige Pullen on Connecting Learning, Literacy, and Instruction

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/15/s...

S5E02: Linda Diamond & Paige Pullen on Connecting Learning, Literacy, and Instruction In this powerful premiere episode, I’m joined by two of the most influential voices in literacy education today—Linda Diamond and Paige Pullen. With decades of experience in education, Linda and Pa…

The latest episode of Progressively Incorrect speaks to a missing piece of some districts’ science of reading initiatives: the crucial role of effective instruction and the broader science of learning.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/15/s...

@gregashman.bsky.social was the first person who I engaged with and challenged me in a way that shattered my pedagogy and I hated him at first for it. Craig Barton has a much better story of leaving behind the inquiry-led drivel. But I’ll always appreciate what Greg Ashman did for me and my students

S5E01: Greg Ashman on Explicit Teaching and Inquiry Learning Welcome to Season 5 of Progressively Incorrect! In this special premiere episode, I’m joined by Greg Ashman, a leading advocate for explicit instruction and one of the most important voices in educ…

Wonderful news: lots of people like this episode, where myths are dispelled and evidence is discussed about explicit instruction.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/02/s...

The Truth About Lesson Planning The first truth about lesson planning is a paradox: in a perfect world, it wouldn’t even exist. Designing curriculum and instruction is its own science, and a difficult one at that. When well-desig…

This post is about how I plan lessons from scratch, what we get right and wrong about lesson planning, and the great paradox of lesson planning:

In a perfect world, it wouldn’t even exist!

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/06/t...

S5E01: Greg Ashman on Explicit Teaching and Inquiry Learning Welcome to Season 5 of Progressively Incorrect! In this special premiere episode, I’m joined by Greg Ashman, a leading advocate for explicit instruction and one of the most important voices in educ…

Season 5 is here! 🎉

Episode 1 is an absolute firestarter 🔥 - Greg Ashman joins me to unpack recent attempts to villainize “step-by-step instruction." We dive into productive failure, teacher prep, and the ideological divides in education.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/09/02/s...

Just Tell Them: BTEL with Zach Groshell PhD Behind the Educator's Lens · Episode

Lovely interview with host, Robyn Young, about the importance of evidence-based teaching, cognitive science, and how to avoid common instructional myths.

open.spotify.com/episode/1ijC...

Direct Instruction Motivation Part 2: Productive Praise This series explores a rarely discussed strength of direct instruction: its power to motivate students. While critics often paint explicit teaching as boring or uninspiring, the truth is that its s…

Somewhere amid the cajoling for a 5:1 ratio of praise to reprimand, and the countless attempts to gamify and incentivize student achievement, there is a path towards using praise in conjunction with Direct and Explicit Instruction to move kids forward

educationrickshaw.com/2025/08/08/d...

S4E39: Shawn Datchuk on Teaching Sentence Construction with Precision In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Dr. Shawn Datchuk, a leading researcher who’s helped shape how we think about sentence construction for struggling learners. Drawing from t…

I’ve done many writing episodes this season, including the very popular Writing Revolution episode. Great to end this season talking with a researcher- who has always been one foot in the classroom - about what research implies for writing instruction!

educationrickshaw.com/2025/08/10/s...

"And students like Micah learn the wrong lesson: that surface-level activity earns the same praise as newfound competence."

Spot on.

Direct Instruction Motivation Part 2: Productive Praise This series explores a rarely discussed strength of direct instruction: its power to motivate students. While critics often paint explicit teaching as boring or uninspiring, the truth is that its s…

Here is the highly awaited Part 2 of my series on motivation within Direct and Explicit Instruction.

This one is all about praise and acknowledgement.

Engelmann makes an appearance, as does poor Micah's hot glued "robot."

educationrickshaw.com/2025/08/08/d...

Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching [Groshell, Zach] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching

Over 100 reviews!

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Knowledge Is Back—But Only If We Teach It Well I recently joined Dylan Wiliam and Patrice Bain on the Knowledge Matters Podcast to talk about retrieval practice, mini whiteboards, and the kinds of instructional moves that actually help students…

My latest blog on knowledge and explicit instruction

educationrickshaw.com/2025/08/08/k...

As a school leader, you’re largely unable to locate a teacher on a rubric with accuracy, but you are perfectly positioned to create an effective PD program and a culture of feedback.

Join our new cohort for once a month online training 👇👇👇

steplab.co/news/steplab...

Why British Teachers Know Cognitive Load Theory – and American Ones Don’t I was recently featured in an insightful piece by Greg Toppo, a seasoned education journalist whose work connects classroom practice with broader shifts in education policy. When Zach Groshell zoom…

Teachers in England know retrieval practice and cognitive load theory and American ones don’t - The Reverse Beatles Effect happening right now in education.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/07/25/w...

I trust the words of this guy

@mrarobbins.bsky.social

Where PD Ends and Real Training Begins Most professional development doesn’t develop teachers. No one checks whether you can do the thing that you were supposed to learn at the workshop. In fact, it’s rarely expected, beyond…

It’s a whole lot easier to implement the science of learning with a program that contains interleaving, spacing, incremental introduction of new topics for novices, etc, supported by active training/live coaching.

This is not in place in many schools.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/07/24/w...

Where PD Ends and Real Training Begins Most professional development doesn’t develop teachers. No one checks whether you can do the thing that you were supposed to learn at the workshop. In fact, it’s rarely expected, beyond…

At the National DI Conference, you’re expected to work on teaching, not merely talk about it. There’s rehearsal. There's feedback. There’s repetition. And there’s a final Check Out form - because ultimately we all came here to learn new skills.

educationrickshaw.com/2025/07/24/w...

Direct Instruction Conference: No Flash, All Function I’m in Eugene, Oregon this week, soaking up the scene at the National Direct Instruction Conference. It’s not a glitzy affair – there are no lanyard influencers here, no big-stage keynotes pr…

Direct Instruction Conference: No Flash, All Function

educationrickshaw.com/2025/07/21/d...