Clarifying Routine

The Clarifying Routine is used to focus on a topic and then explore related details and their importance to the critical ideas and concepts. Using this routine, teachers can help students master the meaning of targeted words and phrases.

Research has shown that students benefit from the use of this routine. Studies in upper-elementary and middle-school general education classes composed of highly diverse student populations, including students with learning disabilities and those for whom English is a second language, have shown that students benefit from teacher use of the routine.

When teachers used the Clarifying Routine, high socioeconomic level students improved their number of correct answers by an average of 14 percentage points, middle socioeconomic level students by an average of 30 percentage points, and low socioeconomic level students by an average of 20 percentage points.