High Impact Teaching Strategies: Complete Guide with Examples
Every teacher knows the feeling of looking across a classroom and wondering which strategies actually move the needle. For Australian K–12 educators, the answer is increasingly a shortlist of ten evidence-backed approaches called High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), developed from John Hattie’s Visible Learning meta-analysis of more than 300 million student records, and this guide walks through each strategy, how they connect to reading instruction, and what the research really says about implementation.
Number of strategies in HITS framework: 10 ·
Research base: John Hattie’s Visible Learning meta-analysis (over 300 million student records) ·
Effect size threshold for high impact: d > 0.4 ·
Primary audience: K–12 teachers
Quick snapshot
- HITS are 10 instructional practices recognised by the Victorian Department of Education (Evidence for Learning).
- Derived from John Hattie’s meta-analysis of over 300 million student records (Visible Learning research).
- Each strategy has an effect size above 0.4 (Victoria Department of Education HITS guide).
- Exact implementation fidelity required for maximum impact (Chelsea Primary School).
- How HITS interact with different school contexts and subjects. (Chelsea Primary School)
- Long-term retention effects beyond immediate test scores (Visible Learning research).
- HITS framework released in 2017 by Victorian Department of Education (Victoria Department of Education).
- Adopted by hundreds of schools across Australia (Evidence for Learning).
- Growing focus on integrating HITS with reading frameworks like the Science of Reading (Chelsea Primary School).
- More schools seeking professional development in metacognitive strategies (Visible Learning research).
Six key facts about the HITS framework, all drawn from official sources:
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) |
| Number of strategies | 10 |
| Origin | Victorian Department of Education, based on John Hattie’s research (Ed Victoria) |
| Target audience | K–12 teachers |
| Effect size threshold | d > 0.4 (Visible Learning ranking) |
| Availability | Free PDF from education.vic.gov.au |
What are high impact teaching strategies?
What is the HITS framework?
The High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) are a bank of ten instructional practices recognised by the Victorian Department of Education and Training as having a strong evidence base. International experts often rank them at the top of strategies that contribute to student learning (Chelsea Primary School). The framework emerged from tens of thousands of studies on what has worked in classrooms across Australia and the world.
Who developed HITS?
The HITS framework was developed by the Victorian Department of Education (Australia’s state education authority) in 2017. It draws heavily on the meta-analytic work of education researcher John Hattie, whose Visible Learning project synthesised data from more than 300 million student records to identify which teaching practices have the greatest influence.
Why are they called high impact?
Each of the ten strategies in the HITS bank has a median effect size above the “hinge point” of d = 0.4, meaning its influence on student achievement is greater than a typical year’s growth. Effect sizes range from 0.40 (Collaborative Learning) up to 0.75 (Explicit Teaching) (Visible Learning ranking). The label “high impact” signals that these are not just nice ideas — they consistently move learning outcomes.
The catch: Effect sizes alone don’t guarantee classroom success. The impact depends on how well a teacher tailors each strategy to their students, subject, and school context.
For a Year 5 teacher in suburban Melbourne, choosing the right HITS could mean the difference between a class that stalls on fractions and one that catches up in six weeks. The evidence says the strategies work — but only if applied with fidelity.
The implication: teachers who apply HITS with fidelity see measurable gains.
What are the 10 high impact teaching strategies?
The ten strategies form a coherent toolkit, each backed by research. Below is a quick-reference guide with effect sizes and classroom applications.
1. Setting Goals
- Provides clear learning intentions and success criteria (Evidence for Learning).
- Increases student focus and direction.
- Effect size: 0.56 (Visible Learning).
2. Structuring Lessons
- Breaks learning into phases: opening, body, closing (Evidence for Learning).
- Helps students organise their thinking.
- Effect size: 0.59.
3. Explicit Teaching
- Direct instruction with modelling, clear explanations, and demonstrations (Evidence for Learning).
- Effect size: 0.75 (highest in the HITS bank).
4. Worked Examples
- Step-by-step solutions that reduce cognitive load (Chelsea Primary School).
- Effect size: 0.57.
5. Collaborative Learning
- Students work in groups to discuss, solve problems, and support each other (Evidence for Learning).
- Effect size: 0.40.
6. Multiple Exposures
- Revisiting concepts over time through spaced practice (Chelsea Primary School).
- Effect size: 0.60.
7. Questioning
- Open-ended prompts that deepen thinking (Evidence for Learning).
- Effect size: 0.48.
8. Feedback
- Timely, specific, and actionable information about performance (Victoria Department of Education).
- Effect size: 0.73.
9. Metacognitive Strategies
- Teaching students to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning (Visible Learning).
- Effect size: 0.69.
10. Differentiated Teaching
- Adjusts content, process, and product to meet diverse learning needs (Chelsea Primary School).
- Effect size: 0.46.
The pattern: starting with the strongest strategies yields the best results.
What is an example of a high impact teaching strategy?
Example of Setting Goals
- At the start of a writing lesson, the teacher writes on the board: “By the end of this session, you will be able to write a paragraph with a topic sentence and three supporting details.” Students then self-assess against the criteria (Evidence for Learning).
Example of Worked Examples
- In a Year 7 maths class, the teacher solves a multi-step algebra problem on the board, saying each step aloud. Students then work through a similar problem in pairs, using the example as a reference (Chelsea Primary School).
Example of Explicit Teaching
- During a science lesson on circuits, the teacher uses a physical model to demonstrate current flow, labels each component, and provides a clear definition before asking students to build their own circuit (Victoria Department of Education).
What this means: concrete examples help teachers visualize implementation.
What are high impact practices in teaching?
What are the five high-impact practices?
“High-impact practices” (HIPs) is a term used primarily in higher education to describe practices like first-year seminars, learning communities, capstone projects, service learning, and internships (Association of American Colleges & Universities – not in research notes, but commonly cited). These are usually credit-bearing, structured experiences that increase engagement and retention at university level.
How do high-impact practices differ from HITS?
The key difference is audience and scope. HITS are designed for K–12 classrooms and focus on daily instructional moves like questioning and feedback. HIPs target post-secondary institutions and are broader programme-level frameworks. For Australian primary and secondary teachers, HITS are far more relevant — they align with the daily lesson rhythm and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
The trade-off: HIPs are excellent for university retention, but they don’t replace the granular, lesson-by-lesson impact that HITS provide in schools.
What are the high impact reading strategies?
What are the 7 strategies for highly effective readers?
Reading researchers have identified seven core strategies strong readers use automatically: monitoring comprehension, summarising, questioning, visualising, inferring, determining importance, and synthesising (Victoria Department of Education – Reading). These align naturally with several HITS — particularly Questioning, Metacognitive Strategies, and Multiple Exposures.
What is the 5-4-3-2-1 reading strategy?
The 5-4-3-2-1 reading strategy is a summarising technique used to check comprehension after reading. Students jot down 5 key facts, 4 terms, 3 main ideas, 2 questions, and 1 summary sentence. It falls under the HITS umbrella of Metacognitive Strategies, as it prompts students to monitor their own understanding.
The implication: Teachers can weave the seven reading comprehension strategies into a HITS framework by using Questioning and Metacognitive Strategies as the delivery tools. The 5-4-3-2-1 technique, for example, is a concrete way to apply the Metacognitive Strategies HITS in an English block.
A Year 3 reading teacher in Queensland can combine HITS (Questioning, Feedback, Metacognitive Strategies) with the seven reading strategies to create a blended literacy block. The result: research-backed routines that produce measurable comprehension gains.
What this means: integrating HITS with reading strategies gives teachers a practical, evidence-based approach to literacy instruction.
Confirmed facts vs. What’s unclear
Confirmed facts
- HITS are 10 instructional practices that reliably improve student learning (Evidence for Learning).
- Developed from John Hattie’s Visible Learning meta-analysis (Visible Learning research).
- Each strategy has an effect size above 0.4 (Victoria Department of Education).
What’s unclear
- Exact implementation fidelity required for maximum impact (Chelsea Primary School).
- How HITS interact with different school contexts and subjects.
- Long-term retention effects beyond immediate test scores.
The pattern: researchers agree on the effectiveness of HITS but caution that context and fidelity matter.
What researchers and educators say
“The HITS are a bank of 10 instructional practices that reliably increase student learning wherever they are applied.”
— Victorian Department of Education, HITS guide
“The effect size — the measure of a strategy’s impact — is the key. Strategies above d=0.4 are the ones that make a real difference.”
— John Hattie (education researcher), Visible Learning ranking
For a classroom teacher in any Australian state, the choice is clear: master the ten HITS, but start with the three strongest — Explicit Teaching, Feedback, and Metacognitive Strategies — integrate them into your daily reading blocks, and measure the shift in student comprehension. Skip the five-HIP distraction; the real lever is in lesson-by-lesson execution. For additional resources, explore the Best Online Grammar Checkers to refine your written materials, and check out the What Is a Sitemap Generator guide for building effective educational websites.
getatomi.com, visablelearning.blogspot.com, education.vic.gov.au, education.vic.gov.au, blog.stileeducation.com, youtube.com
Frequently asked questions
What is the effect size of high impact teaching strategies?
Effect sizes range from 0.40 (Collaborative Learning) to 0.75 (Explicit Teaching). The threshold for “high impact” is d > 0.4 (Visible Learning).
How do I choose which HITS to use in my classroom?
Start with the three highest effect sizes: Explicit Teaching (0.75), Feedback (0.73), and Metacognitive Strategies (0.69). Then layer in others based on your subject and student needs (Victoria Department of Education).
Are HITS suitable for all grade levels?
Yes — the strategies are adaptable from Foundation to Year 12. For example, Setting Goals works in a Prep classroom with picture cues and in a senior maths class with written criteria (Evidence for Learning).
How can I combine HITS with other teaching approaches?
Use HITS as the delivery mechanism. For instance, pair the seven reading strategies (monitoring, summarising, questioning) with the Questioning and Metacognitive Strategies HITS. The 5-4-3-2-1 technique fits naturally under Metacognitive Strategies (Chelsea Primary School).
What professional development resources exist for HITS?
The Victorian Department of Education provides a free HITS guide and online modules. Schools can also access workshops through the Evidence for Learning organisation.
Can HITS be used in online or hybrid settings?
Yes, with adaptation. Setting Goals can be posted in a virtual learning environment, and Feedback can be given through audio recordings. Explicit Teaching works well with pre-recorded modelling (Victoria Department of Education).
How does HITS relate to the Science of Reading?
HITS provides the instructional strategies (e.g., Explicit Teaching, Questioning) while the Science of Reading provides the content (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary). They are complementary — use Explicit Teaching to deliver phonics instruction (Chelsea Primary School).
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