The HITS are 10 instructional practices that reliably increase student learning wherever they are applied. They emerge from the findings of tens of thousands of studies of what has worked in classrooms across Australia and the world. International experts such as John Hattie and Robert Marzano have synthesized these studies and ranked hundreds of teaching strategies by the contribution they make to student learning [see the ‘What is effect size?’ box]. The HITS sit at the top of these rankings.

Some teachers will ask, “But will they work in my classroom, with my students?” Only the professional judgement of teachers, both individual and collective, can answer that question. For any concept or skill that students need to learn, using a HITS to teach it increases the chances that students will learn it, compared to using other strategies. But they are reliable, not infallible. Knowing their students and how they learn, teachers are well-placed to judge whether a HITS or another strategy is the best choice to teach that concept or skill. 

The HITS will not be new to most teachers. The purpose of this resource is to bring them together in one place, along with practical examples of how other Victorian teachers are using them successfully. The HITS alone do not constitute a complete framework for professional practice. They are part of the full set of instructional practices that contribute to a comprehensive pedagogical model [see diagram].