The Madeline Hunter Model Of Mastery Learning

One specific person whose contribution made a significant impact in the field of education is Madeline Hunter and her theory known as the “Madeline Hunter Model of Mastery Learning.” Hunter, who graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) at the age of sixteen and, over the course of her career, earned four degrees in psychology and education, created her model to maximize the time a teacher had with his/her students and to achieve effective delivery (“Madeline Cheek Hunter”). Her model includes seven steps that a teacher of any discipline can follow in order to design an effective lesson plan. These steps include an anticipatory set, objectives and standards, teaching and modeling, guided practice, checking for understanding,

independent practice, and closure (Wilson). Her model arrived at a crucial time in American society when public schools were being criticized widely for falling test scores, increasing dropout rates, and discipline problems. Hunter claimed that her teaching methods would “ transform classrooms into learning environments, allow the dissemination of more knowledge at a faster rate, and use positive reinforcement and discipline with dignity to greatly reduce disruptive behavior” (“Madeline Cheek Hunter”). Today, use of this model provides teachers with a strategy to gain classroom management, an efficient model for lesson planning, and gives administration a more concrete way to assess their teachers’ effectiveness. This is all done to achieve maximum student learning for every student, the goal of all educators, no matter the age of the students with whom they work.