Gradual Release of Responsiblity

 Gradual Release of Responsibility Model 

 Kitara Bradley, Trysta Cooper, and Sunshine Conner

What Is It and Who Developed It? 

What Is It? 

The Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) model is an instructional framework designed to transfer learning responsibility from the teacher to the student. It progresses through four stages: focused instruction, guided instruction, collaborative learning, and independent work. The model is based on scaffolding, a concept where support is gradually reduced as students gain competence. Initially, the teacher models the skill (focused instruction), then guides students as they practice (guided instruction). Next students collaborate with peers to deepen their understanding (collaborative learning), and finally, they work independently to apply what they’ve learned (independent work). This framework allows students to develop confidence and mastery in tasks, ensuring they receive the support needed at each stage before progressing. It is often used in literacy education but is applicable across all subjects. By providing structured guidance and gradually removing it, the GRR model helps students become self-reliant learners (Old Dominion University, 2023). 

Who Developed It?

The Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) model was developed in the early 1980s by educational researchers P. David Pearson and Margaret Gallagher. It emerged as a response to research, particularly by Dolores Durkin, showing that comprehension instruction was lacking in classrooms. The GRR model builds on socio-cognitive theories, especially the work of Vygotsky, Bruner, and others, emphasizing scaffolding and guided instruction (Pearson et.al., 2019, p.5). 

What Does It Look Like in Class? 

What Gradual Release Looks Like 

There are four different methods of instruction for gradual release...

• Focused Instruction – The teacher demonstrates the concept by providing examples or explaining the steps students need to understand. 

• Guided Instruction – Students engage in group activities or participate in whole-class discussions while the teacher provides guidance and support. 

• Collaborative Learning – Students collaborate in pairs or small groups to further explore the concepts, with the teacher stepping in only when necessary. 

• Independent Learning –Students work independently, applying the skills they've acquired to complete a task without any assistance. 

What Gradual Relase Does Not Look Like 

Scenario #1: Independent Learning Students work individually using self-study materials, computer programs, online courses, or other resources to learn the correct use of gerunds and infinitives. 

Scenario #2: The teacher presents an outstanding focused lesson, highlighting a specific set of frequently used verbs and providing extensive modeling. Afterward, the teacher instructs students to complete fill-in-the-blank exercises in their workbooks.

Implementation and Statistics

How to Implement It 

“Successful implementation of the model requires careful analysis of factors related to the student, text, and task, and ongoing assessment to ensure that students become fluent, flexible, and effective in their selection and application of strategies when completing a task” (Salehomoun et.al., 2022, p.1).

Examples and Demonstartions 

• The standard structure for gradual release is most commonly known as I do, We do, You do. Or this format in reverse You do, We do, I do.                                                                                                           

  Language learning: The teacher models how to use a new vocabulary word in a sentence (I do), then the class practices using the word together (we do), and finally, students use the word in a new sentence independently (you do)                                                                                                                            
  

  Phonics instruction: Modeling how to decode and say a digraph (I do), then students decode the digraph together (We do), then students decode digraphs on their own.

  
  

Statistics

Several studies have provided statistical insights into the model's effectiveness. For example, research comparing GRR to traditional methods in teaching science showed significant improvement in students' academic performance. In a quasi-experimental study involving 60 students, the group using the GRR model scored higher on post-tests related to Newton’s Laws of Motion compared to the control group using the Inquiry-Based 7 E's Method, highlighting the model's role in improving understanding in challenging subjects​ (Fuentes et.al., 2024, p. 22).

Benefits and Limitaions

As for any pedagogical strategy, there are benefits and limitations. A strategy may work for one content area but not for another. It is important that educators are informed about the different pros and cons of the strategies they use to teach so as to adequately utilize them in the classroom. 

Pros of GRR

GRR aids teachers in maximalizing instructional time. The strategy provides a “balance between the extremes of teacher responsibilities and student responsibilities” (Webb et.al. 2019, p. 76). Teachers are able to model the content or intend skill to students and after working together, students transition to independent work. This allows teachers to have instruction time to pull small groups, work with students individually, or perform additional tasks. Through GRR students become active participants in their learning. During the transition into independent work “student-centered learning emerges as a driving force in GRR” (Webb et.al., 2019, p. 82). GRR prompts students to guide their own learning based on teacher modeling. This then increases students’ intellectual, personal, social, and persevering skills.

The content area that GRR works best for is ELA and Early Literacy instruction. With early reading and phonics, teachers can use GRR to model the correct way to sound out a word or utilize reading comprehension strategies and transition students to using the skill on their own. For example, when learning how to blend words a teacher may model themselves blending, then have students blend with them, and finally observe students blending words on their own. This pedagogical strategy also supports ELL students in the classroom. As ELL students do not have a firm grasp of the English language, GRR gives students the scaffolding they need to work independently. ELL students can observe teachers' instruction, work together with the teacher, and then transition to completing a task on their own. The modeling provides a firm example of how a task or learning should be completed and can be differentiated to best fit an ELL student individually.

Cons of GRR

While the GRR model does create a learning space where students take the reign of their learning, if not set up correctly this can have the opposite effects on learning. If a teacher does not set up clear expectations along with setting up systems to hold students accountable, off-task behavior may occur. If students do not feel supported during the I do, We do portion of GRR they may not be productive went sent off to work on their own. Similarly, students who benefit from more structure during learning may disengage from activities and in turn disengage from lessons. 

Another area where the gradual release model proves ineffective is with mathematics content. GRR is not an effective way to teach mathematics skills. As the strategy's main proponent is learning from the modeling the teacher is demonstrating, students do not effectively engage in productive struggle. With the GRR model, the teacher is seen as the holder of knowledge and this thinking does not provide students with the opportunity to think of their own solutions to problems. Because students are following along with the teacher's demonstration, they are not able to develop an understanding of mathematical content stiffing their conceptual understanding of key skills. Students do not experience solving problems for themselves, rather information is handed to them. Integral parts of mathematical learning are lost through the use of the gradual release of the responsibility model. 

Bibliography

Fuentes, A. G., & Casinillo, L. (2024). Assessing the Effect of the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) Model in Teaching Science. Asian Journal of Assessment in Teaching and Learning, 14(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.37134/ajatel.vol14.1.2.2024

Pearson, David. P., McVee, M. B., & Shanahan, L. E. (2019). In the Beginning: The Historical and Conceptual Genesis of the Gradual Release of Responsibility. Literacy Research, Practice and Evaluation, 10, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1108/s2048-045820190000010001  

 

Salehomoum, M., Revelle, K., Duke, N., & Pearson, D. (2022). Gradual Release of Responsibility Instructional Model. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781138609877-REE226-1 

 

The Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework. Old Dominion University. (2023, August 15). https://www.odu.edu/facultydevelopment/teaching-toolkit/gradual-release-responsibility-framework 

 

Webb, S., Massey, D., Goggans, M., & Flajole, K. (2019). Thirty-Five Years of the Gradual Release of Responsibility: Scaffolding Toward Complex and Responsive Teaching. The Reading Teacher, 73(1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1799