the cognitive science behind the common core

8/11/2019 The Cognitive Science Behind the Common Core

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The Cognitive Science

Behind the Common CoreBy Max Marchitello and Megan Wilhelm September 2014


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The Cognitive ScienceBehind the Common CoreBy Max Marchitello and Megan Wilhelm September 2014


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1 Introduction and summary

4 Knowledge scaffolding and student learning

6 Holding all students to high expectations

9 Incorporating the latest research on teaching literacy

12 Employing both traditional and conceptual strategiesto teach math

15 Increasing opportunities for student collaboration

18 Promoting problem- and project-based learning

20 Conclusion

22 Endnotes

Contents


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1 Center for American Progress | The Cognitive Science Behind the Common Core

Introduction and summary

aising academic s andards has been par o he educa ion policy discourseor decades. As early as he 1990s, s a es and school dis ric s atemp ed o raise

s uden achievemen by developing higher s andards and measuring s udenprogress according o more rigorous benchmarks.1 However, he caliber o

he s andards and heir assessmen s varied grea ly rom s a e o s a e. Forexample, Massachusets adop ed some o he highes s andards and mos chal-lenging exams in he coun ry and has some o he highes -achieving s uden s in

he na ion. On he o her hand, Mississippi se a low bar, and he s a es s uden sare ofen ill prepared or college and careers.2

ecognizing ha he previous pa chwork sys em did no work, a group o bipar-isan governors and s a e superin enden s came oge her o develop a shared se

o more rigorous, in erna ionally benchmarked academic s andards in Englishlanguage ar s and ma hema ics called he Common Core S a e S andards. Some worry ha he s andards have no been proven o improve s uden learning, as

hey were en irely new as o 2010. However, he Common Core is grounded inhe la es cogni ive science regarding how s uden s learn. For his reason, here is a

preponderance o evidence ha s rongly sugges s he Common Core will improvehe quali y o educa ion or all s uden s.

Educa ors, con en specialis s, and o her exper s wro e he s andards wi h hegoal o preparing all s uden s or college and careers. Wi h ha goal in mind, hedevelopers rs wro e he s andards or high school and worked backward down

o kindergar en, ensuring ha he s andards scaffold smoo hly rom one grade ohe nex and lead o college and career readiness. Tis s ruc ure crea es a logical

progression hrough he s andards, helping educa ors each heir s uden s s ack-

able knowledge and skills as hey move hrough school.

Unlike prior s a e s andards, he Common Core se s uni orm expec a ionsha are grounded in he knowledge and skills every child needs o be success-ul afer high school. Decades o research abou how s uden s learn and he

bes prac ices or eaching challenging con en are embedded direc ly in o hes andards. As a s ar ing poin , he au hors o he Common Core relied on earlier


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college- and career-readiness s andards developed by S andards or Success; he American Diploma Projec ; American College es ing, or AC ; he CollegeBoard; and he exas Higher Educa ion Coordina ing Board. Te CommonCore au hors also consul ed wi h con en exper s such as he Na ional Councilo eachers o Ma hema ics, s a es wi h high-quali y s andards, and high-per-

orming na ions such as Singapore and Korea.3

Te s andards were hen revised based on eedback rom educa ors, s a eeduca ion agencies, and public commen s. Finally, a 28-member valida ioncommitee comprised o K-12 and higher-educa ion eachers and researchersreviewed he s andards.4 Afer mon hs o review and revision, he commitee con-rmed ha he s andards covered he knowledge and skills necessary or s uden s

o be ready or college and careers.5 ecognizing he Common Cores po en ial odrama ically improve American public educa ion, he majori y o s a es rushed oadop he s andards when hey were released in 2010.6

Al hough some eachers, s uden s, and paren s may eel a degree o anxie y as heirclasses ransi ion rom he old s andards o he Common Core, hey should beconden ha heir effor s will pay off. Te Common Core is grounded in cogni ivescience and incorpora es prac ices ha have been proven o improve s uden learn-ing and achievemen . A review o he research base or he s andards ound ha heCommon Core promo es grea er s uden learning in he ollowing key ways:

Scaffolding s uden learning o provide a s rong knowledge base on which newideas and concep s are s acked

Holding all s uden s o high expec a ions, which promo es grea er s udenachievemen and grow h

Incorpora ing he la es research on how s uden s learn o read o help close heli eracy gap

Employing bo h he radi ional me hod o eaching ma h and concep uals ra egies o provide s uden s wi h a s rong unders anding o ma h and he

skills o apply i


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Increasing he oppor uni ies or s uden s o learn rom heir peers and collabo-ra e on assignmen s, which improves learning and in erpersonal skills

Promo ing problem- and projec -based learning, which leads o a deeper under-s anding o concep s

Te Common Core was designed o raise he bar or s uden achievemen in heUni ed S a es. Te s andards enjoy s rong suppor rom a diverse coali ion oleaders rom he civil righ s, business, mili ary, eacher, school adminis ra or, andparen communi ies. I eachers and s uden s are suppor ed wi h high-quali ycurricula and ins ruc ional ma erials, a properly implemen ed Common Core willhelp prepare s uden s o be complex problem solvers, as well as cri ical hink-ers and readers. Tese six research-based prac ices ge o he hear o how heCommon Core will make ha goal a reali y or all s uden s.


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Knowledge scaffoldingand student learning

esearch on he science o learning over he pas ew decades has increasinglydemons ra ed ha prior knowledge is a cri ical and ofen de ermining ac or inhow well a s uden learns new concep s. In ac , some researchers believe ha priorknowledge exceeds ap i ude in de ermining learning7 ha wha s uden s knowis more impor an han heir raw in elligence. While some migh dispu e his view,i is clear ha , as Marilla Svinicki o he Universi y o exas ap ly pu i , Wha[s uden s] don know can hur hem in o her words, s uden s prior knowledge

affec s how hey receive and organize new in orma ion.8 Wi hou he necessaryprior knowledge, s uden s ace signican challenges in learning new ma erial.

eaching s uden s individual ac s can seem rivolous a rs . A rus ra ed s udenmigh ask, Why do I need o know when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassi-na ed? ru h ully, i is probably no necessary o know ha isola ed ac . However,combining i wi h hundreds o o her similar ac s abou World War I builds aknowledge schema ha enables complex unders anding o he even . Wi hou his

ounda ional knowledge, i would be impossible or a s uden o analyze he role oin erna ional rea ies in s ar ing World War I. Tere is a logical progression o knowl-edge and skills ha s uden s should be augh . Simply pu , one mus learn addi-

ion bo h he concep and he prac ice be ore one can per orm mul iplica ion.

Knowledge scaffolding in which new opics incremen ally build on s uden sprior knowledge is precisely how eachers s ruc ure heir uni s and lessons. When hey in roduce new con en , hey build he new in orma ion on op os uden s prior knowledge and hen ask s uden s o hink cri ically abou i . Forexample, i would be unreasonable or a eacher o expec s uden s o cri iqueone o Shakespeares plays wi hou rs es ablishing a rm unders anding o he

works his orical con ex and orm. Ins ead, he eacher would gradually in roducehe his ory o Elizabe han England, how o read poe ry in a drama ic seting, and

early modern s agecraf. I is only by acquiring he ounda ional knowledge oShakespeare ha s uden s can effec ively analyze his work.


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Te Common Core incorpora es he ins ruc ional prac ice o scaffolding direc lyin o i s s andards. Te Common Core is designed o enable s uden s o build as rong ounda ional unders anding and hen o expand on ha prior knowledge wi h increasingly complex ma erial ha requires analysis and cri ical hinking. By

ocusing on a smaller range o s andards bu requiring deeper engagemen wi h

knowledge and skills, he Common Core provides addi ional ime or eachersand s uden s o ocus on more robus inquiries in o new concep s.

From he earlies grades hrough high school, he Common Core gradually deep-ens s uden knowledge, in roduces new skills, and requires s uden s o apply hem.Te pas wo decades o evidence reveal ha s uden s learn bes when hey canrela e he new ideas hey are learning o wha hey already know. Te CommonCore pu s his in o prac ice by scaffolding bo h he reading and ma h s andards.


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Holding all studentsto high expectations

Te expec a ions se or s uden s ofen are a sel - ullling prophecy. In o her words,he more ha is expec ed o s uden s, he more hey are able o do. S uden s who

are held o higher expec a ions are given more oppor uni ies, more challengingma erial, and more direc suppor . Sadly, he inverse is also rue: S uden s who aresubjec ed o he sof bigo ry o low expec a ions9 are less likely o excel.

Te effec o eacher expec a ions on s uden -learning ou comes coined he

Pygmalion Effec has been well documen ed or nearly 50 years. Social psychol-ogis s ober osen hal and Lenore Jacobson conduc ed a s udy in 1964 o herela ionship be ween eacher expec a ions and s uden achievemen . Tey admin-is ered an exam o assess s uden -grow h po en ial bu provided he eachers wi ha lis o randomly selec ed, academically promising s uden s ins ead o a lis os uden s based on he es resul s.10 A he end o he year, he s uden s who wereiden ied as promising signican ly ou per ormed heir peers when es ed again.

esearchers conclude ha when au hori y gures such as eachers have higherexpec a ions or s uden s, hey:11

Convey grea er warm h and encouragemen , ofen hrough nonverbalcommunica ion

Provide access o more challenging ma erial Give increased learning oppor uni ies and addi ional ime Offer more arge ed and de ailed eedback

Low expec a ions commonly affec s uden s rom disadvan aged backgrounds.Far oo ofen, s uden s socioeconomic or racial charac eris ics rigger generalized

s ereo ypes ha can lower eachers expec a ions. Considerable evidence sugges sha racial and socioeconomic differences be ween eachers and s uden s can leado lower percep ions o he s uden s academic po en ial.12


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In an analysis o da a rom he Na ional Educa ion Longi udinal S udy, sociologisGary Oa es s udied he prevalence and impac o dispara e percep ions o s u-den s by eachers o differen races. He ound ha whi e eachers mos ofen heldlower percep ions o black s uden s, which con ribu ed o lower per ormance ons andardized es s. He argued, eacher percep ions par icularlywhi e eacher

percep ions [are] in egral o he ques ion o how reduc ion o he black-whi egap in scholas ic per ormance can be accomplished.13 Nearly 82 percen o each-ers in public and priva e schools iden ied as whi e as o 2012, so i is necessary

o consider he effec o eacher expec a ions on s uden achievemen as he U.S.popula ion becomes increasingly diverse.14 Oa es ur her argued ha deliveringclear, posi ive expec a ions o success o all s uden s is an effec ive way o improves uden achievemen and address race-based achievemen gaps.15

Te evidence o he power o eacher expec a ions ei her o promo e or s ymies uden grow h is overwhelming. Indeed, eacher expec a ions can have a grea er

effec on s uden achievemen han even socioeconomic and demographic ac-ors,16 and many s udies have examined he rela ionship be ween high expec a-ions and s uden achievemen .17 One such s udy ollowed s uden s or ve years

and ound ha hose who had eachers wi h high expec a ions had higher edu-ca ional per ormance han s uden s who had eachers wi h low expec a ions.18 In 2013, psychology and educa ion researchers rom u gers Universi y and

he Universi y o Virginia inves iga ed he effec s o s uden , paren , and eacherexpec a ions on academic ou comes afer high school gradua ion and repor ed

ha posi ive eacher expec a ions in 10 h grade s ood ou as having he grea espredic ive power or a s uden s pos secondary s a us our years la er.19

A cul ure o high expec a ions is cri ical o improving s uden learning and is alsoa hallmark o a success ul school. When s uden s are augh o high s andards andheld o high expec a ions, hey are more likely o rise o he challenge. Tis is par-

icularly impor an in schools ha serve disadvan aged s uden s who suffer romlow expec a ions and limi ed academic oppor uni ies.20

While difficul o measure, one s rong indica or o a school cul ure o highexpec a ions is whe her or no s uden s par icipa e in Advanced Placemen , or

AP, courses, ypically he mos challenging classes in high school. Despi e ever-increasing AP enrollmen , he majori y o s uden s wi h Preliminary Scholas ic Ap i ude es , or PSA , per ormances ha indica e hey would bene romenrolling in an AP class do no par icipa e.21 Te dispari y be ween AP-readys uden s and hose who par icipa e is mos pronounced among s uden s o color.


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Tis gap is a symp om o low academic expec a ions in which even s uden s whoare ready or more advanced work do no receive i .

Te Common Core helps address his problem by es ablishing a s rong cul ure ohigh expec a ions and ensuring ha college and career readiness is expec ed o alls uden s, no jus a selec ew. All children regardless o race, disabili y, na ivelanguage, or ZIP code will be augh o be cri ical hinkers, complex problemsolvers, and compelling wri ers. Tese skills are crucial o success afer highschool, and all s uden s are expec ed o learn hem under he Common Core. Teresearch is clear: Holding s uden s o higher expec a ions is cri ical o improvingachievemen and o preparing s uden s or college and careers.

FIGURE 1

AP participation in recommended courses by race/ethnicity

0

20

40

60

80

73.7%

26.3%

42.1%

57.9%

79.7%

20.3%

70.4%

29.6%

61.6%

38.4%

American Indian/Alaska Native

Asian/Asian American/Pacic Islander

Black/African American

Hispanic/Latino

White

Did not take recommended AP course Enrolled in recommended AP course

Source: College Board, "The 8th Annual AP Report to the Nation" (2012), available at http://apreport.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/down-loads/pdfs/AP_Main_Report_Final.pdf.


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Incorporating the latestresearch on teaching literacy

eading is he mos impor an skill s uden s learn in school. Wi hou a s rongounda ion in reading, academic success in every subjec , even ma hema ics, can

be a s ruggle. Falling behind par icularly in he early grades can have signi-can nega ive consequences hroughou s uden s academic careers.

Since eaching reading is challenging even or he mos experienced eacher,serious effor s o develop a science o reading began roughly 50 years ago. Te

research on eaching li eracy has yielded many effec ive prac ices. Accordingo he Na ional eading Panel crea ed by Congress in 1997 o de ermine he

bes ways o each reading based on exis ing research here are ve essen ialcomponen s o reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, uency, vocabulary, andcomprehension. Highly effec ive reading ins ruc ion addresses all ve o hesecomponen s using a sys ema ic, explici ins ruc ional approach.22

An ex ensive research base shows he li eracy skills s uden s need o learn andiden ies key ins ruc ional prac ices ha effec ively improve reading achieve-men .23 esearchers rom he Universi y o Michigan, u gers Universi y, andClemson Universi y have presen ed an in-dep h review o evidence-basedprac ices in li erary ins ruc ion ha resul in high reading achievemen , such asdifferen ia ing ins ruc ion according o unique s uden needs and scaffoldingins ruc ion in he ve essen ial componen s o reading.24 For each o he ve com-ponen s, here is a weal h o evidence ha suppor s he use o specic ins ruc-

ional prac ices o ensure ha s uden s become skilled readers.25

Te essen ial componen s o reading have been iden ied, and educa ors andli eracy specialis s know how o ailor li eracy ins ruc ion o produce resul s. Ye

alarmingly, 32 percen o our h graders and 22 percen o eigh h graders scoredbelow basic on he 2013 Na ional Assessmen o Educa ional Progress, orNAEP, reading assessmen s, demons ra ing only a rudimen ary reading abili y.26 I is es ima ed ha he ra e o reading ailure in he Uni ed S a es could be grea lyreduced i prac ices derived rom science were regularly applied in classroomins ruc ion, ra her han prac ices based on educa ion ideologies.27


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Effec ive reading eachers use ins ruc ional approaches ha have been proveno help s uden s develop he essen ial reading skills. However, many schools o

educa ion are no ully incorpora ing research-based ins ruc ional me hods in oheir eacher- raining programs.28 Te Na ional Council on eaching Quali y, or

NC Q, reviewed he early reading ins ruc ion courses o 959 elemen ary and

special-educa ion programs. I ound ha only 34 percen o hese programs ade-qua ely prepared eaching candida es wi h reading ins ruc ion ha addressed ourou o he ve essen ial componen s o reading. Fur hermore, 56 percen wereclassied as inadequa ely preparing eachers or effec ive reading ins ruc ion.29

Al hough he Common Core does no explici ly require eacher-prepara ionprograms o use specic me hods o each li eracy s andards, i will likely neces-si a e curriculum revisions in eacher- raining programs o prepare eachers

or he Common Cores more rigorous reading s andards.30 Some programs arealready making curriculum changes in order o mee he challenges presen ed by

higher s andards. For example, pro essors a Sou heas ern Louisiana Universi yin Hammond, Louisiana a op-ranked NC Q eacher- raining program in hesou hern region31 now ocus on preparing heir s uden s o evalua e nonc-

ion ex s complexi y.32

Te Common Core also incorpora es he science o reading in ha i s s andardsare s ruc ured o be developmen ally appropria e and o help s uden s learn he

ounda ional reading skills ha hey build upon as hey advance rom grade ograde. P. David Pearson, a pro essor in he Gradua e School o Educa ion a heUniversi y o Cali ornia, Berkeley, old Educa ion Week ha he wo big ideasunderlying he Common Core building knowledge hrough close reading o

ex s and reading wi hin rich con en areas are consis en wi h he las 20-30 years o research and reec ive o he shifing ocus o reading research in he pas10 o 15 years.33* Doro hy S rickland o u gers Universi y agrees, saying ha

he Common Core leverages emerging research on how s uden s analyze and veri y wha hey read in differen ypes o ex , rom li era ure o a lab repor or anIn erne blog.34 For example, he Common Core kindergar en li eracy s andardsrequire explici ins ruc ion on leters and sounds phonics and phonemic aware-ness which research shows is associa ed wi h s ronger li eracy skills.35


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esearch s rongly sugges s ha combining he Common Core s andards wi hscience-based reading ins ruc ion will yield power ul academic resul s and reduce

he alarming percen age o s uden s reading below basic levels o prociency.

English Language Arts: Reading,Foundational Skills, Kindergarten(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A) Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound cor-respondences by producing the primary sound or many of the mostfrequent sounds for each consonant. 36

English Language Arts: Reading,Foundational Skills, Kindergarten(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B) Associate the long and short sounds with the common spelli(graphemes) for the ve major vowels.37

Example of relevant standards in the Common Core


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Employing both traditional andconceptual strategies to teach math

S uden s believe ha ma h perhaps more han any o her subjec augh inschool is some hing one is ei her good a or no , an idea ha ofen ex ends in oadul hood. Tis phenomenon has i s roo s in how ma h is augh in school. Forgenera ions, ma h classes ollowed more or less he same patern: Te eacherin roduces a new procedure, he eacher leads he class hrough solving a ewproblems o ha ype, and he s uden s hen work individually o solve similarproblems on heir own. In his model, ma h is some hing ha is shown, prac iced,

and memorized.38 As a resul , here develops a signican difference be weenunders anding ma h and doing ma h.

Learning ma h only hrough a drill-and-kill approach in which s uden s prac iceone ype o problem over and over hrough endless workshee s con ribu es

o he low per ormance o Americans in ma h. During he 1980s, psychologisSylvia Scribner ound ha dairy- ac ory workers wi h litle o no ormal school-ing per ormed complex ma hema ical calcula ions wi h grea er success han heir beter-educa ed co-workers.39 Cogni ive science research ha s udied s uden s andadul s who were poorly educa ed bu who could per orm rigorous ma hema ics

ound ha orcing hem o use he ma hema ical processes augh in school ac uallydecreased heir per ormance compared wi h he me hods hey augh hemselves.40 Tese ndings sugges ha he way ma h is augh limi s s uden s crea ivi y, prob-lem solving, and abili y o apply wha hey have learned o real-world problems.

Te Na ional Council o eachers o Ma hema ics and heoris s such as MagdaleneLamper sugges ed ha redesigning he radi ional s ruc ure o how s uden slearn ma h in roduc ion, guided prac ice, and independen s udy would helpimprove s uden s concep ual unders anding o ma h and consequen ly improve

heir per ormance.41

Under his new concep ual ramework, s uden s rs atempo solve a new problem on heir own by applying heir prior ma hema ical knowl-

edge. Ten, hey work collabora ively wi h heir peers. Finally, he class wi h heeachers guidance works oge her o nd differen pa hs o he solu ion.


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Lamper argues ha , a every level, s uden s should be making conjec ures,abs rac ing ma hema ical proper ies, explaining heir reasoning, valida ing heirasser ions, and discussing and ques ioning heir own hinking and he hinking oo hers.43 Tis approach more closely mirrors how ma hema icians prac ice ma h:challenging heir assump ions and es ing hypo heses. In a recen review o exis -ing evidence on he efficacy o elemen ary ma hema ics programs, ober Slavinand Cyn hia Lake examined he impac o programs ocused on ma hema icscurricula, compu er-assis ed ins ruc ion, and ins ruc ional processes. Tey ound

ha programs ha adjus he eacher-s uden rela ionship, change how ma h isaugh , and in roduce high-impac prac ices such as s uden s learning collabora-ively have he grea es posi ive effec on s uden ou comes.44 Al hough eaching

ma h in his way warran s addi ional s udy, exis ing research s rongly sugges s haa more discovery-based approach will help s uden s achieve a more subs an iveunders anding o ma hema ical concep s and heories.

I love how he Common Core focuses on fewer s andards a each grade level so

ha s uden s can go more in dep h wi h heir learning. Te way ha we are each-ing now, specically in ma h, really helps develop ac ual unders anding of wha

hey are doing, ins ead of jus memorizing a process of s eps or an algori hm. 45 Rachel Ziegler, four h-grade eacher wi h eigh

years of experience, New Haven, Connec icu

Elizabeth is at the grocery store buying fruit for the week. She wantsto purchase $7.60 worth of apples with a $20.00 bill. How muchchange should the cashier return to Elizabeth? Illustrate your answer.

Using the traditional method, the student would simply write:

$20.00-$7.60$12.40

However, this does not teach the student to do math as it is donein everyday life; i t simply involves plugging new numbers into analgorithm learned through hours of rote memorization. Under the

Common Core, the student instead would follow a process similar to

Elizabeths actual mental computation while standing at the re

$7.60 + $.40 = $8.00$8.00 + $2.00 = $10.00

$10.00 + $10.00 = $20.00

The cashier should give Elizabeth $12.40 in change.

This is exactly how someone with a strong grasp of numeracy dcalculations on a daily basis. Furthermore, solving the problem iway teaches the relationship between different values far more etively than the traditional method of plugging numbers into a foIt is critical that students grasp the concepts behind subtraction b

they rely solely on the traditional algorithm.42

Example problem using traditional and conceptual strategies


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Te Common Core combines his concep ual approach o ma h wi h he more radi ional approach. Te idea is o provide s u-den s wi h ample oppor uni y o build a s rong base unders and-ing o he underlying ma hema ical concep s ra her han jusmemorize he rules. However, he s andards also include ime or

s uden s o prac ice how o apply he concep s hey have learned.Overall, he s andards are s ruc ured o afford s uden s sufficienime o gradually increase heir comprehension o ma hema ics

while also con inuing o build a s rong ounda ion in applyinghose concep s.

eaching ma h is hard, and eaching i differen ly rom how youlearned i is harder s ill. Unsurprisingly, some ins ruc ional ma e-rials developed o each concep ual ma h are con using and mis-leading.48 Some publishing companies con ribu e o his problem

by haphazardly repackaging heir old ma erials and claiming hahey are aligned wi h he Common Core.49 o mi iga e he prob-

lem o poorly s ruc ured ma h assignmen s, dis ric s and schoolsmus provide high-quali y pro essional developmen o ma h

eachers. When eachers are prepared, he evidence sugges s halearning ma h in his way has a signican posi ive impac ons uden unders anding and learning.

Mathematics: Reading, Number& Operations in Base Ten, Grade 4(CCSS.MATH-Content.4.NBTB.4) Fluently add and subtract multi-digit wholnumbers using the standard algorithm. 46

Mathematics: Reading, Number& Operations in Base Ten, Grade 4(CCSS.MATH-Content.4.NBTB.5)Multiply a whole number of up to four diga one-digit whole number, and multiply twodigit numbers, using strategies based on pla

value and the properties of operations. Illusand explain the calculation by using equatiorectangular arrays, and/or area models. 47

Example of relevant standardin the Common Core


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Increasing opportunitiesfor student collaboration

Te radi ional model o a classroom desks arranged in rows wi h he eacherlec uring a he ron o he room is increasingly a hing o he pas . Ins ead,schools and eachers s rive o crea e a more dynamic learning environmen in which s uden s collabora e o solve problems and work oge her on projec s.Te idea ha educa ion is a s ruc ured exchange o knowledge and in orma ion

ha ows direc ly rom eachers o s uden s is quickly eroding. Ins ead, heoppor uni y o work collabora ively wi h peers can have a pro ound effec on

learning and academic achievemen .

Iden i ying he unique peer effec on s uden achievemen can be qui e difficulor me hodological reasons. Ye in a s udy o peer effec s on hird- hrough six h-

grade s uden per ormance, economis Caroline Hoxby ound ha a change o1 poin in peers reading scores raises a s uden s own score be ween .15 and .4poin s on he exas Assessmen o Academic Skills, or AAS, es .50 However, allo he varia ion canno be atribu ed purely o differences be ween peers achieve-men levels. For example, Hoxby ound ha bo h girls and boys have grea er ma hachievemen in classes wi h higher numbers o emale s uden s, even hough girlsand boys score similarly on he AAS es . She also ound ha peer effec s weres ronger among s uden s o he same race. Never heless, he impac o s uden speers on heir own academic per ormance was signican .

Prac ices such as peer u oring also have a drama ic, posi ive impac on s udenachievemen . In Kansas Ci y, Kansas, researchers compared a class-wide peer-

u oring program wi h radi ional eacher-led ins ruc ion.51 Te s udy included hreedifferen six h-grade classes augh by he same eacher. Te rs consis ed o a radi-

ional class s ruc ure; he second engaged in class-wide peer u oring; and he hird

added a reward lotery o he peer- u oring program. Te peer- u oring s uden s were organized in o mixed-abili y dyads, wi h each aking urns u oring he o her.


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Te Common Core includes specic con en -rela ed s an-dards bu also goes a s ep ur her wi h he College and Career

eadiness Anchor, or CCR, s andards, which incorpora ehigher-order cogni ive s ra egies ha are direc ly rela ed o u urecollege and career success. Te Speaking and Lis ening CCR

s andards have a whole sec ion devo ed o Comprehension andCollabora ion.59 Te Common Core CCR s andards comple-men and broaden he more specic grade-level s andards, and

hey are designed o ensure ha s uden s are able o ransi ionin o college or he work orce wi h he necessary skills o succeedin hese increasingly collabora ive environmen s. Te CommonCore includes CCR s andards aimed a developing reading, wri ing, speaking, lis ening, and language skills.60

Comparing student activities before and after the Common Core

Kindergarten and rst grade

Task before Common Core Task with Common Core

Students retell the main eventsfor example, thebeginning, middle, and endof Frog and ToadTogether and identify the characters and setting ofthe story.

Students compare and contrast the adventures and experi-ences of Frog and Toad in Frog and Toad Together and parpate in collaborative conversations about their comparison

Source: Foundation for Excellence in Education, Old Standards v. Common Core: A Side-by-Side Comparison of English Language Arts, available at http://excelined.org/common-core-toolkitold-standards-v-common-core-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-english-language-arts-2/ (last accessed August 2014).

Te Common Core s andards go beyond simply requiring s uden s o learn apar icular lis o ac s. Indeed, hese rigorous s andards push s uden s o developa se o li e skills. Te Common Core s emphasis on collabora ive learning skillsencourages schools and eachers o adop ins ruc ional prac ices ha will helps uden s become effec ive communica ors, problem solvers, and cri ical hinkers.S uden s who develop s rong collabora ion skills in school will be in a beter posi-

ion o succeed in college and he workplace. Tey will also be well prepared o

mee he expec a ions o u ure pro essors, employers, and colleagues.

English Language Arts: Literacy, College areer Readiness Anchor for Speaking and Li(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1)

Prepare for and participate effectively in aof conversations and collaborations with divpartners, building on others ideas and exprtheir own clearly and persuasively.61

http://excelined.org/common-core-toolkit/old-standards-v-common-core-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-english-language-arts-2/http://excelined.org/common-core-toolkit/old-standards-v-common-core-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-english-language-arts-2/http://excelined.org/common-core-toolkit/old-standards-v-common-core-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-english-language-arts-2/http://excelined.org/common-core-toolkit/old-standards-v-common-core-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-english-language-arts-2/http://excelined.org/common-core-toolkit/old-standards-v-common-core-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-english-language-arts-2/


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Promoting problem-and project-based learning

S uden s ofen eel ha wha hey learn is no direc ly relevan o heir daily livesand experiences. When his happens, hey may disengage rom class and become bored, which is likely o hinder heir in ellec ual developmen . A 2012 repor ons uden engagemen by he Cen er or Evalua ion & Educa ion Policy a IndianaUniversi y Blooming on revealed ha 66 percen o high school s uden s are bored in class every day. Only 2 percen o s uden s said ha hey were never bored.62 One way educa ors have sough o address low s uden engagemen is

hrough problem- and projec -based learning, or PBL, which involves learninghrough inquiry and solving open-ended problems wi h real-world au hen ici y.

ecognizing ha he knowledge and skills s uden s are augh mus be relevan oheir lives, he Common Core places par icular emphasis on real-world problem

solving and he prac ical applica ion o wha s uden s have learned. Te CommonCore s andards also require s uden s o work oward deeper unders anding and

he developmen o higher-order cogni ive skills. Te Common Cores emphasison real-world applicabili y will likely lead o changes in classroom ins ruc ion.

eaching using PBL is an effec ive way or s uden s o applyhe knowledge and skills hey already have in order o discover

solu ions o un amiliar problems or si ua ions. PBL helps ensurehe ma erial is relevan o s uden s lives, experiences, andu ure careers an approach ha improves s uden academic

ou comes. A recen s udy o six h-grade s uden s examined hedifferences in comprehension and applica ion or comparables uden groups ha received ei her PBL ins ruc ion or lec ureand discussion ins ruc ion. S uden s who were augh using

PBL demons ra ed beter long- erm re en ion and abili y oapply new ma erial.65

Mathematics: Standards for Mathematical P(CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1)

Make sense of problems and persevere in them.63

Mathematics: Content Standards, eighthgrade, expressions and equations (CCSS.MCONTENT.8.EE.C.8.C)

Solve real-world and mathematical probleleading to two linear equations in two varia



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PBL can also enhance and sus ain s uden mo iva ion and engagemen in learn-ing.66 Tis learning s yle can be especially effec ive in science, echnology,engineering, and ma hema ics, or S EM, subjec s. One s udy ound ha over

he course o hree years, s uden s bene ed academically rom par icipa ing inS EM PBL ac ivi ies, and low-per orming s uden s showed more improvemen in

ma hema ics es scores han middle- and high-per orming s uden s.67

Tis ndingindica es ha PBL could be an effec ive ins ruc ional ool o narrow he achieve-men gap or low-per orming s uden s.

A key o high-quali y educa ion is helping s uden s realize ha here are ofenmul iple solu ions and many differen approaches o solving a problem bu simply

elling hem ha is no enough. I is impor an o ac ively engage s uden s in whahey are learning and o provide hem wi h oppor uni ies o apply wha hey knowo heir lives. Te bene s o relevan PBL are well documen ed, and he Common

Core s andards encourage eachers o engage s uden s in meaning ul learning by

promo ing he developmen o skills ha s uden s can apply o real-world problems.


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Conclusion

Unlike o her recen educa ion re orms such as arge ed reading programs heCommon Core es ablishes a new educa ional ounda ion grounded in decades oresearch on how s uden s learn and he bes eaching prac ices: knowledge sca -

olding, holding all s uden s o high expec a ions, he science o learning o read,concep ual ma h, collabora ive learning, and problem-based learning.

By incorpora ing evidence-based prac ices direc ly in o he s andards hemselves,

he Common Core ensures all s uden s are being held o he same expec a ionsand are receiving ins ruc ion ha is aligned wi h wha works. A he same ime,

he s andards leave room or eachers, dis ric s, and s a es o develop heir owncurricula and ins ruc ional ma erials. Tis exibili y allows educa ors o adap

heir ins ruc ion o mee he needs o heir s uden s while main aining common,rigorous s andards regardless o s uden s socioeconomic backgrounds.

Al hough swi ching o he more rigorous s andards o he Common Core pres-en s a signican challenge, he evidence sugges s i likely will improve s udenachievemen because i is en irely based on proven s ra egies ha help s uden slearn and grow.

*Correction, October 9, 2014: Tis repor has been correc ed o beter clarify P. David Pearsons opinion of he big ideas underlying he Common Core.

**Correction, October 9, 2014: Tis repor has been correc ed o clarify ha research proves ha collabora ive learning improves s uden rela ions.


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About the authors

Max Marchitello is a Policy Analys or he Pre-K-12 Educa ion Policy eam a heCen er or American Progress. He has principally ocused on accoun abili y, s an-dards, assessmen s, school nance, and educa ion issues rela ed o low-income

s uden s and s uden s o color. Prior o joining he Cen er, Marchi ello servedas he inaugural William L. aylor ellow or educa ion policy a Te LeadershipCon erence on Civil and Human igh s. He also augh high school English andcoached baske ball in Nor h Philadelphia.

Megan Wilhelm is a sociology gradua e s uden a he Universi y o Maryland,College Park. Her research ocuses on educa ion policy, school diversi y, eacherati udes, and social s ra ica ion. She joined he Cen er as a Leadership orEduca ional Equi y Fellow o work wi h he Pre-K-12 Educa ion Policy eam dur-ing he summer o 2014. Prior o gradua e school, she received a U.S. Fulbrigh

esearch Gran o s udy in ergroup con ac in schools on he island o Cyprus.She also augh rs grade in New Haven, Connec icu .


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Endnotes

1 Laura Hamilton, Brian Stecher, and Kun Yuan,Standards-Based Reform in the United States: History,Research, and Future Directions (Santa Monica, CA:RAND Corporation, 2008), available athttp://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/RAND_RP1384.pdf .

2 Paul Peterson and Frederick Hess, Keeping an Eye onState Standards: A race to the bottom?, Education Next 6 (3) (2006), available at http://educationnext.org/keeping-an-eye-on-state-standards/ .

3 David T. Conley, The Common Core State Standards:Insight into Their Development and Purpose (Wash-ington: Council of Chief State School Officers, 2014),available at http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2014/CCSS_Insight_Into_Development_2014.pdf.

4 National Governors Association Center for BestPractices and Council of Chief State School Officers,Reaching Higher: The Common Core State StandardsValidation Committee (2010), available at http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CommonCoreReport_6.10.pdf .

5 Conley, The Common Core State Standards: Insightinto Their Development and Purpose.

6 Common Core State Standards Initiative, Standardsin Your State, available at http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/ (last accessed September2014).

7 Daniel T. Willingham, How Knowledge Helps: It Speedsand Strengthens Reading Comprehension, Learningand Thinking, American Educator 30 (1) (2006): 3037,available at http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/spring2006/willingham.cfm.

8 Marilla Svinicki, What they dont know can hurt them: The Role of Prior Knowledge in Learning,Essays onTeaching Excellence: Toward the Best in the Academy 5(4) (19931994), available at http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V5-N4-Svinicki.pdf .

9 eMediaMillWorks, Text: George W. Bushs speech to theNAACP,The Washington Post , July 10, 2000, available athttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/bushtext071000.htm.

10 Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, Pygmalion inthe classroom, The Urban Review 3 (1) (1968): 1620.

11 Annie Murphy Paul, How to Use the Pygmalion Ef-fect, Time, April 1, 2013, available athttp://ideas.time.com/2013/04/01/how-to-use-the-pygmalion-effect/ .

12 Karl L. Alexander, Doris R. Entwisle, and Maxine S. Thompson, School performance, status relations, andthe structure of sentiment: Bringing the teacher backin, American Sociological Review 52 (5) (1987): 665682;Charles H. Beady Jr. and Stephen Hansell, Teacher Raceand Expectations for Student Achievement, American

Educational Research Journal 18 (2) (1981): 191206.13 Gary L. St. C. Oates, Teacher-Student Racial Congru-

ence, Teacher Perceptions, and Test Performance,Social Science Quarterly 84 (3) (2003): 508525.

14 National Center for Education Statistics, Table 209.10.Number and percentage distribution of teachers inpublic and private elementary and secondary schools,by selected teacher characteristics: Selected years,1987-88 through 2011-12, available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_209.10.asp(last accessed September 2014).

15 Gary L. St. C. Oates, An Empirical Test of Five ProminentExplanations for the Black-White Academic Perfor-mance Gap, Social Psychology of Education 12 (4)(2009): 415441.

16 S. Autumn McCane, Teacher Academic Expectationsand Student Outcomes (Louisville, KY: University ofLouisville, 2008).

17 Harris Cooper, Pygmalion Grows Up: A Model for Teacher Expectation Communication and PerformanceInuence, Review of Educational Research 49 (3) (1979):398410, available at http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1170137?uid=3739704&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104663618507 ; Dominik Becker, The Im-pact of Teachers Expectations on Students EducationalOpportunities in the Life Course: An Empirical Test of a

Subjective Expected Utility Explanation, Rationality andSociety 25 (4) (2013): 422469; Hester de Boer, Roel J.Bosker, and Margaretha P. C. van der Werf, Sustainabil-ity of teacher expectation bias effects on long-term stu-dent performance, Journal of Educational Psychology 102 (1) (2010): 168179; Lee Jussim and Kent D. Harber,Teacher Expectations and Self-Fullling Prophecies:Knowns and Unknowns, Resolved and UnresolvedControversies, Personality and Social Psychology Re-view 9 (2) (2005): 131155; J. Benjamin Hinnant, MarionOBrien, and Sharon R. Ghazarian, The LongitudinalRelations of Teacher Expectations to Achievement inthe Early School Years, Journal of Educational Psychol-ogy 101 (3) (2009): 662670, available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2860190/ .

18 de Boer, Bosker, and Van der Werf, Sustainability ofteacher expectation bias effects on long-term studentperformance.

19 Anne Gregory and Francis Huang, It Takes a Village: The Effects of 10th Grade College-Going Expectationsof Students, Parents, and Teachers Four Years Later, American Journal of Community Psychology 52 (1-2)(2013): 4155.

20 Center for Public Education, High-performing, high-poverty schools: Research review, August 22, 2005,available at http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Organizing-a-school/High-performing-high-poverty-schools-At-a-glance-/High-performing-high-poverty-schools-Research-review.html.

21 College Board, The 8th Annual AP Report to the Na-tion (2012), available at http://apreport.collegeboard.org/sites/default/les/downloads/pdfs/AP_Main_Re-port_Final.pdf .

22 Learning Point Associates, A Closer Look at the FiveEssential Components of Effective Reading Instruction:A Review of Scientically Based Reading Research for Teachers (2004), available at http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/components.pdf .
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://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/spring2006/willingham.cfmhttp://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CommonCoreReport_6.10.pdfhttp://www.corestandards.org/assets/CommonCoreReport_6.10.pdfhttp://www.corestandards.org/assets/CommonCoreReport_6.10.pdfhttp://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2014/CCSS_Insight_Into_Development_2014.pdfhttp://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2014/CCSS_Insight_Into_Development_2014.pdfhttp://educationnext.org/keeping-an-eye-on-state-standards/http://educationnext.org/keeping-an-eye-on-state-standards/http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/rand_rp1384.pdfhttp://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/rand_rp1384.pdfhttp://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/rand_rp1384.pdf


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23 Bonnie B. Armbruster and others, Put Reading First:Kindergarten Through Grade 3 (Washington: NationalInstitute for Literacy, 2010), available at https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbooklet.pdf.

24 Linda B. Gambrell and others, eds., Best Practices inLiteracy Instruction, Third Edition (New York: GuilfordPress, 2007).

25 Learning Point Associates, A Closer Look at the FiveEssential Components of Effective Reading Instruction.

26 National Center for Education Statistics, The NationsReport Card: A First Look: 2013 Mathematics and Reading (U.S. Department of Education, 2013), available athttp://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publica-tions/main2013/pdf/2014451.pdf.

27 Kate Walsh, Deborah Glaser, and Danielle DunneWilcox, What Education Schools Arent Teaching aboutReading and What Elementary Teachers Arent Learn-ing (Washington: National Council on Teacher Quality,2006), available at http://www.nctq.org/nctq/images/nctq_reading_study_exec_summ.pdf .

28 Ibid.

29 National Council on Teacher Quality, Standard 2: EarlyReading (2014), available at http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Teacher_Prep_Review_2014_Std2 .

30 Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities,Science & Mathematics Teacher Imperative, andNational Science Foundation, The Common Core StateStandards and Teacher Preparation (2011), available athttp://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=3482 .

31 National Council on Teacher Quality, Regional Find-ings, available at http://www.nctq.org/teacherPrep/re-view2014/ndings/regionalFindings.jsp (last accessedSeptember 2014).

32 Sarah Carr and Danielle Dreilinger, Teacher-TrainingSchools Under Pressure to Prepare for Common Core, The Hechinger Report, September 29, 2013, available athttp://hechingerreport.org/content/teacher-training-schools-under-pressure-to-prepare-for-common-core_13190/ .

33 Sarah D. Sparks, New Literacy Research Infuses

Common Core,Education Week , November 13,2012, available at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/11/14/12cc-research.h32.html .

34 Ibid.

35 Peter J. Hatcher, Charles Hulme, and Margaret J. Snowl-ing, Explicit phoneme training combined with phonicreading instruction helps young children at risk of read-ing failure, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 45 (2) (2004): 338358.

36 Common Core State Standards Initiative, EnglishLanguage Arts Standards Reading: Foundational Skills Kindergarten, available at http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/K/ (last accessed September 2014).

37 Ibid.

38 Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Knowledge and Reason-ing in Mathematical Pedagogy: Examining WhatProspective Teachers Bring to Teacher Education, Ph.D.dissertation, Michigan State University, 1988, availableat http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dball/books/DBall_dissertation.pdf .

39 Elizabeth Green, Why Do Americans Stink at Math?,The New York Times Magazine, July 23, 2014, available athttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html?_r=1 .

40 Ibid.

41 Magdalene Lampert, Teaching Problems and the Prob-lems of Teaching (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,2001).

42 Sample problem created by authors based on HemantMehta, About That Common Core Math Problem Mak-ing the Rounds on Facebook, Friendly Atheist, March7, 2014, available at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/03/07/about-that-common-core-math-problem-making-the-rounds-on-facebook/ .

43 Magdalene Lampert, When the Problem Is Not theQuestion and the Solution is Not the Answer: Math-ematical Knowing and Teaching, American EducationalResearch Journal 27 (1) (1990): 2963, available athttp://people.ucsc.edu/~gwells/Files/Courses_Folder/ED%20261%20Papers/Lampert%20Question%20not%20answer.pdf .

44 Robert Slavin and Cynthia Lake, Effective Programs inElementary Mathematics: A Best-Evidence Synthesis,Review of Educational Research 78 (3) (2008): 427515.

45 Rachel Ziegler, email interview with Megan Wilhelm,July 2014.

46 Common Core State Standards Initiative, Grade 4 Number & Operations in Base Ten, available at http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/4/NBT/ (last

accessed September 2014).

47 Ibid.

48 Motoko Rich, Math Under Common Core Has EvenParents Stumbling, The New York Times, June 29, 2014,available at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/us/math-under-common-core-has-even-parents-stum-bling.html?_r=0.

49 University of Southern California Rossier School ofEducation, Polikoff study nds textbooks not alignedto Common Core standards, available at http://rossier.usc.edu/polikoff-study-nds-textbooks-not-aligned-to-common-core-standards/ (last accessed September2014).

50 Caroline Hoxby, Peer Effects in the Classroom: Learningfrom Gender and Race Variation. Working Paper 7867

(National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000), avail-able at http://www.nber.org/papers/w7867.pdf.

51 Mary Veerkamp, Debra Kamps, and Lori Cooper, TheEffects of Classwide Peer Tutoring on the ReadingAchievement of Urban Middle School Students,Education and Treatment of Children 30 (2) (2007):2151, available at http://radschwartzfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/Research/VeerkampKampsCoor-per_CWPT%20Reading%20Urban%20Middle%20School.pdf .

52 Angela Przychodzin-Havis and others, An Analysisof Corrective Reading Research, Journal of DirectInstruction 5 (1) (2005): 3765, available at http://ctace.browardschools.com/LinkClick.aspx?leticket=CwLNHmVtvcQ%3D&tabid=125&mid=557.

53 C. Short and others, The Benets of Being High School

Corrective Reading Peer Instructors, Effective SchoolPractices 19 (2) (1999): 2329.

54 Elizabeth F. Barkley, K. Patricia Cross, and Claire HowellMajor, Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbookfor College Faculty (San Francisco, CA: John Wiley &Sons, 2014).
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