Fred M. Newmann

Instructional Program Coherence: What It Is and Why It Should Guide School Improvement Policy

We present the concept of instructional program coherence and explain why school improvement frameworks that incorporate instructional program coherence are more likely to advance student achievement than multiple, unrelated efforts. We present evidence that Chicago elementary schools with stronger instructional program coherence make higher gains in student achievement. We also share observations on how, in specific schools, principals and external partners directed key school resources toward the development of instructional program coherence. In closing, we discuss factors within the educational system that discourage instructional program coherence and suggest ways that school leaders, school improvement partners, and policymakers can support greater instructional program coherence.

Building school capacity through professional development: conceptual and empirical considerations

Situates current research on professional development within an organizational perspective. Offers a framework for the study of professional development, and proposes that key factors that affect student achievement be conceptualized as school capacity. Argues that increases in school capacity will lead to gains in student achievement, and that professional development should, therefore, be designed to enhance the following three dimensions of capacity. First, school capacity includes the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of individual staff members. Second, the diverse human and technical resources of a school need to be put to use in an organized, collective enterprise termed school professional community. Finally, a school’s capacity is enhanced when its programs for student and staff learning are coherent, focused, and sustained. To illustrate comprehensive professional development that addresses all aspects of school capacity, describes one school from a current study.

Higher order thinking in teaching social studies: a rationale for the assessment of classroom thoughtfulness

Such problems lead to two central questions that we are pursuing through a longterm study of us schools: (a) To what extent is it possible for high school social studies departments to promote higher order thinking? (b) How are the apparent barriers overcome in more successful departments? A series of articles in JCS will report on this research. This first article offers a conceptual basis for the empirical studies of classrooms, teachers, students and institutional leadership that will follow. We propose here a conception of higher order thinking which synthesizes theoretical literature with the views of practitioners , and we argue for a new approach to empirical work which focuses on classroom thoughtfulness. Before proceeding with this rationale, we outline the design for the larger empirical study. The main goal was to discover how some high school departments may be able to overcome barriers that others have not. Thus, rather than concentrating primarily upon differences between individual teachers, this study explores the problem of institutionalization: what is required for departmental-wide promotion of higher order thinking} The strategy was to identify exemplary social studies departments (that is, those that make a serious departmental-wide effort to emphasize higher order thinking) and then, by contrasting these departments with others, to draw inferences about barriers and opportunities for success.

Promoting Higher Order Thinking in Social Studies: Overview of a Study of 16 High School Departments

A study of social studies departments in 16 high schools examined the extent to which higher order thinking was promoted and how barriers were overcome in the more successful departments. This overview article presents a conception of higher order thinking grounded in non-routine intellectual challenges, a discussion of the role of knowledge, skills and dispositions in meeting them, and the observation scheme used to assess classroom thoughtfulness. It describes the research design and previews the four ensuing articles that report empirical findings.

Higher Order Thinking in the High School Curriculum.

What is higher order thinking? Why is it so hard to promote in secondary schools? How can the principal help? These are some of the questions addressed by this writer.

The Radical Perspective on Social Studies: A Synthesis and Critique.

Abstract Radical writing in education suggests a) that emancipation should be the guiding social ideal; b) social life should be understood largely in terms of such concepts as domination, autonomy, contradiction, and the social construction of knowledge; and c) that teaching should emphasize the development of critical discourse. If potentially appealing aspects of these ideas are to be incorporated into social studies, research is needed to develop more specific social visions consistent with the value of emancipation, to determine what organizational changes must be made in schools, and to identify specific teaching practices that maximize the intellectual accomplishment and emotional rewards of critical inquiry.

Redesigning Education. By Kenneth G. Wilson and Bennett Daviss. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1994

cant projects that show the potential of the process in education, especially the Reading Recovery Program (Ohio State) and the Physics by Inquiry Program (University of Washington). Generally, the effectiveness of a &dquo;solution&dquo; to any problem depends on how the problem is defined. Wilson and Daviss offer a shrewd, comprehensive diagnosis of the reasons for educational stagnation that is consistent with the best research on organizational effectiveness and student learning. They identify specific deficiencies/ fallacies in educators’ (i.e., teacher trainers, educational researchers, administrators, and teachers) understanding of both learning and reform. Rather than blaming individuals, they concentrate on the ways that school culture and organization restrict opportunities to advance our understanding. To advance system redesign, they advocate a set of principles for school organization, and they describe a new institution-a &dquo;system redesign school&dquo; (SRS)-as a laboratory for educational change. The main principles include total quality learning which lets students and teachers tai lor lessons to student needs without compromising intellectual quality teachers empowered to work collaboil ratively to improve pedagogy; the uses of insights from cognitive science thm’l help to structure lessons and contenr

Aligning Measurement with Education@@@Toward a New Science of Educational Testing and Assessment@@@Changing Assessments: Alternative Views of Aptitude, Achievement and Instruction

Rethinking Aptitude, Achievement, and Instruction: Cognitive Science Research and the Framing of Assessment Policy.- Assessing the Thinking Curriculum: New Tools for Educational Reform.- Assessment in Context: The Alternative to Standardized Testing.- Interactive Learning Environments: A New Look at Assessment and Instruction.- CAT: A Program of Comprehensive Abilities Testing.- Commentary: Understanding What We Measure and Measuring What We Understand.- Commentary: What Policy Makers Who Mandate Tests Should Know About the New Psychology of Intellectual Ability and Learning.