The Common Core State Standards underscore five key shifts in teaching and learning that place greater emphasis on
- Critical thinking, reasoning, and use of evidence to defend an argument.
- Deeper conceptual understanding, particularly in math.
- Writing, not only through explicit standards for writing, but also through the need to communicate one's reasoning through writing.
- Applying learning to real-world situations.
- Using informational texts to build content knowledge and literacy.
The shifts embodied in the standards necessitate that students become self-regulating, metacognitive learners. And for each shift, a body of research points toward pedagogies that are particularly effective in helping students who live in poverty meet and achieve the skills, knowledge, and dispositions embodied in the shifts. The brief descriptions below describe these research-based approaches in relationship to a particular shift; however, many of these approaches could apply to more than one shift. The purpose is not to "sell" or promote a particular approach, but rather to illuminate the large volume of evidence that can challenge our mind-sets about students from low-income families and their ability to learn to high standards.
Critical Thinking, Reasoning, and Use of Evidence to Defend an Argument
The Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) program developed by educator and researcher Stan Pogrow
1-29-14 The Whole Child Blog - Combining Intrinsic Motivation and Student Autonomy for Sustained Success — Whole Child Education
Combining Intrinsic Motivation and Student Autonomy for Sustained Success — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGCombining Intrinsic Motivation and Student Autonomy for Sustained SuccessJanuary 29, 2014 by ASCD Whole Child BloggersPost written by Matthew J. WeyersTwo years ago, prompted by a blog post that asked, "How many student assignments end up in the recycling bin within minutes o