This page contains links to articles and other publications that are peer reviewed and that may be useful to us to dig deeper into assessment, evaluation, approaches to learning and teaching, school climate and culture, or other topics that address school essentials.
APPROACHES TO LEARNING/TEACHING
| Title | Abstract/Description |
| Learning Strategies: a synthesis and conceptual model (Hattie & Donahue, 2016) | The purpose of this article is to explore a model of learning that proposes that various learning strategies are powerful at certain stages in the learning cycle. The model describes three inputs and outcomes (skill, will and thrill), success criteria, three phases of learning (surface, deep and transfer) and an acquiring and consolidation phase within each of the surface and deep phases. A synthesis of 228 meta-analyses led to the identification of the most effective strategies. The results indicate that there is a subset of strategies that are effective, but this effectiveness depends on the phase of the model in which they are implemented. Further, it is best not to run separate sessions on learning strategies but to embed the various strategies within the content of the subject, to be clearer about developing both surface and deep learning, and promoting their associated optimal strategies and to teach the skills of transfer of learning. The article concludes with a discussion of questions raised by the model that need further research. |
| Battling for the Soul of Education (John Abbott, 2015) | |
| Born to Learn – animated short video (John Abbott, 2012) | Born to Learn is the first animation in a series aimed to provide easy-access to the exciting new discoveries constantly being made about how humans learn! Narrated by Damian Lewis. |
ASSESSMENT
| Inside the Black Box: raising standards through classroom assessment (Black and Wiliam, 1998) | In this highly influential article in the October 1998 issue of Kappan, British professors Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam discuss the evidence from 250 research studies on formative assessment and argue that when teachers use regular, authentic assessment FOR learning and to check for understanding – and follow up by adapting instruction to clear up their students’ confusions and misunderstandings – they are on the road to getting high achievement from all their students. In fact, argue Black and Wiliam, this is a better way of raising standards than external programs, and is the most powerful engine for closing the achievement gap. |
EVALUATION
SCHOOL CLIMATE AND CULTURE
| Practicing Restorative Justice in School Communities: The Challenge of Culture Change (Brenda Morrison, 2005) | The practice of restorative justice in schools has the capacity to build social and human capital through challenging students in the context of social and emotional learning. While restorative justice was originally introduced in schools to address serious incidents of misconduct and harmful behavior, the potential this philosophy offers is much greater. The conviction is that the key challenge for schools is addressing the culture change required to make the shift from traditional discipline, driven by punitive (or rewards based) external motivators, to restorative discipline, driven by relational motivators that seek to empower individuals and their communities. |