The international context for my DQ is explained well in various chapters in Darling-Hammond's book. Other nations who are showing great gains in their education systems (Finland, Korea, Japan, and Singapore) have steered their schools into teacher-as-facilitator models. Students go deep in their learning and focus on the process of collaborative inquiry. This is in a response to the rapidly changing conditions of current technology and economies; students must learn to think well, rather than train for a specific job. I haven't read any literature that proclaims these countries are all immersed in strict project based learning, but when I read the descriptions of their methodologies, it reads like a PBL playbook.
Our school systems are slow to adopt PBL curriculum nation-wide, but foundations like New Tech Network and Buck Institute for Education are making an impact as they promote their brands of inquiry based learning. This approach to teaching and learning makes sense when considering the 21st century learning outcomes we want to see in our students. However, alongside some teachers' and districts' implementation of PBL, 44 states have adopted Common Core State Standards in recent years. This means that for the first time, clear standards have been set for our nation's students; they will not vary in simplicity or difficulty from state to state. Nation-wide, teachers and students are learning to adjust their practices for the rigorous demands of CCSS. This can be an all-encompassing task, especially as states are measured against one another nationally. The push for PBL, and teaching to the new standards, have arrived almost simultaneously.
California is home to both NTN and BIE, evidence that there is a good deal of interest and support surrounding PBL within the state. However, California students faired rather poorly on the first round of CAASPP tests in 2015. This is likely due to a number of reasons extraneous to student skill; nonetheless, there is a clear need to make sure teaching practices are aligned to the new standards. Where inquiry based learning is in place, students still need to be prepared for the rigor of college and career-ready learning.
Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) began implementing a Common Core curriculum in 2013, at a time that was nearly simultaneous with its move towards project based learning. The district’s website explains, “Our vision for deeper learning includes the K-12 alignment of technology infused, project based learning classrooms that foster the development of 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity”- these are known within the district as the four C’s. These four C’s are intended to create relevant learning opportunities that cause students to “see a purpose for mastering state-required skills”. Since the district has embraced this vision for learning, teachers have been restructuring their curriculum to encourage a project based learning culture that features the four C’s in their classroom. This is no small task. However, the restructuring does not stop there; educators district-wide are also responsible for preparing their students to be college and career ready by mastering Common Core standards.
The need to conduct this study arises from personal experience in the classroom. As per my district’s shift to CCSS and PBL, I’ve been creating more and more inquiry-driven units in my 8th grade Language Arts classroom. The 2015-16 school year was notable because the spring semester saw my classroom culture and practice drastically transformed: students worked almost exclusively in small groups, creating products and solving problems. Technology was a central tool for our work, and engagement was the highest I had seen. However, in their year-end reflections, many students expressed that even though they enjoyed what we had done, they were unaware if they had mastered any grade-level ELA standards. My own reflection echoed theirs; our learning units had either been robust with the four C’s, or they had been rather dull and straightforward but direct in teaching standards. Moreover, test scores and observations revealed that despite high engagement in PBL, most of my students’ reading skills in particular did not improve significantly over the course of the school year. They still met complex texts with looks of exasperation that prefaced predictably low levels of reading comprehension. I was left asking myself how PBL units could be aligned to rigorous teaching of the standards, so that students could reap the benefits of both.
Our school systems are slow to adopt PBL curriculum nation-wide, but foundations like New Tech Network and Buck Institute for Education are making an impact as they promote their brands of inquiry based learning. This approach to teaching and learning makes sense when considering the 21st century learning outcomes we want to see in our students. However, alongside some teachers' and districts' implementation of PBL, 44 states have adopted Common Core State Standards in recent years. This means that for the first time, clear standards have been set for our nation's students; they will not vary in simplicity or difficulty from state to state. Nation-wide, teachers and students are learning to adjust their practices for the rigorous demands of CCSS. This can be an all-encompassing task, especially as states are measured against one another nationally. The push for PBL, and teaching to the new standards, have arrived almost simultaneously.
California is home to both NTN and BIE, evidence that there is a good deal of interest and support surrounding PBL within the state. However, California students faired rather poorly on the first round of CAASPP tests in 2015. This is likely due to a number of reasons extraneous to student skill; nonetheless, there is a clear need to make sure teaching practices are aligned to the new standards. Where inquiry based learning is in place, students still need to be prepared for the rigor of college and career-ready learning.
Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) began implementing a Common Core curriculum in 2013, at a time that was nearly simultaneous with its move towards project based learning. The district’s website explains, “Our vision for deeper learning includes the K-12 alignment of technology infused, project based learning classrooms that foster the development of 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity”- these are known within the district as the four C’s. These four C’s are intended to create relevant learning opportunities that cause students to “see a purpose for mastering state-required skills”. Since the district has embraced this vision for learning, teachers have been restructuring their curriculum to encourage a project based learning culture that features the four C’s in their classroom. This is no small task. However, the restructuring does not stop there; educators district-wide are also responsible for preparing their students to be college and career ready by mastering Common Core standards.
The need to conduct this study arises from personal experience in the classroom. As per my district’s shift to CCSS and PBL, I’ve been creating more and more inquiry-driven units in my 8th grade Language Arts classroom. The 2015-16 school year was notable because the spring semester saw my classroom culture and practice drastically transformed: students worked almost exclusively in small groups, creating products and solving problems. Technology was a central tool for our work, and engagement was the highest I had seen. However, in their year-end reflections, many students expressed that even though they enjoyed what we had done, they were unaware if they had mastered any grade-level ELA standards. My own reflection echoed theirs; our learning units had either been robust with the four C’s, or they had been rather dull and straightforward but direct in teaching standards. Moreover, test scores and observations revealed that despite high engagement in PBL, most of my students’ reading skills in particular did not improve significantly over the course of the school year. They still met complex texts with looks of exasperation that prefaced predictably low levels of reading comprehension. I was left asking myself how PBL units could be aligned to rigorous teaching of the standards, so that students could reap the benefits of both.