The effects of higher order thinking on student achievement and English proficiency
Abstract
This quantitative study investigates the effect of urban teacher (N = 18) use of higher order thinking on language arts achievement and English development. Using Bloom’s six level hierarchy of higher order thinking, teachers were designated as high (levels 3 to 6) or low (levels 1 or 2) users of higher order thinking. Findings demonstrate statistically significant gains in coached teachers use of higher order thinking, and simultaneous gains in their students language arts achievement. Regardless of the coaching status of their teachers, when teachers used higher order thinking, their students made significant gains in both language arts achievement and English proficiency. Implications point to the value of increasing, not decreasing, the level of cognitive challenge when teaching culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students.
Key Words: Cognitive Challenge, Achievement, English proficiency, Instructional coaching; Professional development; Urban Elementary Teachers.
References
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.
Author. (2014).
Author et al. (2014).
Authors. (2013).
Authors. (2016).
Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York: Longman.
Doherty, R. W., & Hilberg, R. S. (2007). Standards for effective pedagogy, classroom organization, English proficiency, and student achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 101(1), 24-35.
Doherty, R., Hilberg, R., Pinal, A., and Tharp, R. (2003). Five standards and student achievement. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 1(1), 1-24.
Estrada, P. (2005). The courage to grow: A researcher and teacher linking professional development with small-group reading instructional and reading achievement. Research in the Teaching of English 39(1), 320-364.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Guskey, T. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hiebert, J. & Stigler, J. (2004). Improving mathematics teaching. Educational Leadership, 61(3), 28-31.
Indiana Department of Education. (2011). Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress—Plus: 2011-2012 ISTEP+ program manual. Retrieved from www.doe.in.gov/assessment.
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom's taxonomy: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41 (4), 212-218.
Langer, J. A. (1995). Envisioning literature: Literary understanding and literature instruction. New York: Teachers College Press.
Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2008). Introduction to sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages. In J. P. Lantolf & M. E. Poehner (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and teaching of second languages (pp. 1-30). London: Equinox Publishing LTD.
Leland, C., & Murtadha, K. (2011). Cultural discourse on the frontline: Preparing and retaining urban teachers. Urban Education, 46, 895-912.
Lewis, A., & Smith, D. (1003). Defining higher order thinking. Theory into Practice, 32 (3), 131-137.
Maxwell, L.A. (2014, August 19). U.S. School Enrollment Hits Majority-Minority Milestone. Education Week. Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/projects/changing-demographics.html
McGraw, K. O., & Wong, S. P. (1996). Forming inferences about some intraclass correlation coeffients. Psychological Methods, 1(1), 30-46.
Porter, A., McMaken, J., & Yang, R. (2011). Common Core Standards: The New U.S. Intended Curriculum. Educational Researcher 40(3), 103–116.
Resnick, L. (1987). Educating and learning to think. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Ritchhart, R. (2015). Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Saunders, W.M., & Goldenberg, C. (1999). The effects of instructional conversations and literature logs on the story comprehension and thematic understanding of English proficiency and limited English proficient students. Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.
Sleeter, C. (2008). Preparing White teachers for diverse students. In M. Chochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D.J. McIntyre, & K. E. Demers (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 559 – 582). New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group and the Association of Teacher Education.
Smagorinsky, P. (2013). What does Vygostky provide for the 21st-Century language arts teacher? Language Arts 90(3), 192 – 204.
Shrout, P. E., & Fleiss, J. L. (1979) Intraclass correlations: Uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bulletin, 86(2), 420-428
Tharp, R. G. (1997). From at-risk to excellence: Research, theory, and principles for practice. Santa Cruz, CA: University of California, Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence.
Tharp, R.G. (2012). Delta theory and psychosocial systems: The practice of influence and
change. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press.Tharp, R. G., P. Estrada, S. S. Dalton, and L. A. Yamauchi, 2000. Teaching Transformed. Achieving Excellence, Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 30-31.
Tucker, M. (2014). Fixing our national accountability system. The National Center on Education and the Economy. Retrieved from http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/FixingOurNationalAccountabilitySystemWebV4.pdf
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. In M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, (Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1997). Educational psychology. Boca Raton, Florida: St. Lucie Press.
Weinstein, R.S. (1996). High standards in a tracked system of Schooling: For which students and with what educational supports? Educational Researcher 25(8), 16-19.
Walsh, W. B. & Betz, N. E. (1990). Tests and Assessment (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wink, J., & Putney, L. (2002). Vision of Vygotsky. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Zohar, A., & Dori, Y. (2003). Higher order thinking skills and low-achieving students: Are they mutually exclusive? The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(2), 145-181.
Zohar, A., Degani, A., & Vaaknin, E. (2001). Teachers' beliefs about low achieving students and higher-order thinking. Teaching and Teachers' Education, 17, 469-485
Zwiers, J., O’Hara, S., & Pritchard, R. (2013). Eight essential shifts for teaching common core standards to academic English learners. Academic Language Development Network December, 2013(1).
