ERIC Number: ED389679
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1995-May-17
Pages: 45
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Authentic Pedagogy and Student Performance.
Newmann, Fred M.; And Others
In order to address concerns about the intellectual quality of students' work under various "active learning" formats appearing in education reform efforts, this study developed a model of authentic pedagogy and assessed its presence in 23 restructured schools. The proposed authentic pedagogy is consistent with an active learning perspective and posits standards of intellectual quality, rather than teaching techniques or processes, as the central target of innovation. The study defined authentic academic achievement with three criteria: construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school. The school study examined instruction for one year at 23 schools (equally divided among elementary, middle, and high schools) with emphasis on six valued outcomes: (1) authentic pedagogy and authentic academic performance; (2) equity for students; (3) empowerment of teachers, parents, and principals; (4) sense of community among staff and students; (5) reflective professional dialogue; and (6) accountability. The study found that schools varied substantially in their success on standards for authentic pedagogy. Overall, pedagogy was rarely rated at the higher levels of the study's standard indicating that the promotion of authentic teaching is enormously difficult. Authentic pedagogy did appear to improve authentic academic performance for all students in mathematics and social studies. Finally, student achievement was reasonably equitable across gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. (Contains 44 references.) (JB)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Accountability, Active Learning, Educational Quality, Elementary Schools, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education, Experiential Learning, High Schools, Instruction, Middle Schools, Performance Based Assessment, School Restructuring, Standards, Teaching Methods
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools, Madison, WI.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Francisco, CA, April 18-22, 1995).