| Research on the impact
of CoRT tools in schools has been completed by Professor John Edwards
of the James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. The following
is a brief extract from some of this research which clearly demonstrates
the significant impact the teaching of CoRT can have across the
entire curriculum.
A major study began in North Queensland in 1987 which looked at
teaching a group of 12 year olds, in their last year of primary
school, all sixty lessons of the CoRT programme - two lessons a
week for thirty weeks. The teacher was helped to infuse the CoRT
thinking skills, once learned by the students, through all disciplines
of the curriculum.
The headmaster in particular referred to 9 lower ability students
in the class who had seldom contributed in class during their six
years in the school:
“It's marvellous. Not just a minor miracle
to change that sort of behaviour, six years or more of habit forming
and then in eight months to change it to: 'I have something to contribute”.
“I was thrilled ... they were certainly startling
and outstanding.”
Proportion of Students Above the Mean
| National |
Norm |
School Norm |
CoRT Group |
| Test A |
31% |
39.5% |
52% |
| Test B |
31% |
31.2% |
48% |
| Test C |
31% |
24.8% |
52% |
| Test D |
31% |
42.8% |
62.4% |
| Test E |
31% |
35.8% |
50% |
(Test A - Test of learning abilities, Test B - Study skills, Test
C - Mathematics skills, Test D - Language vocabulary, Test E - Language
comprehension)
Feedback from the children was also positive, with the majority
reporting big improvements in their thinking and self-confidence,
and many reporting wide use of CoRT skills across the curriculum
and in their everyday life. These students completed their secondary
education in 1992. In the state of Queensland all students are given
an overall level of achievement, based on school ratings moderated
through a state-wide set of standardised tests. The scores allocated
to students range from a high of 1 to a low of 25. The CoRT trained
group had a mean score of 10, compared with a mean of 15 for the
other students in the school. A score of 15 would not get you into
university, a 12 would get you into further education. Most parents
in the state would kill for a one point jump in Overall Performance
score. These results reinforce the obvious potential of programmes
such as CoRT for improving the thinking of students, particularly
if the skills are infused broadly through the curriculum and reinforced
once learnt.
Excerpts from “Research and Realities
in Teaching and Learning”
by Dr John Edwards, Associate Professor of Education,
James Cook University of North Queensland.
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