Teaching Profession Report Roundup

Deans Map Out Learning-Science Agenda

By Stephen Sawchuk — September 29, 2015 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A group of education school deans hoping to spur improvements in teacher preparation last week announced their first major initiative: to improve aspiring teachers’ knowledge of how and why students learn.

A paper released by the Deans for Impact summarizes the research on learning science and identifies six questions teachers should grapple with. They are:

• How do students understand new ideas?

• How do students learn and retain new information?

• How do students solve problems?

• How does learning transfer to new situations in or outside the classroom?

• What motivates children to learn?

• What are common misconceptions about how students think and learn?

Those principles have a lot of implications for pedagogy. For example, on transferring learning, a teacher ought to know that alternating concrete examples like word problems with abstract representations, like mathematical formulas, can help students understand the underlying structure of problems.

The 24 members of the Deans for Impact drafted the paper in collaboration with Daniel Willingham, a University of Virginia cognitive psychologist, and Paul Bruno, a former middle school teacher and education policy student at the University of Southern California. The first three member programs set to translate the principles into teacher-preparation curricula are the Relay Graduate School of Education, the Boston Teacher Residency, and Temple University’s College of Education.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 30, 2015 edition of Education Week as Deans Map Out Learning-Science Agenda

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Mathematics Webinar How to Build Students’ Confidence in Math
Learn practical tips to build confident mathematicians in our webinar.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Explainer Teacher Pay, Explained: Salary, Benefits, and Pensions
Learn how teachers are compensated, and the role that states and districts play in setting pay.
Illustration concept of chalkboard with a money symbol drawn and in the background are a people that represent teachers and administrators.
Liz Yap/Education Week and iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Teachers, This Newsletter Is for You
EdWeek's Teacher Update is an email you'll actually want to read.
1 min read
A teacher reads a story to her prekindergarten students at UCLA Community School.
A teacher reads a story to her prekindergarten students at UCLA Community School.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Teaching Profession Movement Breaks Aren’t Just for Kids—Teachers Need Them Too
Teachers who integrate movement into their daily routines can enhance their well-being and effectiveness.
4 min read
Teacher Jazzmyne Townsend works with students during a small group reading lesson at Stanton Elementary School in Washington, D.C., on April 3, 2025.
Teacher Jazzmyne Townsend works with students during a small group reading lesson at Stanton Elementary School in the District of Columbia on April 3, 2025.
Richard Pierrin for Education Week
Teaching Profession Opinion Teach For America's Outgoing CEO Reflects on Her Tenure
How changes to the education and political landscape have affected the organization since its founding 35 years ago.
9 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week