Nudging toward Inquiry. When Research Is Part of the Test

The "Nudging Toward Inquiry” column offers practical strategies for amping up your instructional practice. This year, I’m fielding tough questions about inquiry-oriented practice and the Common Core State Standards.

I love doing research with students, and I know it’s an important college skill for my students. The teachers know that too, but they are so worried about standardized tests that they tell me they don’t have time. What can I do?

Once upon a time, student test scores were meant to reflect student performance. Today, in many states, student growth in test scores determines whether a teacher will keep his job. Those potential consequences pose significant challenges for teachers who struggle to balance political pressures with what they know is best for kids.

If test performance is what drives lesson planning, the CCSS gives you a new point of entry for bringing research projects to kids. Research skills in grades three and up will be incorporated into standardized testing in a performance task designed to replicate authentic research skills and situations, and research standards show up in the standards themselves beginning in kindergarten.

Most CCSS states are divided into one of two testing consortia: the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, better know as PARCC (http://www.parcconline.org/), and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium or SBAC (http://www.smarterbalanced.org/). Each of these consortia is planning both traditional bubble test questions and performance tasks… and one of those tasks will be research and writing. Aha—perfect!

It is curious that this component has not received more attention among educators. Perhaps that is because there is not a separate section in the English Language Arts (ELA) standards for research; it is intentionally distributed throughout the standards. As the Introduction to the ELA Standards states, “research and media skills are embedded throughout the Standards rather than treated in a separate section” (CCSSI 2010, 4). While many educators currently worry about informational text, you can get ahead of the game.

What can you do?

1. Schedule an appointment with your administrator. Show her the sample performance tasks (PARCC: http://www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes; SBAC: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/) and your list of the research-related standards from throughout the ELA Standards. Express your concern that research has not yet bubbled up as a building-level CCSS priority. Offer to take the lead in discussions and professional development (PD) with educators as they prepare research projects of varying size and scope.

2. Reach out directly to classroom teachers, who may not have skills in research in the digital age. If teachers don’t regularly stop by the library, take the expertise to them with PD and by creating single-page strategy sheets about high-impact CCSS requirements like these:

• Teaching Note-Taking (ex: W.3.8, W.4.8, W.5.8)
• Creating Source Lists (Bibliographies) (ex: W.4.8, W.5.8)
• Paraphrasing (ex: W.5.8, W.6.8, W.7.8, W.8.8)
• Evaluating Credibility (ex: W.6.8, W.7.8, W.8.8)
• Developing Research Questions (ex: W.8.7)
• Using Advanced Search Strategies (ex: W.9-10.8, W.11-12.8)

Post your strategy sheets online as well.

3. Share the links in the school newsletter, at parent-teacher conferences, or in PTA meetings. (Tweet your URL to @SLMonthly, too!)

By being ahead of the curve, you can minimize your colleagues’ angst for CCSS testing by maximizing students’ information literacy skills. Win-win!

Note: At the time of writing, many states were deciding whether or not to continue to support the SBAC or PARCC tests. Check your state department of education for the latest news.