THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION
3003 N. Charles Street, Suite 100
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-3843
Phone: (410) 516-7160 / Fax (410) 516-5251
February 18, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Leslie Rice [email protected]
HOPKINS RELEASES RESULTS OF "CORE KNOWLEDGE" STUDY School reform model based on E.D. Hirsch's cultural literacy theory fares well
Johns Hopkins University education researchers will release this week the first comprehensive, nationwide study of the Core Knowledge Sequence, a whole-school reform model based on E.D. Hirsch's book "Cultural Literacy." The Core Knowledge Sequence is being implemented in over 800 elementary schools around the nation.
The three-year study of 12 representative schools, authored by Samuel Stringfield, Amanda Datnow, Geoffrey Borman, and Laura Rachuba of the Hopkins Center for Social Organization of Schools, was generally positive about the program, although the authors found limited effects on Core Knowledge students' standardized test scores.
Core Knowledge, created by University of Virginia English professor E.D. Hirsch Jr., author of several best-selling books including "The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them," has gained increasing media interest and popularity since it was first piloted in a Florida elementary school in 1990.
The curriculum is based on Hirsch's thesis presented in "Cultural Literacy." According to the book, "to be able to function and prosper in society, one must possess the background knowledge that literate writers and speakers assume their audiences already share. Those who know it are culturally literate; the opportunities of a free society are open to them. Schools that neglect to impart this core knowledge leave their students seriously deprived and our democracy weakened."
Expanding upon this thesis, Hirsch and a multi-cultural advisory board of scholars and experts created a grade-by-grade elementary school curriculum that includes topics in language arts, history, geography, math, science and fine arts.
Among the findings in the three-year study, Hopkins researchers found:
o Nine of the 12 schools reached moderate or high levels of implementation by the end of the three-year study. Multilevel support for change and fiscal resources were required for Core Knowledge to be successfully implemented. Core Knowledge was not effectively implemented in two school sites experiencing serious difficulties with school climate and student discipline.
o There were consistent relationships between improved implementation of the Core Knowledge Sequence and improved test scores.
o Core Knowledge students' standardized tests scores were about the same as, or slightly better than, demographically matched control students' scores.
o Students in Core Knowledge schools, however, scored significantly higher than students in control schools on the Core Knowledge tests. Though this is not surprising because Core Knowledge students were taught in Core Knowledge content while control schools were not, tests indicate Core Knowledge students are retaining that knowledge.
o The Core Knowledge Sequence consistently contributed to increased curricular coordination and more content-rich instruction for students.
o Core Knowledge teachers used a diversity of instructional approaches, including hands-on activities.
o Teachers reported increased professional satisfaction, even though they indicated the program was work-intensive.
"If one chooses to gauge the success of Core Knowledge based on outcomes from traditional, basic-skills tests, then the reform may be viewed as moderately effective," said Hopkins' Geoffrey Borman. "However, if you choose to judge it in terms of its impacts on teachers' professional lives and its effects on students' knowledge of advanced topics, then this study suggests that the reform is an unequivocal success."
Reporters: For a copy or an abstract of the 145-page study, please call Leslie Rice of the Johns Hopkins University Office of News and Information at (410) 516-7160.
###
RSS