THE HISTORY OF THE CURRICULUM COOPERATIVE

The project to develop The Curriculum Cooperative originated as a response to the 1983 report “A Nation At Risk,” published by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. This report first brought to the American public’s attention how the K-12 educational system was not in a strong position to prepare the citizens and workers needed by the impending twenty-first century, particularly in math and science. Our country’s post-Sputnik improvements in education had petered out. The poor performance of inner city and rural public schools was apparent for all.

The foundations for The Curriculum Cooperative became the focus of Dr. Leighton’s doctoral work through the early 1990’s and subsequent on-site research and development in classrooms and educational organizations, from fourth grade teacher to the national level. This research focused on developing a coherent and practical model of classroom practice focused on the goal of higher-order thinking for all students. It would be grounded in learning theory, an umbrella term for the cognitive theory, developmental psychology, epistemology, neurology, and educational research that is relevant to classroom practice. And it must be effective for all teachers of all students. While maintaining the focus on developing a program that would be practical and effective in the neediest classrooms, it was apparent that any such program would greatly benefit all teachers and all students.

Nearly thirty years have passed since “A Nation At Risk” was hailed as a wake-up call to our nation to prepare all of our youth for the jobs of the twenty-first century. Since then there have been many, many more studies that have come to many of the same conclusions. The problem seems intractable. The social and economic problems and associated goals for improvement detailed by the many reports have not much changed over the past 30 years. We never quite seem to approach the goals. American society and the American economy need citizens and workers who are analytical, who are flexible in their skills and abilities and are comfortable with constant change, who are entrepreneurial and innovative, who enjoy the challenge of competition. Yet few graduating high school seniors seem to fit this description, now or in the past.

The Curriculum Cooperative is the product of twenty-five years of post-doctoral, on-site research in classrooms from fourth grade to AP physics, in eight different public and charter schools, in school administration offices, at a national educational think-tank working with the State and National educational establishments. Classroom research has been the emphasis all along in the belief that the nation’s education problem will be solved in the classroom, where the teaching and learning takes plac.

The challenge of teaching higher-order thinking to all students is fundamental: The problem lies under the hood, with the theoretical models that drive classroom practice, usually unseen and unacknowledged, like the engine under the hood. The research behind The Curriculum Cooperative began by seeking out such fundamental problems and attempting to explain the incremental and costly improvements in student higher-order learning such as we have anguished over for decades.

Classroom practice today is largely based on a model of learning that cannot deliver higher-order learning other than accidentally or incidentally. The higher-order learning that society is ardently looking for and that teachers strive for is crippled by a model designed to educate last century’s students. Engine work is expensive and dirty in education as in automotive repair. But if you want to make this car really go, then you need to begin with the engine. It has taken these years to identify the problem, build a theoretical model that could both explain the past frustrations as well as the few successes at teaching higher-order thinking, make testable predictions about what could improve learning, test those predictions in classrooms across the K-12 spectrum, and then create a tool to allow any teacher in any classroom of any mix of students to begin teaching their students, regardless of skill levels, to explain, problem solve, think critically and/or make considered decisions. It’s the tool that will make it happen.

The Curriculum Cooperative’s Library is designed to be such a tool. Like any tool, it is generic. It is designed to allow teachers to attain lofty intellectual heights with their students, but it can also be used to teach as presently doing. The Library accommodates all dimensions - it is inclusive of all present practices and models, but extends them into a third dimension to provide the substance and power to truly teach and learn higher order thinking.

Tools are for the purposes of the user. The teacher can grow comfortable with the Library, using it for lesson materials much as they would use any other source of materials, including textbooks. But the shape of the tool also shapes its use. The Library’s cataloging is shaped so that teachers will find themselves following the slope of the land towards lessons that teach to higher-order thinking. Classroom practice will change as teachers, one by one, exploring possibilities with their new tool, see their students respond to good lessons and move towards effective explanations, insightful problem solving, nuanced critique or balanced decisions.