Searching for educational gold
How do we know that what we do really works?
Cognition Education Group and Corwin are proud to present the Gold Paper Series, written in collaboration by Laureate Professor John Hattie and our very own Group Director, Education, Arran Hamilton.
In this series of publications, they discuss the critical questions and critiques of the Visible Learning™ research and provide a compass for finding “education gold” in student learning.
Read each of the Gold Papers to:
– Hear from thought leaders about best practices for measuring your impact on student learning.
– Reflect on your own strategies and tools to learn how to get closer to the gold of what works best in education.
– Gain a deeper understanding of the research methodology behind the mindset and movement of Visible Learning™.
Gold Paper Series
As Good as Gold?
Presenting the first publication in the Gold series, As Good as Gold?. If you are making decisions about investing in teacher professional development, student learning resources and technology, this paper will help you to decide whether it’s money well spent or an investment in pyrite.
Real Gold vs. Fool's Gold
Cognition Education is proud to present, with Corwin, the second publication in the series, Real Gold vs. Fool’s Gold. In this Gold Paper, the criticisms of Visible Learning™ are unpacked and explored, shedding light on the methods so that teachers, leaders, and policymakers can better understand the how and why of the research and what inferences can be made from it.
Gold Paper 3 Coming Soon
Gold Paper 4 Coming Soon
Michael Fullan
Professor Emeritus, OISE/Univeristy of Toronto
'John Hattie and Arran Hamilton are about to create another Gold Rush! Using a unique and exciting entry into the complex domain of Visible Learning, Hattie and Hamilton have created a series of short forays to find and clarify the ‘veins’ of gold that can enrich learning and its impact. The first two entries in the series are fantastic. The first one—“As Good As Gold”—shows us how we can find and leverage the best ideas for impacting learning—how to avoid false hopes and fruitless forays in favor of actions that matter for student learning. The second—“Real Gold vs. Fool’s Gold”—shows that we don’t have to take the gold prospector’s word. There are other ways of verifying if “there’s gold in them there hills’; Hattie and Hamilton get inside the critiques and enable the reader to traverse complex pathways and where they might lead.'
Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey
Professors of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University
On As Good as Gold?: “Strategic investment in the limited funds (estimated at 4%) available for products, resources, and in-service teacher professional learning is critical if schools are going to ensure learning for all students. Too often, educators use their instincts and personal experiences to make these decisions. To overcome this, educators would be wise to carefully consider what works best to accelerate learning. As Hattie and Hamilton note, there is “educational gold” out there, it’s just not in the form that many expect it. Rather, it can be found in the large-scale reviews of educational research, meta-analyses, that can point to influences that are more likely to ensure that teachers and schools achieve their aims. Imagine the possibilities for students when those making decisions actually consider evidence rather than their own cognitive biases.”
Jim Tucker
Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
'I've read many books and articles on change and systems change, but these are different. They offer a simple yet research-based approach to thinking through the change process, which has a wide range of applications.'
Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey
Professors of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University