MMSD Today

News and information for staff members and the Madison community

Vol. I No. 1 - November 18, 2005

About Effort

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For MMSD Today from the Teaching and Learning Department

The MMSD Educational Framework uses the word effort in a very particular way. In the ENGAGEMENT element, the Framework says that staff will address student engagement by

acting on the belief that the student's effort toward success is as important as aptitude; [and]
creating a school culture that evokes focused student effort.

In the LEARNING element, the Framework says that staff will address student learning by

acting on the belief that sustained and directed effort can yield high achievement.

Ideas about the importance of effort come from a convergence of theories in social development, social competence and cognitive development. They are rooted in the multiple definitions of the construct of intelligence.

Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center, and Sharon Nelson-Le Gall, University of Illinois, argue for a view of intelligence that suggests that our schools can increase student's cognitive skills and knowledge by teaching them how to make their effort effective by engaging in strategic learning behaviors.

Following are examples of strategic learning behaviors:

testing one's understanding
developing arguments and explanations
providing justifications
following discipline-appropriate standards of evidence and reasoning.

Schools must do more than teach and must expect students to use these productive learning behaviors. In schools where students are most likely to actually put forth effective effort:

expectations of accomplishment are high and clear;
academic tasks and activities are rigorous;
students understand the criteria for evaluation and are often asked to evaluate themselves;
students receive clear feedback about how they are progressing toward a standard of accomplishment;
authority and responsibility are distributed in the classroom;
students' capacity to engage in the strategic learning behaviors are communicated explicitly and implicitly.

There is mounting evidence from research in cognitive science and social psychology to support the idea that people can become more intelligent through sustained and targeted effort. In other words, intelligence isn't fixed; people can get smarter, and research tells us how to help students get smarter.

About Effort

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