Blog #3: Learning and Transfer and the PSSA

During a recent meeting with a concerned parent of a struggling eighth grade student, my team of teachers and I brainstormed strategies in which we could assist the student in learning and grasping information, an area in which she has historically experienced difficulty. As we shared our ideas and drafted accommodations, the language arts teacher’s comment surprised me. She stated that it takes twenty-six exposures for a student to commit a term to memory.

Following the meeting, I researched her statement. Although her fact was a bit off, I did find some validity to it. According to Paul Nation (1990), a concept must be introduced five to more than sixteen times before it is learned. This notion supports the Chase and Simon (1973) and Klausmeir (1985) findings cited in Bransford, Brown, and Cocking that it takes a substantial amount of time to learn, regardless of the talent level of the individual, especially if the application or meaning of the information is unapparent.

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and its impact on transfer of learning would be an interesting study. Students are tested annually in mathematics in grades 3-8 and 11 to determine their ability to transfer learning in one context (classroom) to another (standardized test) that shared similar characteristics (numbers and operations, measurement, geometry, algebraic concepts, and data analysis and probability). Thorndike and Woodworth (1901), as cited in Bransford, Brown, and Cocking would contend that success of the transfer is dependent upon the learning task and transfer task elements in terms of how well they match. Based on this research, the answer to the question of whether or not the teacher should “teach to the test” is an unequivocal “yes”. The greater the elements match, the greater the success of the transfer. Since transfer of learning typically occurs when a student applies previous knowledge to a new situation, there is a common thread between problem solving and transfer of learning.

Eighth students considered at grade-level in mathematics enroll in Algebra I. Prior to the PSSA, the curriculum did not include probability, geometry, measurement or data analysis. After No Child Left Behind, committees overhauled traditional Algebra I curricula to include a month-long review of tested mathematics concepts. As a result, current Algebra I students lose one month of pure algebraic study, or 10% of the Algebra course. The short-term effects include rushing through the final units and/or not getting to them at all. However, the long-term effects are staggering: These at grade-level students no longer have the opportunity to take Calculus as a senior in high school. Last year, the school district changed the course progression because high school teachers argued that the students were not completing earlier courses to the fullest extent, and therefore, lacked the necessary skills to successfully complete Calculus. High stakes testing interfered with higher level mathematics courses to the extent that an entire course has been removed from the sequence. Priorities, priorities, priorities!

Nation, I.S.P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.