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  • Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes
24 Sep 2014
Report

Evidence of Deeper Learning Outcomes

Findings From the Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes (Report 3 of 5)

Kristina Zeiser, James Taylor, Jordan Rickles, and Michael S. Garet, AIR
Michael Segeritz, Research Alliance for New York City Schools
The Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes examines how some schools have provided opportunities for students to acquire deeper learning skills and how these opportunities are related to student outcomes.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation defines deeper learning as “a set of competencies students must master in order to develop a keen understanding of academic content and apply their knowledge to problems in the classroom and on the job.” In the first of a series of reports about deeper learning, the authors provided a picture of the strategies and structures the adults in the sampled network schools used to foster deeper learning. In the second, they focused on the question of whether students who attended the selected network schools in the study experienced more opportunities to engage in deeper learning than would likely have been the case had they not attended the network schools.

In this third report, the focus is on whether students who attended selected network schools had higher educational outcomes than did their matched counterparts who attended similar non-network schools. In particular, there were two key questions:

  1. Did students who attended the selected network schools achieve better outcomes than would likely have been the case had they not attended the network schools? In particular, did they demonstrate improved outcomes in cognitive competencies, interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies, high school graduation, and postsecondary attendance, persistence, and selectivity?
  2. Were the impacts of attending a participating network high school similar for all students who attended these schools, or did certain subgroups of students (e.g., students with low and high levels of prior achievement) differentially benefit from attending these schools?
Key Takeaways
  1. On average, students who attended the network schools in the study achieved higher scores on the OECD PISA-Based Test for Schools (PBTS)—a test that assesses core content knowledge and complex problem-solving skills—than did similar students who attended non-network high schools.
  2. Students who attended participating network schools reported more positive interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes than students who attended non-network schools.
  3. Students who attended participating network schools were more likely to graduate from high school on time (within four years of entering Grade 9) than were students who attended non-network high schools.
  4. Students who attended participating network schools and non-network schools had similar rates of enrollment in postsecondary institutions overall. However, students who attended network schools were more likely to enroll in four-year institutions and in selective institutions.
  5. Although there were significant positive effects of attending a network school averaging across the pairs of network and non-network schools in our sample, for many outcomes—for example, PBTS mathematics scores—the effects of attending a network school varied significantly across individual pairs of schools.
  6. Attending a network school had similar benefits for students who entered high school with low achievement and for those who entered with high achievement, particularly for the test score and high school graduation outcomes. However, while attending a network school increased the postsecondary enrollment rate of students who entered high school with low achievement, it had no effect on the postsecondary enrollment rate of students who entered with high achievement.

Updated Findings Based on This Report

  • Brief: Graduation Advantage Persists for Students in Deeper Learning Network High Schools (March 2016)
  • Brief: Deeper Learning and College Enrollment - What Happens After High School? (August 2016)

 

Creative Commons License
Evidence of Deeper Learning Outcomes by Kristina Zeiser is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

PDF icon Report: Evidence of Deeper Learning Outcomes (PDF)
PDF icon Technical Appendix: Evidence of Deeper Learning Outcomes (PDF)

Related Projects

Project

Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes

AIR is studying the ways in which schools provide opportunities for students to acquire complex knowledge and deeper learning skills. Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the study examines the impact of these opportunities on how students develop five dimensions of deeper learning: mastery of core content, critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, communication skills, and independent learning skills.

Related Work

Students working together
17 Jul 2019
Spotlight

Spotlight on Deeper Learning

What do today’s students really need to learn in order to succeed, not only in the classroom but also later on in college, careers, and as engaged citizens? What role can deeper learning—“a set of competencies students must master in order to develop a keen understanding of academic content and apply their knowledge to problems in the classroom and on the job”—play?
24 Sep 2014
News Release

High School Students Receiving Instruction Focused on “Deeper Learning” Do Better in Math and English and Have Higher Graduation Rates than Their Peers

Students at high schools focusing on deeper learning had higher scores on standardized tests in mathematics and English, and higher graduation rates than their peers, according to a study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR). In conducting the Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, AIR researchers found positive effects on students from a wide range of deeper learning approaches.

Further Reading

  • Deeper Learning and College Attendance: What Happens After High School?
  • AIR Study Finds Persistent Graduation Advantage For Students in Deeper Learning Network High Schools
  • Providing Opportunities for Deeper Learning
  • Students in Deeper Learning Network High Schools Significantly More Likely to Enroll in College, AIR Study Finds
  • Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes
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Contact

Kristina Zeiser

Kristina Zeiser

Senior Researcher

Topic

Education

DEEPER LEARNING STUDY PUBLICATIONS

The Shape of Deeper Learning: Strategies, Structures, and Cultures in Deeper Learning Network High Schools

Providing Opportunities for Deeper Learning

Evidence of Deeper Learning Outcomes
Update: Graduation Advantage Persists for Students in Deeper Learning Network High Schools
Update: Deeper Learning and College Attendance: What Happens After High School?

Deeper Learning and Graduation: Is There a Relationship?

School Features and Student Opportunities for Deeper Learning: What Makes a Difference?
Brief: School Features and Student Opportunities for Deeper Learning What Makes a Difference?

RESEARCH. EVALUATION. APPLICATION. IMPACT.

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