Once primarily a military term, the word “strategy” is now widely used in education. In the last decade or so we've heard about teaching strategies—such as cooperative learning and reciprocal teaching. We've found that successful students have a repertoire of learning strategies—and that, under the right conditions, other students can acquire them. Many educators have participated in strategic planning for a school system, university, or other institution. We at ASCD have a new strategic plan, as do a number of ASCD affiliates.
It's good to be strategic. If you have a strategy, you know what you want to do and how you intend to do it. You're not just drifting or responding to crises; you're in charge. The word is used in many ways, but generally implies examining alternatives and thoughtfully choosing a course of action most likely to achieve your objectives.
For example, Susan Baum, Joe Renzulli, and Thomas Hébert (p.48) tell how a group of high-ability, low-achieving junior high students showed remarkable improvement when they undertook enrichment projects on topics they were interested in. Jeanette Hartman and her co-authors (p. 46) report impressive results from a similar approach at Fort Pitt, an elementary school in urban Pittsburgh. Steven Wolk (p. 42) explains how he uses a project approach with his 5th grade students—and reminds us that project-based learning goes back at least as far asWilliam Heard Kilpatrick, who wrote about it 70 years ago.
A fascinating variation of the project approach is problem-based learning, pioneered in medical schools but now being tested in elementary and secondary schools. In problem-based learning, students acquire needed knowledge and skills indirectly as they go about solving a series of realistic problems. Joan Savoie and Andrew Hughes (p. 54) tried it with a difficult group of 9th graders and were more than satisfied with the results.
Another intriguing strategy is what some call “experiential education.” Paul Herdman (p. 15) tells about taking high school students from New York City on camping trips in the Catskill mountains, where they learned self-respect and teamwork by scaling rock walls. The characteristics of Outward Bound are at the heart of Expeditionary Learning, another variation of the project approach which, as Leah Rugen and Scott Hartl (p. 20) explain, is being tested in 11 schools under sponsorship of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC).
Some programs, such as Roots and Wings, described in this issue by Robert Slavin and his co-authors (p. 10), are designed to multiply the power of strategies by bundling a group of them together. Roots and Wings, also a NASDC model, incorporates Success for All, which itself is a compendium of techniques (such as one-to-one tutoring) for which Slavin and his colleagues found the strongest research evidence.
Of course there are more traditional strategies as well. But the more we know about the learning process, the less sense it makes to stick with “read the next chapter and answer the questions.” If we want more students to succeed, we must use more imaginative methods.
Not all educators are in a position to adopt comprehensive approaches like Roots and Wings in their classrooms tomorrow. Anyone, though, can seek out and begin to use strategies that other professionals have found to be effective—and in doing so, become more strategic.
