Three Takeaways from Learning Science to Fix the Skills Gap

There has been a perceptible and unyielding shift over the past several decades: the competencies required on the path to success through college and into the workplace have changed, writ large.

No longer are well-paying jobs, steady jobs guaranteed to workers who only possess mastery in repeatable, administrative tasks.

While economists espouse a number of theories for what has caused the startling spike in income inequality, especially at the top levels of earners, what is clear is that our new “innovation economy” rewards highly-skilled, critical-thinking minded workers. MIT Economist David Autor notes “There’s never been a worse time to be a low-skilled worker in the developed world. You can imagine several reasons why that’s the case, but the increasing return on investment for skills and education is clearly one of them.”

So, if we know that education is the answer, and we know that a widening gap indicates not enough young people today are either seizing or receiving the education for today’s economy — the challenge in the United States becomes: What reforms can we bring to our educational system to ensure we are equipping the greatest possible number of students with the skills needed for future success?

One possible solution would be to divert more of the federal and state budgets toward education, perhaps channeling these funds to enable higher teacher salaries — to attract more talent to the field — or into poor communities, whose lack of resources put our black and latino students at a disproportionate disadvantage. But this scenario, unfortunately, runs up against complex political and financial realities.

Here at ThinkCERCA, we believe we can help students learn more effectively and flourish with the resources we already have. A recent EdWeek post outlining fundamental findings from the field of learning science can help us understand how:

1. Shift from summative assessments to formative assessments and mastery learning: Students in classrooms that focus on formative assessments- feedback- and mastery learning- not moving on to the next level of learning before mastering the previous- demonstrate a one-standard deviation improvement (roughly one letter grade) in learning gains versus those that only engaged in summative assessments (routine testing). Instead of the core emphasis in the classroom being on continuous testing, shift focus to problem-solving and written assignments in-class or as homework, immediate feedback, peer-to-peer review, and group discussion, and consider flipping your classroom to free up time for mastery learning, which has the advantage of decreasing workload at home.
2. Incorporate systems for individualized learning: In the prior study, students who, in addition to instruction focused on mastery learning and formative assessments, received individualized instruction from an expert human tutor saw a two standard deviation increase in learning gains. If resources allow, set up teacher or admin office hours to deliver individualized instruction to catch students up before starting the next lesson. Under the new guidelines in the Every Student Succeed Act, private tutoring companies will be held to higher standards, including performance in advanced coursework, so inform parents of the district-approved tutors where students can go to receive extra attention.
3. Spark courageous thinking: The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research found that the practice that delivers the greatest increase in English standardized test scores is when students, across all subject areas, write papers in which they form an opinion five or more times per month. Consistently deliver students readiness level appropriate content and ask them to form an opinion, cite evidence, use their own reasoning consistently and provide personalized feedback, and they will be more likely to develop the analytical and critical-thinking mindset and self-assurance required for success in their future high-skill careers.