John Hattie - Why Are So Many Of Our Teachers And Schools So Successful?

I wanted to sit on this until the holidays were finished to make sure that people noticed.  I’ve spoke about John Hattie on several occasions on this blog.  Simply put, Hattie has done more research into the factors that can lead to student achievement than any other scholar.  He is someone that we should all listen to, and many people around the world do.  For some unknown reason, he is almost unheard of in the United States.  I say for some unknown reason, but I think I know the reason…

You see, Hattie’s research is clearly at odds with the dominant narrative of educational reformers in the United States.  As Hattie indicated in this Sweden-based TEDx Talk, the structure of schools, whether we have charter schools or not, whether schools are run by for profit or non-profit – all of the things that educational reformers in the United States promote – have little impact on student achievement.  He goes as far as saying that we need to take all of these policymakers and ideologues, and have them leave the room so we can talk about things that actually matter when it comes to student achievement.

If you’re not familiar with Hattie’s larger body of work, I would recommend you review these two videos.

Visible Learning (Part 1) – Disasters and Below Average Methods	Visible Learning (Part 2) – Effective Methods

If you haven’t had enough, I would recommend this interview…

Or this keynote speech that he gave.

Now how to we get politicians and policymakers to pay attention to this kind of research, as opposed to the ideologically-biased stuff that dominants the American conversation?

Other entries I have posted above Hattie:

• Meandering Out Loud: “Visible Learning” And K-12 Online Learning
• Greatest Benefits Of K-12 Online Learning And Visible Learning
• Presentation: Visible Learning, Tomorrow’s Schools, The Mindsets That Make The Difference In Education – John Hattie
• Hattie Speaks On Visible Learning