Completed: An Evaluation of Teacher Training for Triarchic Instruction

Principal Investigators: R.J. Sternberg and E.L. Grigorenko
Project Coordinator: Linda Jarvin

Description: All children can learn better than they do now. One way to improve student learning is to teach them in a way that better responds to their diverse patterns of abilities than does most current instruction and assessment. The theoretical basis for the research is Sternberg's theory of successful intelligence. Our past research has shown that students taught for successful intelligence outperform students taught by alternative methods, such as teaching for memory or even teaching for critical thinking. But these studies were done on relatively small samples in relatively limited settings. The goal of this project is to upscale our previous findings, showing that they apply broadly. In this project, we will implement three forms of instruction—instruction primarily for successful intelligence, for critical thinking, and for memory—in fourth-grade classrooms across the United States. The implementations will be in language arts, mathematics, and science. The dependent variables will be achievement as measured for memory and for analytical, creative, and practical thinking. We will look at results separately for a variety of socioeconomic, ethnic, and other kinds of groups.

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
IRB Approval by: Yale University
Funding Period: Fall 1999 - Fall 2004
Award Amount: $3,022,986