CONTACT SITE MAP HOME APA ONLINE HOME The Other 3R's:Reasoning, Resilience, and Responsibility Project

Implementing the study

To conduct this study we designed the Other 3Rs training for teachers and compared it to a rigorous and well-researched instructional program on enhancing memory developed at Yale University. This comparison program was selected because it has been shown to be effective in increasing achievement of students at various grade levels.

Both the Other 3Rs and the Memory trainings were five sessions, 3 hours in length, and were conducted every 2 weeks from late October 2004 to the end of January 2005. Teachers learned skills and content that they then incorporated into their daily instruction.

The Other 3Rs training was designed with lessons that infused reasoning, resilience and responsibility into the already existing curriculum. The centerpiece of this training was a new problem-solving model that encourages students to reason well, be resilient in the face of challenges and take responsibility for their learning. Session 1 was an overview and introduction to the concepts as an academic and life skills model. In sessions 2 through 5 teachers practiced applying the Other 3Rs Problem Solving Model within two subject/interpersonal areas each session as follows:

Session 2 Mathematics Reading
Session 3 Mathematics Interpersonal
Session 4 Mathematics Science
Session 5 Mathematics Social Studies

Each session of the trainings included the same four components:
• Review and discussion
• Hands on practice
• Application
• Taking the lessons into the classroom

Who was involved?

A noteworthy feature of this project is that it was designed and implemented by a team of people representing a broad range of expertise including:

• Researchers on reasoning, resilience and responsibility
• Professional development experts
• Curriculum developers
• Teacher trainers
• Program implementation experts
• Design and evaluation consultants
• Elementary school teachers.

MCPS individuals played a key role in every step of the process from designing the curriculum, to teaching it, to successfully implementing the project.

Who Participated

Students

724 students participated. This number reflects a 91% participation rate from all students who received a parent permission slip. This is an exceptionally high student participation rate.

Race/ethnicity
  Sample breakdown MCPS total breakdown
White 33.9 %

44.6%

African American 23.2 %

22.1%

Hispanic   8.9 %

18.7%

Asian 11.0 %

14.3%

American Indian   2.9 %   0.3%
Alaska Native
Other

  0.4 %
19.9 %


Girls
Boys
386 (53.3%)
338 (46.7%)
Average age = 8.10

Race/ethnicity
White
African American
Asian American
Multiple races
Other
72.1%
11.6%
  7.0%
  7.0%
  2.3%
Gender
Female
Male
42 (97.7%)
  1 (2.3%)
Average years of teaching experience = 9.61
About the Other 3Rs
Project

Project Goals

Designing the Teacher Training

Implementing the Study

Illustrated Presentations

Project Results

Project Collaborators

Collaborator Biosketches

APA Staff for the project


Monitor Articles on The Other 3 Rs
Responsibility: one of the other three Rs (March 03)

The other three Rs: part two, reasoning (April 03)

The other three Rs: part three, resilience (May 03)

It's more than reading, writing and 'rithmetic (Oct 03)

White House conference draws on psychologists' expertise (Sep 02)

© 2008 American Psychological Association
The Other 3 R's: Reasoning, Resilience and Responsibility
Center for Psychology in Schools and Education
APA Education Directorate
750 First Street, NE • Washington, DC • 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5947• TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123 • Email
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