Advances in Cognitive Psychology Relevant to Education: Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

It is September 2012—let us take stock of the past 55 years in the field of education. In 1957–1958, the Soviet launching of Sputnik led to the National Defense Education Act and interest in teaching advanced math and science to all students. In 1983, a report entitled “A Nation at Risk” was released and caused widespread panic about our failing education system. In 2001, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act ushered in a new era of standardized testing and accountability. And today, states are being granted “waivers” from specific provisions of NCLB to provide increased flexibility in the hopes of drastically improving educational outcomes around the country. Currently, we are witnesses to profound educational “experimentation,” for example with charter schools, voucher programs, educational technology, new standards and assessments, revamped educator evaluations, and the growth modeling and analysis of student data. Year after year, decade after decade, we implement new initiatives for our nation's education system, yet we often fail to obtain significant improvements. In the current era of flexibility and experimentation, we have a golden opportunity as cognitive and educational scientists to take what we have learned over the course of at least 100 years about human learning and memory and apply it to the “real world” of education. Our research has drastic implications for education and by “giving our research away,” we could add an element of scientific rigor to the discussion of education, encourage tougher standards for teacher training and professional development programs, increase understanding of and decision making based on student data (rather than simply “the more data, the better”), and ultimately move toward a higher quality education system for our nation. In doing so, we may finally move away from a system in which educational practices are based on history and doctrine. Instead, I hope that someday, we will look to cognitive and educational research when we demand scientific rigor in education and seek evidencebased practices. As an initial step, this special issue of Educational Psychology Review “gives away” cognitive psychology research related to education. Each article included herein reviews recent advances in learning and memory research, and addresses the potential implementation of Educ Psychol Rev (2012) 24:353–354 DOI 10.1007/s10648-012-9212-0