Dive Brief:

• As Common Core standards push students to ask deeper, more complex questions about texts, some districts are beginning to focus on teacher training that builds educators’ ability to ask critical questions, as well.
• The shift to close-reading is one of the key tenets of the new standards in English but requires a considerable shift on the part of educators. Research has found that most questions from teachers focus on surface-level issues like grammar.
• So programs in places like Pittsburgh, PA, and California's Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District are focusing on getting teachers to ask questions that spur discussion and incorporate multiple kinds of texts.

Dive Insight:

Studies have found that surface-level questioning did not help students gain a deeper understanding or more ability to translate what they know from text to text or class to class. By contrast, a pilot in Pittsburgh that pushed for more open-ended and complex questions helped English language learners in particular make gains in comprehension.

But the shift can be challenging for both students and teachers. A California teacher said that the first time the new style is implemented in classrooms, it’s often greeted by “crickets.”

“It's not that [the students] thought nothing, but they were scared. ... You could see they were thinking, 'You're not supposed to ask me, you're supposed to tell me the answer is C,’" she told Education Week.

Recommended Reading

Education Week: The Common Core Raises Questions About Teachers' Questioning Skills