Case Studies
The following Case Studies are part of the Thinking Foundations collaboration with schools and school districts for ongoing research.
Mckinley Elementary School
San Jose, California
November 2007
It is the intent of this study to examine the role of Thinking Maps® in the transformation on teacher effectiveness. In addition we will analyze how the use of the common visual language provided by Thinking Maps has facilitated teacher collaboration and communication within and across grade levels.
Go to the McKinley Elementary School Case Study
Learning Prep
West Newton, MA
December 2007
Since September 2002, student performance at this school has improved as demonstrated by an increase in vocabulary acquisition, concept attainment, an ability to make connections, and an ability to establish relationships. The students' overall learning process has been facilitated by the use of these visual tools. Using Thinking Maps, students have able to develop cognition and comprehension 
strategies in order that they may bridge the gap between current and projected abilities. As evidenced by the 2002 MACS Retest scores, Thinking Maps have proven to be an integral tool for students to retain and retrieve content, attain concepts, and forge connections. Teachers' fluency with Thinking Maps is tracked as well, to ensure that students are receiving the maximum benefit possible.
Go to the Learning Prep School Case Study
Roosevelt Elementary School: A First Language for Thinking in a Multilingual School
Long Beach, CA
My intent as the instructional leader of Roosevelt School [Stefanie R. Holzman, Ed.D.] was initially isolated on these tools for a direct and immediate impact on student performance. What I didn't realize and could not foresee were the deeper effects upon the development of teachers across our year-round, multitrack school as a result of the use of Thinking Maps in their classrooms. Read about Roosevelt Elementary School including video clips and test data.
Go to the Roosevelt Elementary School Case Study
Visualizing Thought Process Helps Students Transition to High School
David Hyerle, Ed.D. completed graduate work at U.C. Berkeley and Harvard Graduate School of Education to investigate learning tools. As a Scholar in Residence at Plymouth State College, Dr. Hyerle consulted with Plymouth High School on the exhibit. The two video clips on the Apple Teaching Practice online professional development website are part of the online exhibit. David reflects on Thinking Maps® as a tool for transition, and speaks about Thinking Maps and self reflection.
Go to the Apple Teaching Practice website to read and watch the case study.
Mt. Airy Elementary School
Mt. Airy, Maryland
Topics to be discussed:
- linking reading text structure research to cognitive patters
- results from first graders' fluency with Thinking Maps®
- multiple Thinking Maps® applied to phonics, vocabulary and reading comprehension
While I am reading, my mind adds Thinking Maps all by itself, and suddenly I know more than I knew!
(student in Cristina Smith's first-grade class, Mr. Airy School, Maryland)
At Mt. Airy Elementary School, in a classroom of first-grade studetnts, on a morning in mid-May, we watched as a third-year teacher read the guiding question for the day: "how will you organize your thinking about this book?" While this may seem to be an unfocused question, the teacher knew the students could meaningfully respond. The book, How Leo Learned to Be King, rested on the chalkboard tray with its colorful picture of a crowned lion on the cover, set there after it had been read aloud the day before. This is an inclusive classroom of students in a modest suburban neighborhood school, a school that had experienced a 15% decline in writing scores over the previous two years and mediocre reading scores as the population swelled beyond the original building and into portables.
Go to the Mt. Airy Elementary School Case Study