Dr. Karin Hess, an educational researcher, observes that schools everywhere are under pressure to accelerate improvement and demonstrate measurable results. According to Dr. Hess, that urgency has led many systems to focus on the wrong starting point.
Drawing on more than four decades of work in curriculum, assessment, and educational research, Dr. Hess believes schools often concentrate on remediation and testing outcomes before addressing the factor that makes meaningful learning possible: engagement. Her argument is straightforward. Students learn first, perform later. Reverse that sequence, and schools risk chasing indicators instead of developing a deeper understanding.
"I often think it's what schools get wrong," Dr. Hess says. "They're trying to increase test scores, but they should be focusing on increasing learning. As a result, most students will do fine on tests."
The premise sits at the heart of Dr. Hess's work, which has influenced educators internationally through the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix, a framework for deeper learning. Her research integrates cognitive science, learning progressions, and performance-based assessment into practical strategies that educators can apply daily in classrooms.
Dr. Hess argues that many school improvement efforts begin by trying to change student behaviors and attitudes about learning. "Student behaviors will only change after students have made a personal investment in the learning," she says.
Cognitive science describes learning unfolding in three stages. Personal engagement comes first, where students connect new ideas to something familiar, relevant, or intriguing. Cognitive engagement follows as students reason, question, apply knowledge, and explore ideas more deeply. Behavioral changes emerge naturally because students become invested in the learning process.
Dr. Hess explains, "You don't get to skip past the personal engagement piece. If we begin the learning process by hooking kids on a personal level, and have them connect what they already know to new learning, then they are ready to cognitively engage at a deeper level. This, in turn, will affect changes in their learning attitudes and behaviors."
Research on motivation and learning reinforces this view. Dr. Hess frequently points to the role of curiosity in sustaining attention and retention. Students who find meaning in what they are learning are more likely to persist and develop lasting understanding.
Many schools, however, continue to rely heavily on external incentives. Grades, rewards, and consequences may influence short-term actions, but Dr. Hess believes they rarely create the kind of intellectual investment and ownership that leads to deep learning.
"We tend to want a quick fix. We use extrinsic rather than intrinsic motivation. For example, teachers should be asking, how can I make you love science the way I love science? How can I spark your curiosity and interest instead of simply looking for a correct answer? In other words, how can I be a mentor to you rather than a tormentor?" she says.
The conversation becomes particularly important when discussing rigor, a concept Dr. Hess believes is widely misunderstood by parents and educators.
For years, rigor has often been associated with harder content, heavier workloads, or increased academic demands. Dr. Hess challenges that interpretation. She argues that genuine cognitive rigor comes from the thinking students are asked to do - how deeply students engage with the content, not how much content they can memorize.
"It's not hard, it's not fast, it's not more," she says. "Cognitive rigor is seeing multiple perspectives, seeing how you can use things in multiple ways to solve problems, or applying things in new situations."
The Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix was developed to help educators move past memorization and recall toward application, analysis, reasoning, and learning transfer. Dr. Hess' other tools integrate with the framework to help teachers design learning experiences that require students to think critically, not simply recall information.
Assessment also plays a central role in Dr. Hess's philosophy. She believes schools gain a more accurate picture of learning when students demonstrate understanding through performance, application, and problem-solving rather than solely through recall-based measures.
"If we're designing assessments that ask kids to do, apply, and transfer their learning, then they're going to do fine on any test that a state or province can give them," she says.
In her view, changing direction does not require schools to abandon existing curriculum or purchase entirely new programs. Dr. Hess advocates for a more thoughtful use of current resources, paired with a shared understanding of what deeper learning actually looks like. "You don't have to go buy new library books or a new math program," she says. "You need to think about how this lesson is really going to deepen understanding."
School culture ultimately determines whether these efforts take hold. Dr. Hess encourages leaders to support classroom strategies where students can exchange and explore multiple viewpoints openly and take intellectual risks without fear of failure.
"We actually have to get kids talking to each other, sharing their reasoning and their thinking. They don't need to hear my reasoning. I need to hear their reasoning," she states.
Despite the scale of the challenge, Dr. Hess remains optimistic. She continues to support schools around the world with her books, workshops, videos, and professional learning resources to help educators recognize that deeper learning is an achievable goal for every student. Her message is that meaningful improvement comes through persistent commitment and a willingness to re-examine long-held assumptions about teaching and learning.
She remarks, "It's hard work, but it's not hard to do. It just takes investment of time and a collaborative effort." For school leaders searching for stronger outcomes, Dr. Hess offers a reminder that progress ultimately starts when students become genuinely engaged in driving their own learning.
