HISTORY OF PROJECT CRISS

Project CRISS started as an action research project conducted by a group of secondary content teachers interested in identifying classroom practices that truly make an impact on student learning. These teachers, led by reading specialist and IRA past president Dr. Carol Santa, scoured the available research on learning (in the fields of education, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience) and tested theories in their classrooms. Those practices which worked became the foundation of Project CRISS. Their early successes garnered recognition and grant awards first in Montana, and then nationally through the U.S. Department of Education National Diffusion Network. As their work spread across the United States, education practitioners contributed their expertise to develop the pedagogical frameworks for CRISS, the toolbox of powerful learning strategies, and the workshops which evolved into the Introduction to Project CRISS workshop (Level I). The original development leaders, Dr. Santa and science and math teacher Lynn Havens, established Project CRISS as a national professional development initiative and private business in 2001. Now in its 4th edition (2012), Project CRISS offers high quality, practical professional development and an array of support materials and curricula for teaching and learning across the United States, Canada, and countries throughout the world.