Cornell Note System Helping Boost Brookfield East Performance

The transition from high school to college has always challenged students. That’s why Principal Dan Pavletich and the faculty at Brookfield East incorporated the Cornell note-taking strategy six years ago into their daily curriculum.

“We as a staff tried to think of a way to get students to think more critically about the topics we were teaching,” Pavletich said. That’s when they agreed on  the Cornell note taking idea.

“There have been countless studies done showing that there are benefits in using this system,” Pavletich said.

How it works

Cornell note taking — developed by Cornell University professor in the 1950s — is a three-part process. The students divide their paper into three separate portions (see photograph). Within the first section, students write down key points and terms that they hear throughout the lecture. In the second portion, the students write down questions that they have or would ask people who are learning about the process.

Matt Schroeder, a teacher in the Spartan Resource Center and member of the Advancement Via Individual Determinations (AVID) program, feels as though this step is key to understanding the topic.

“Inquiry is at the root of learning,” Schroeder said. “If you can ask good questions, you’re doing a great job of understanding the material.”

The final section of Cornell notes is the summary. In this section, students take all the things they have learned and craft a summary. Schroeder is just one of many teachers who has seen the benefits in his classroom over the years.

“When you're teaching a class that meets every other day, you might teach something and not have your test on it for another week,” Schroeder said. “Cornell notes makes students look at the material at least five times in between the day the learned the material and the test.”

Test scores climb

In the last four years, Brookfield East’s ACT have gradually risen from 24.5 in 2008-2009 to 25.7 in 2011-12. The 2011-12 scores were the highest in school history.

“Cornell notes are not the sole reason for these test scores, but it’s part of the equation,” Pavletich said. 

It’s not just the students who have to buy into the system. Freshmen parents are introduced to the program during a presentation given at the beginning of the year. This way, parents, students, and faculty are all on the same page.

With this type of system installed, Pavletich feels as though he and his staff have given the students all they can to succeed in their post-high school lives.

“We help our students fill up their intellectual backpacks while they are here,” Pavletich said.