Research
Thinking Maps® for Reading Minds
Click here (pdf file) to read excerpts from Chapter 6: A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools, (ASCD, 2000), by David Hyerle, Ed.D.
Research Highlights from Student Successes With Thinking Maps
Click here (pdf file) to download Research Highlights from Student Successes With Thinking Maps
Research On Thinking Maps®
Research About Thinking Maps®
Influential Books in the Field of Visual Tools
Cognitive Bridge to the Put Reading First Research
Research On Thinking Maps
Brunswick County Public Schools
"Although we realize that a combination of factors led to our success this past year, the entire staff believes that the use of Thinking Maps® played a critical role."
Cindy Scott, Assistant Principal.
Download the Acrobat PDF file to see the excellent gains since 1996.
Thinking Maps Test Scores Summary
This is a selected list of school results from several states around the country. All of the teachers in each of these schools and systems received comprehensive, cross-discipline training and classroom follow-up coaching for a minimum of one school year. The analysis and presentation of the test score results shown below were reported by administrators representing the schools or school systems in which the Thinking Maps were implemented. These results were submitted because they showed significant gains on the different test instruments used by the respective institutions. In all cases, the administrators have evidence that the results were directly related to the use of Thinking Maps by students. The scores are comparisons of results using state tests from year to year.
| School Description | Location | Test Instrument | Results |
| Margaret Fain Elementary/Title I |
Atlanta (Georgia) City Schools | Georgia State Test of Basic Skills | In 1996, reading scores rose from 29% to 69% in 1996; math scores rose from 32% to 63%. |
| Friendship Valley Elementary (suburban school) |
Carroll County, Maryland | MSPAP (Maryland School Performance Assessment Program) State Performance Assessment | Scores rose across all six areas assessed with large gains in writing (27%), language (20. 1 %), and science (18.2%). Friendship Valley scores were second highest in the whole state in 1996 and have continued to grow in recent years. |
| Windemere Elementary (suburban school) |
West Orange County, Florida | Florida Writes! State Assessment | Writing: Significant rise in combined writing scores (from 2.7 to 3.4) on a 6-point scale. Reading: For two years scores were level at 68% and rose to 80% after implementation of Thinking Maps in 1997. Math: For two years scores were level at about 79% and rose to 92% after implementation. |
| Carl Waitz Elementary/100% Title I |
Mission, Texas | Texas State: TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) | Reading: Rose from 62.7% to 88.2% in 1994. Math: Rose from 41.2% to 76.5%. Awards: Carl Waitz School was awarded a Texas Successful Schools excellence award for exceeding state standards, as well as a national Title I award for excellence. Waitz was also recognized by the Education Trust report as one of the few clear examples of minority and Title I students performing at high levels. |
| 23 Catawba County Schools |
North Carolina | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | Results and Awards: All schools in Catawba County were trained in Thinking Maps from 1993-98. Below are results from several of the pilot schools that showed significant growth over multiple years. Fourteen schools received "exemplary" status from the state, and five of these received the "Schools of Distinction" status. |
| Claremont Elementary |
North Carolina | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | Writing: From 1993-96, scores rose from 33% to 46% to 68% at the 4th grade level. |
| Tuttle Middle | Catawba County, North Carolina | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | Writing: From 1994-96, scores rose from 43.8% to 67.7% to 73% at the 8th grade level. |
| Chadbourne Elementary/Title I (rural) | Columbus County, Norht Carolina | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | Writing: From 1993-95, scores rose from 3 5. 1 % to 5 0.6% to 60.8%. Award: Chadbourne received a National Title I Award as one of the top 100 Title I schools in the United States in 1995; students were performing well above both the county and state averages. |
| Morrisville Elementary (year-round) | Wake County, North Carolina, Research Triangle | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | A very high performing school; from 1993-96 scores rose from 32.5 to 69.4% to 76%. Award: Morrisville was honored as one of Redbook's top 150 schools in the United States in 1995. |
| Brunswick County Schools/50% Title I | North Carolina | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | Results: A comprehensive, countywide implementation of Thinking Maps began in 1996, grades K-12. Two years of test scores show that there was significant growth in reading, writing, and mathematics scores from 3rd12th grades. |
| A. T. Allen Elementary | Cabarrus County, North Carolina | North Carolina State End-of-Year Tests | Reading: From 77% to 89% in 1998. Writing: From 29% to 77% in 1998. Math: 80% to 91% in 1998. |
Thinking Maps: The Cognitive Bridge to Literacy
A Visual Language for Bridging Reading Text Structures to Writing Prompts
By David Hyerle, Ed.D. and Thommasina DePinto Piercy, Ph.D.
A comprehensive book focused on the wide ranging applications of Thinking Maps, from preschool through college. The working title of this book of collected chapters from 15 authors is: Thinking Maps: A New Language for Learning.
Read one chapter - Acrobat PDF file
Research Summary
A compilation of a variety of research documenting the effectiveness of Thinking Maps® is available as an Acrobat PDF file.
Inviting Explicit Thinking: Thinking Maps Professional Development 2001
Masters Degree Thesis by Sarah Curtis
Antioch New England Graduate School, New Hampshire
Summary: Using interviews, teacher and student documents, and surveys, this study shows how Thinking Maps training and follow-up directly support teacher thinking and reflection
Integrating Thinking Maps into the Fourth Grade Curriculum 2001
Masters Project by Jeanine Matt-Kawryga
University of Syracuse, New York
Summary: After a brief overview, this work systematically shows how Thinking Maps have been used effectively in every discipline in fourth grade urban classrooms in Syracuse, NY
Are middle school students using Thinking Maps in Writing? 2000
Masters Project by Jennifer L. Hindman
The College of William and Mary, Virginia
Summary: This study showed that more than half of the 1,000 students used a visual tool during test taking; students need more than one year of use before internalizing these tools.
The Effects of Thinking Maps on Reading Scores 1998
Dissertation by Marjann Kalehoff Ball
University of Southern Mississippi
Summary: A highly significant correlation was found between the use of Thinking Maps and reading comprehension scores of college students using the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test.
The Effects of Thinking Maps on Reading Retention 1998
Masters Project by Melanie H. Blount
Catawba College, North Carolina
Summary: This results of this study indicate improvement in reading comprehension by underachieving 4th grade students in an inner city school.
Research About Thinking Maps
National Results from Implementing Thinking Maps®
See Appendix A of "A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools" page 134-136
Doctoral Dissertations on Thinking Maps®
Hyerle, D. "Thinking Maps for Multiple Modes of Understanding" Dissertation, U.C.Berkeley, 1993
Ball, M. K. (1999) . The effects of thinking maps on reading scores of traditional and nontraditional college students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
See Appendix B of "A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools" page 137-138
Reflections on This Dissertation
by Marjann Ball, Ed.D.
As an instructor of reading, study skills, and English for the past 19 years in a junior college, I have been confronted with difficulties of students in their processing of information. Their variances in reading abilities from the 4th grade upwards as well as in their range in A.C.T. scores add to the complexity of the problem. In spite of the disparity in abilities, a commonality exists between the students who can read well and those
who cannot: very few possess the thinking strategies necessary to process what they read. Some years back I tried various thinking skills approaches, but I discovered that there was very little transfer to reading across disciplines. Since I began using Thinking Maps seven years ago, my observations, testimonials from students, and my doctoral research have confirmed that my search for a vehicle to transfer and integrate thinking skills in all areas is over. My research confirmed what my experience showed: a highly significant correlation between the use of Thinking 
Maps and improved reading comprehension scores of my students (using a controlled, pre-post design and the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test; form G for pre-test, form H for post-test). see "Lesson Plans" Students who learn to use Thinking Maps in my reading and study skills course are continually bringing in examples of their applications. One "non-traditional" student, returning to college after 20 years in the work force was failing economics; he began using the maps to organize the voluminous material, and by the end of the semester he made an "A". A "traditional" nursing student was having difficulty remembering details in an anatomy course. She began using the Thinking Maps and software to organize the information: her scores on tests increased as well as her retention of the information later in the year. At the end of every semester I have students evaluate the course. Over the past three years (9 classes), between 85% to 90% of the students identified Thinking Maps as the most helpful tools for learning and transfer across their other classes.
Some of my students also elaborated with comments about the Thinking Maps, such as:
"Thinking Maps are the best strategy I have ever used to organize and help me recall information"
"The Thinking Maps allow me to see what I'm thinking and then reflect on what I thought"
"Why didn't we learn these in elementary school? Or on the job?"
"May I take these home to my children?"
Learning and the "Marzano 9"
Researchers at the Mid-continent Research for Educational Learning, led by Dr. Robert Marzano, have identified nine instructional strategies that are most likely to improve student achievement.
Read more - Acrobat PDF file
Influential Books in the Field of Visual Tools
Learning How to Learn (1984)
Joseph Novak and Bob Gowin
Cambridge University Press.
Patterns of Thinking (1991)
John Clarke
Needham Heights, MA
Allyn and Bacon
Maps, Mindscapes, and more (1993)
Nancy Margulies
Tucson, AZ: Zephyr Press
I See What You Mean (1995)
Steve Moline
York, ME: Stenhouse Press.
The Mind Map Book (1996)
Tony Buzan
New York: Plume/Penguin
A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools (2000)
David Hyerle
Alexandria, VA: ASCD
