Over the last 5 years there has been an increased demand for inquiry-based curriculum and instruction from parents, business and state education leaders, and school administrators .
In a 2014 NACE survey of 600 businesses, more than 90% of respondents identified the inquiry-based skills of creative problem solving and collaboration as the most sought after skills in applicants. Likewise, a P21 study showed that a near-unanimous 99% of the 800 voters polled agreed that the types of skills developed in inquiry-based learning are crucial for our country’s economic success. In a 2017 Gallup survey of over 2000 school administrators, 78% responded that inquiry-based learning was very important to student success after graduation.
In response to the increased demand for inquiry, existing curricula has been adapted to include opening questions, and new products have appeared that label themselves as inquiry-based. inquirED has defined the practice of Authentic Inquiry to ensure that our curriculum, and the instructional practices we support with our professional learning resources, are of the highest quality.
Authentic Inquiry occurs when content is intentionally-designed and instruction is student centered, following the practices outlined below.
