Anna Rosefsky Saavedra and Amie Rapaport, writing for Kappan:
"Our research has demonstrated that inquiry-based learning can be intellectually rigorous and cover a sufficient breadth of content and skills. Students learning through these approaches outperform comparison students on meaningful outcomes, including probability of high school graduation and AP scores."
They do a nice job summarizing implementation challenges inherent in project-based teaching and learning:
On the struggle of integrating PBL in traditional settings:
"In studies of PBL instruction that was not schoolwide, teachers struggled as the only adult in the building using the approach... For a student immersed in a traditional school, a PBL classroom can feel new, different, and unfamiliar."
On the tension between project depth and curriculum breadth:
"PBL requires students to spend a lot of time deeply exploring fewer content areas... This requirement can be in tension with the need to teach the breadth of content and skills in district and state learning standards."
On the financial and resource challenges of adopting PBL:
"Teaching PBL well requires materials and professional learning support that can be costly for schools and districts... These costs add up and can make transitioning to PBL a costly budget item for schools and districts that may already be strapped for cash."
They do an equally nice job of summarizing potential solutions and insights related to those challenges:
On the importance of patience and support for educators:
"Transitioning to effective implementation of PBL requires patience because pedagogical skills and culture take time to evolve... Educators, particularly those new to PBL, struggle."
On aligning PBL with standardized assessments:
"The IB Diploma Programme’s approach to assessment helps teachers overcome this barrier... students will have the choice on the exam to address questions related to those areas without being required to delve into others."
On leveraging open access resources and professional development:
"Many curriculum resources are open access... Even when the resources are free, professional learning workshops and coaches have costs, as does providing teachers with the time for extra course planning and professional learning community meetings."
They advocate for whole-school implementation of PBL as it addresses many of the challenges revealed in their research, such as the misalignment between different teaching methods and the need for a unified school culture that supports inquiry-based learning. They also emphasize the importance of district-level investment and support. This includes providing adequate resources, professional development for teachers, and the alignment of assessments with PBL methods to ensure that they measure the broad range of skills and knowledge that students gain.
The overarching message is that with support at both the school and district levels, the implementation of PBL can lead to transformative educational outcomes, fostering students who are not only academically successful but also adept at critical thinking, collaboration, and lifelong learning.
In my experience, that checks out and could easily be applied more broadly than to just PBL.