Project CRISS is a solid foundation for research based instructional practice. The ten Project CRISS Principles together form  two powerful educational frameworks; a Framework for Learning, and a Framework for Teaching. Once the principles are internalized into everyday practice, they become the structural support for instructional practice. The common language and theory behind the principles naturally supports and sustains the implementation of other initiatives.

Theoretical Base: To enhance student learning, CRISS^sm employs several concepts, drawn from cognitive psychology. First, students must be able to integrate new information with prior knowledge. Second, students need to be actively involved in their own learning by discussing, writing, and organizing. And third, students must self-monitor to identify which strategies are the most effective for a given set of learning materials. These behaviors need to be taught by content teachers to maximize the acquisition of course information.

CRISS^sm strategies are designed to develop thoughtful and independent readers and learners. Fortunately, during the last 20 years, there has been explosive growth in understanding the processes, which lead to thoughtful readers. The following key principles drawn from this cognitive and social learning research lay the foundation for PROJECT CRISS^sm for the practical strategies that are found in the workshop and text.

Framework for Learning:

1. Good readers are metacognitive or aware of their own thinking. CRISS^sm provides students and teachers with many opportunities to make their learning public. Teachers model their own learning processes when introducing learning strategies. Students talk and write about learning through process conferences and discussions. When teachers and students share their cognitive secrets, they are more likely to internalize processes. They become more aware of how learning and comprehending takes place.
2. Background knowledge is a powerful determinant of reading comprehension. Readers interpret text based on their own background or prior knowledge. Researchers tell us that integrating new information with prior knowledge is at the heart of comprehension. The richer our background, the richer is our comprehension. The more we bring to any reading or learning situation, the more we can take away.
3. Purpose setting influences comprehension. Helping students identify reasons for reading, listening, or learning influences what they recall. It is important for students to use their metacognitive skills to assess their own learning. This relies on setting a comprehension goal. Initially the teacher will explicitly guide students as to the purpose. Over time providing students with the experience and then the opportunity to set the purpose for themselves is a way of helping them take ownership of their own learning.
4. Good readers are actively involved in making sense from their reading or learning opportunity. CRISS^sm strategies take the notion of the active learner to heart. Whenever we teach, we think about ways to actively involve our students. Moreover, thinking about active involvement has led to changes in our own conceptions about teaching. We aren't on stage very much, giving our lectures, or asking hundreds of questions. Instead, our students are far more engaged in their learning and in the process learn content more effectively.
5. Students need many opportunities to discuss with one another what they are learning. Conversations among communities of learners occur throughout the CRISS^sm project. Discussion is student rather than teacher centered. Most conversations occur among students. This is far different from other views of discussion where the teacher remains the authority figure with students reciting answers to teacher directed questions. Discussion is critical for developing higher level reading and learning skills and for refining understanding. CRISS^sm strategies create an environment for cultivating the exchange of ideas.
6. Students need many opportunities to write about what they are learning. Writing helps each of us make personal sense out of our reading. Each of us writes to understand. It is a way of knowing. If we can explain things to others and ourselves we can claim knowledge as our own. Writing forces organization. It helps us see clusters of information and hierarchies of ideas. It also helps us become metacognitive. Because it is such a powerful vehicle for learning and thinking, it is integrated into practically every component of the CRISS^sm project.
7. Good readers and writers have an intuitive understanding of the author's craft. They know how text structure aids comprehension. Good readers know different poetic forms as well as the structure of a math word problem. CRISS^sm strategies help students become aware of the author's craft. Students learn ways to get inside an "author's head" to determine an author's style of presentation. They can then use this knowledge as a basis for a variety of studying and writing strategies.
8. Good readers know a variety of ways to organize information for learning. The past thirty years of research in cognitive psychology has demonstrated that learning and memory depend upon organizing information. The more organized, the better remembered. Through the CRISS^sm project, students learn flexible ways to organize information from both narrative and expository text. These include main idea strategies such as power thinking, selective underlining, two column notes, and concept mapping. 

Framework for Teaching:

1. Students learn to become strategic when teachers teach these processes directly through explanation and modeling. Most students do not know how to learn. We have to show them how. When introducing a new strategy, we need to take the stage. We show, tell, model, demonstrate, and explain not only the content, but also the process of active learning. As the student becomes comfortable using the strategy, there is a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student.
2. Students come to understand (teaching for understanding) by attacking a topic in a variety of ways. Our conception of understanding goes beyond knowing the specific information in a piece. It is a matter of being able to do a variety of "thinking" activities with a topic, such as explaining, finding examples, producing evidence, generalizing and representing the topic in a new way. CRISS^sm strategies are designed to help students build understanding. We want our students to carry out a variety of learning activities that not only show understanding of a topic, but also aid them in advancing a topic beyond what they already know.