Just in time, the TPT has a very interesting article which puts a lie to
some of Willingham's assertions.
There is an article where they tested a pair of identical twins on the "Twin
paradox". One had gone through a conventional physics sequence, but the
other had one which used McDermott tutorials. The PER exposed twin showed a
high degree of expert like problem solving, while the other twin was still
an equation hunter.
Willingham asserts that you can not teach expert problem solving and that it
only comes with long exposure to the subject. Well the conventionally
educated twin had a fairly long exposure and still acted like a novice.
While this is not a strict experiment it does point to a big difference
dependent on the "style" of education. To make it a good experiment you
need better statistics. Unfortunately identical twins become less identical
with time, and sometimes one of them may be dyslexic while the other is not.
I had such a pair in one class. The slightly dyslexic twin was left handed.
Actually physically they were mirror images of each other, and the righty
was more serious. The lefty had a much better smile that lit up his whole
face. Now they know the oncogenetics of identical twins diverge quite a
bit, so in truth only the nuclear DNA is identical. But various genes have
been switched on or off by physical experiences.