This paper is a commentary on new orientations in educational research in North America, with a particular focus on Francophone Ontario in the years 2000-2001. When addressing the issue of student learning, political institutions tend to stress results instead of processes, emphasizing the principles of imputability and results-based management. Schools must produce results. It is therefore important that we take stock of contemporary studies on cognition pertaining to student learning, and use research findings to assess the current obligation to improve the student success rates, independently of the construction of meaning that constitutes the learning process.