In this article, the author describes learning principles that are grounded in Daniel Willingham's (2017) simple model of the mind and suggest professional learning strategies aligned with them. These strategies are consistent with the Learning Designs standard of the Standards for Professional Learning, which states, in part, "Educators use…

A highly distinctive and structured approach to teacher development, Lesson Study emerged in Japan but has since been adopted much more widely and now sees growing interest in the UK. Tony McConnell, Davinia Daley, Rebecca Levy, Lisa Waddell and Richard Waddington describe the process by which their school first investigated and then adopted…

This paper provides an overview of the research landscape for the kind of professional learning needed for project-based learning to succeed. The evidence is clear that such professional learning must ensure teachers are active, self-directed learners who receive support that is meaningful and relevant to their experiences and context. The authors…

In this article, the authors share how model lessons spaced throughout the year, connected by a single anchoring phenomenon, provided opportunities for teachers to build schema for complex science learning as they shifted between "learner hats" and "teacher hats." Descriptions of the authors' workshop sessions include…

Social studies teachers often have a love-hate relationship with inquiry. The possibilities of a dynamic and engaging approach to learning labor against time constraints imposed by a content-heavy curriculum. In that scenario, how can professional development (PD) on inquiry inform educators and encourage skeptical teachers to implement this…

A broad categorisation of different reading styles for mathematics text is generated in this research. The styles derive from those found in literature around academic reading skills. These styles are inductively refined using video transcripts of five specially chosen students studying out loud from a prescribed mathematics textbook. The context…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Reporting from the Test Kitchen: Blended Learning at New Leaders." Blended learning, which combines independent online work with in-person group sessions, is an appealing option to help address these challenges: it promises time-savings, flexibility, learner autonomy, and ease of use -- all…

This report provides a set of six design principles, or stances toward learners and learning, that are essential for creating intellectually rigorous and equitable learning settings. These principles provide a holistic framework for designing goals, practices, and activities for summer learning and beyond. The Six Design Principles for Summer…

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month's issue discusses using the 5E learning cycle to create coherent storylines. The 5E learning cycle provides an important framework to help teachers organize activities. To realize the full potential of the 5E framework for student learning, lessons must also…

Over the past decade, educators and policymakers have sought to increase the number of students pursuing and completing postsecondary credentials. Community colleges play an important role in efforts to increase the percentage of Americans with postsecondary education. Community colleges play an important role in educating the early childhood…

How can the use of the Standards for Mathematical Practice in the classroom be supported? Professional developers and teacher educators strive to support teachers as they seek to answer this question. When teachers personally and intentionally experience the practices and reflect on how the practices support and promote mathematical understanding,…

In designing professional learning for system-level leaders, two participant roles emerge as key: learners of content and agents of change. For learners, the principles of strong instruction apply. Exposure to content must occur repeatedly, be connected to prior knowledge, and is most effective when communities of learners work together. As change…

Engineering design activities can help educators to apply concepts and processes from within and across STEM domains. To facilitate these connections, there is a need for sustained, job-embedded, and collegial professional development that brings together teachers from across STEM domains to engage in design-based activities. These activities can…

To build on prior knowledge and mathematical understanding, middle school students need to be given the opportunity to make connections among a variety of representations. Graphs, tables, algebraic formulas, and models are just a few examples of representations that can help students explore quantitative relationships. As a mathematics educator,…

In this paper we present a comprehensive model of instruction for providing consistent, high quality teaching to L2 students. This model, the SIOP Model (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), provides an explicit framework for organizing instructional practices to optimize the effectiveness of teaching second and foreign language learners.…