Recent research analyses show professional learning programs that include specific elements known to contribute to effectiveness may have a powerful influence on teachers' instructional practices but relatively modest impact on student learning outcomes. Thomas Guskey explores research-based explanations for the incongruence and offers practical…

Although social-emotional learning is associated with long-term success in school and careers, it is often a missing link in U.S. public education. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the need for social-emotional supports for children. In this time of crisis, educators have also sought new ways to make connections and reimagined how students…

While coaches can have a positive impact on teachers' practice and students' learning, in many school districts teachers have the autonomy to decide whether and when to work with a coach. Coaches then must work to gain access to teachers' classrooms. In a recent study of 28 content-focused coaches, researchers Jen Munson and Evthokia Stephanie…

Writing in the April 2020 issue of Kappan, Tim Shriver and Roger Weissberg address a recent spate of reports and articles that have offered "constructive criticism" of the movement to promote social and emotional learning (SEL) in K-12 education. Despite a number of concerns that have been raised about SEL programs' scope,…

Providing professional development to busy principals is an ongoing challenge for many school districts. Lynn Public Schools in Massachusetts and the nonprofit Center for Artistry and Scholarship (CAS) in Boston partnered to provide professional development to 16 principals in the district. Linda F. Nathan, Taarini Goyal, and Evonne Alvarez…

The 42 school districts participating in the state of Washington's Inclusionary Practices Project achieved a significant 12.8% increase in inclusion in the least restrictive environment (LRE 1, or in general education for 80-100% of the school day) over four years, surpassing the state average increase of 6.8%. Katie Novak and Helene Paroff…

Joseph Mahoney, Joseph Durlak, and Roger Weissberg compare results from four large-scale meta-analyses of student outcomes related to participation in universal, school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. Their examination includes 356 research reports with rigorous designs and outcome data at post or follow-up from hundreds of…

Florida's Broward County Public Schools and the University of Chicago engaged in a Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) to scale teacher practices that support students' critical thinking. As part of the RPP, Jeanne Century's research team conducted research to determine what barriers might limit the spread of these practices. The findings show…

As school and district leaders become more aware of how racial bias and racism affects interactions within the schools, some have sought to provide anti-bias training to faculty and staff. Drawing on the research into anti-bias and racial equity training, and their own experiences, Gislaine Ngounou and Nancy Gutierrez explain why it is beneficial…

There is substantial evidence on the effectiveness of many forms of advanced education, especially various approaches to acceleration, ability grouping, and curricular innovations such as structured curriculum and enrichment. Nonetheless, additional research on the ways in which advanced education impacts the learning and lives of students across…

How should teachers spend their STEM-focused professional learning time? To answer this question, Heather Hill, Kathleen Lynch, Kathryn Gonzalez, and Cynthia Pollard analyzed a recent wave of rigorous new studies of STEM instructional improvement programs. They found that programs work best when focused on building knowledge teachers can use…

The near-term social-emotional and academic benefits of arts-based field trips has been well documented, but a new study shows that multiple arts-based field trips can have positive effects that endure for multiple years. Laura Florick, Jay P. Greene, Rebecca Levenberg, and Rebecca Pogue describe a partnership between a school district and arts…

In response to local districts' needs for certified teachers with community roots who understand local schools and students, the authors developed an innovative alternative route for paraprofessionals based on a traditional bachelor's program. Their goals were to provide a rigorous, research-based program that allows paraprofessionals to get a…

Committed to being a charter school with a professional learning community that empowers teachers, New Mexico's South Valley Academy (SVA) staff transformed its state evaluation process into a practitioner action research process (Anderson, Herr, & Nihlen, 2007). While teachers self-diagnose growth needs and play active roles in improving…

The authors quantify and unpack the prevalence and effects of bullying on children and adolescents before prescribing provisos for schools to consider when planning preventive and responsive approaches to bullying.