Principles of Learning | Bridges to Learning

Accountable Talk® Discussions: Solidifying Knowledge and Engaging in Rigorous Thinking Alongside Others in a Collaborative Community

Feb 16, 2021 | Spring 2021

Accountable Talk discussions require teachers and their students to support one another and mutually create a classroom community committed to using and building accurate knowledge and engaging in rigorous thinking. Everyone involved understands and is accountable for respecting each other and the learning community, as a whole. This begins with recognizing and honoring each person’s different lived experiences because every person brings vital knowledge and valuable assets to the learning community. This article provides a general understanding of Accountable Talk discussions and serves as a basis to begin exploring this high-leverage practice.

Six Strategies That Can Lead to More Equitable Online Mathematics Instruction

Jan 5, 2021 | Spring 2021

As the need for virtual instruction continues, educators continue to look for ways to make mathematics instruction more equitable and honor students’ abilities and backgrounds. In this article, we examine three teaching practices that work in virtual spaces and offer six strategies for keeping every student invested and advancing in their conceptual understanding.

Using 4 Learner-Centered Routines to Build Positive Math Identity in Equitable Classrooms

Dec 1, 2020 | Winter 2020

Every person is a “math person” and using learner-centered routines can support students in seeing themselves as doers of mathematics. This article, the second of a two-part series, shares how’s and why’s of four learner-centered routines that provide opportunities for students to build positive math identity by creating space for voice, agency, and actually doing mathematics.

4 Go-To Learner-Centered Routines to Bolster Math Discussions, In-Person and Online

Nov 17, 2020 | Winter 2020

Learner-centered routines are valuable tools for educators because the routines help to spur discussion based on student input, support students as they construct understanding, improve how students see themselves as mathematicians, and create opportunities for formative assessment. This article, the first of a two-part series, shares four learner-centered routines that work in-person and online during mathematics discussions. The second article, coming out on December 1, explores how these four routines can be used to create space for student voice and agency and support them in developing positive mathematical identities as doers of mathematics.

Remote Coaching for Rigorous and Engaging Online Classroom Discussions: Layering New Forums with Fresh Insights

Nov 3, 2020 | Winter 2020

Coaches have a critical role in assisting teachers in continuing, rather than abandoning, important pedagogies while teaching online. Read about what is being learned through ongoing research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center on how coaches can support teachers remotely to engage students in rigorous and interactive online discussions.

Translating Accountable Talk® Practices Between In-Person and Virtual Teaching

Oct 20, 2020 | Winter 2020

A story about the art of teaching and the process of translating and refining practice to ensure rigorous learning opportunities for students through collaboration and productive talk.

Principals Leading with a Coaching Lens

Jun 8, 2020 | Spring 2020

Before becoming building principals, we were instructional coaches, each of us having coached either mathematics or ELA. Instruction was always the focus of our coaching work. After several years as principals, we realized that though supporting teaching and learning was a component of our work, it was no longer the focus. Once we came to that realization, we knew that we needed to make some changes.

Supporting Productive Talk to Promote Socializing Intelligence

Jun 8, 2020 | Spring 2020

When we visit classrooms that reflect a culture of Socializing Intelligence, we notice several commonalities. We see evidence of a highly rigorous curriculum, and we see all students engaging in productive conversations around cognitively demanding tasks that are grounded in complex texts and rich content.

Teaneck’s Advantage: Educational Excellence Through Rigorous Teaching and Learning

Jun 3, 2020 | Spring 2020

At Teaneck Public Schools (Teaneck, New Jersey) we are focused on establishing common instructional practice across all classrooms that is designed to increase our students’ opportunities to engage in demanding curriculum content in both mathematics and English language arts lessons.

The Principles of Learning in Action

Feb 17, 2020 | Winter 2020

The Guilford Public Schools’ vision is that of a professional learning community where instruction invites effort and supports academic rigor for all students and educators. To that end, our daily work in classrooms is rooted in and supported by the Principles of Learning (POLs).

Clear Expectations and Self-Management of Learning: Moving the Principles of Learning from Theory to Practice

Feb 17, 2020 | Winter 2020

In thinking about the work we have been moving throughout our district, we are extremely proud of the way our teachers have been incorporating Clear Expectations and Self-Management of Learning, two of the Principles of Learning that are inextricably connected.

Using Student-Centered Classroom Routines to Improve Comprehension of Complex Texts

Feb 17, 2020 | Winter 2020

The Networks for School Improvement (NSI) work taking place among Dallas ISD (DISD), the Institute for Learning, the University of Pittsburgh School of Education Center for Urban Education, and the Learning Research and Development Center, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has largely focused efforts on improving instructional rigor, providing better supports for English language learners, and improving cultural relevance.

Engagement vs. compliance: Looking closely at criteria charts

Jan 29, 2020 | Winter 2020

Criteria charts that spur students to engage with the content matter actively are more likely to align with the Principles of Learning, so analyzing the criteria is critical. We have to consider if the combination of expectations results in active engagement with mathematical ideas that leads to deep understanding or simple compliance of learned procedures and rules.

Weighing Teacher Choices to Maximize Student Contribution

Aug 25, 2019 | Summer 2019

Accountable Talk® discussions are discussions that promote learning. They are discussions that have evidence of accountability to the learning community, accurate knowledge, and rigorous thinking.

Conferring with Teachers & Coaches Requires Setting Clear Learning Goals

Aug 25, 2019 | Summer 2019

Conferring with teachers in advance of observing a lesson is a critical component of the Content-Focused Coaching® (CFC) cycle. These “pre-conferences” are opportunities for the coach and the teacher to reflect together about a teacher’s lesson plan, and thus are a rich opportunity for teacher learning. Lesson planning is specifically important for facilitating rigorous Accountable Talk® classroom discussions.

Increasing High-Quality Student Talk

Aug 25, 2019 | Summer 2019

The Institute for Learning (IFL) and Schenectady City School District have worked collaboratively for several years, and this year, we continued our ongoing partnership with a focus on using improvement science methodology to “get better at getting better.” District-wide, there is a focus on using improvement science to work on persistent problems of practice.

Engaging Emergent Bilingual Students in Daily Academic Talk

Apr 25, 2019 | Spring 2019

English learners (ELs)—or emergent bilinguals (EBs) as educators now refer to these students to remove the deficit stigma from their identity (Garcia et al., 2008)—must engage in academic conversations every day to gain access to the world of knowledge. Their educational mission is the simultaneous acquisition of knowledge and English.

Cognitively Challenging English Language Arts Instruction

Feb 9, 2019 | Spring 2019

We have known about harmful effects of high-stakes state testing on students, teachers, and the curriculum for decades, yet we continue to perpetuate the belief that they test what students know and can do. Daniel Koretz (2017) demonstrates that they have become ends in themselves and take valuable time away from instruction designed to grow students’ intelligence rather than their test-taking abilities.