Expertise: Research

The Past and The Promise: Today’s Competency Education Movement Executive Summary

Competency education is attracting significant interest as a promising way to help meet our national priority of ensuring that all young people are ready for college and careers. In competency-based schools, students advance at different rates, based on their ability to demonstrate mastery of learning objectives. Teachers provide customized supports to help propel everyone to… Read More ›

The Past and the Promise: Today’s Competency Education Movement

This report, the first in the Students at the Center’s new Competency Education Research Series lays a foundation for assessing the potential of competency-based models, grounded in an exploration of the outcomes from previous like-minded efforts. Recent research and theory from the learning sciences show that a personalized approach to competency education may help better… Read More ›

Putting Students at the Center: A Reference Guide

Today, we know more than ever about how students learn. Education researchers have identified key components of college and career readiness, while research in the cognitive sciences has revealed the neurological pathways of effective learning and shown how it affects the brain. This reference guide from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation delves deep into the principles… Read More ›

What is Student-Centered Learning? (brochure)

Why should education be one-size fits all? Learning doesn’t stop when the final bell rings. Does your brain only work when you’re sitting in a chair? How do we prepare today’s learners for tomorrow’s economy? Learn more about student-centered learning from this Nellie Mae Education brochure.   Download this brochure >

Teaching Perseverance and Resilience

Paul Tough’s best-seller, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, dramatically underscores what cognitive psychologists like Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth have found in their research: that character—not cognition—is central to success and that character can be taught. Terms like growth mindset, perseverance, and resilience have entered the vocabulary of educators… Read More ›

Students at the Center Newsletter- May 2014

Subscribe to the Students at the Center Mailing List View the May 2014 newsletter for the latest publications, articles, tools, and announcements from Students at the Center!

The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain: A Virtual Visit with Cognitive Scientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore delivers a lively TED talk and recorded interview. She introduces the ways the adolescent brain is different from the adult brain and provides a glimpse at how one leading neuroscientist in the field approaches her work. Edge.org commentary: The Adolescent Brain TED Talk: The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain Audience: Educators, Pre-service… Read More ›

Inside the Teenage Brain: A Six-Part Television Series

This six-part series chronicles how scientists are exploring the recesses of the brain and finding some new explanations for why adolescents behave the way they do. The website that supports the series includes a rich collection of videos, links to research and other online resources about the brain, interactive diagrams, and practical tips. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/ (Also… Read More ›

Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections

Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections is an online course on the implications of neuroscience research on education. Developed by Annenberg Learner, the course consists of six units and features researchers and famous case studies in neuroscience. Audience: Educators, pre-service educators, professional development providers Potential Use: Professional development – self-guided or group. This course can… Read More ›