The Evidence Already Inside Your School
Contributing Author: Allyson Apsey

One of the most overlooked sources of educational research isn’t in journals or at conferences; it’s already happening inside our own schools. In Less Talk, More Action, we argue that teachers are surrounded by pockets of excellence every day, yet we rarely pause to study them. Much like young scientists discovering the world, powerful research begins when we get curious about what’s working right around us.

Reclaiming Hope in Time of Despair

In this November 24, 2025, article in the New York Times, Senator Cory Booker provides a glimmer of hope for those who are sinking into despair. This is a message that students, teachers, and educational leaders need right now. 

Why Is Student Progress in High-Poverty Schools Frequently Not Sustained?

While there are decades of research on the potential success of students in high-poverty schools, those gains are too seldom sustained past high school graduation. In this November 5, 2025 podcast from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (The Leaky College Pipeline for High-achieving, Low-income Students, by Michael J. Petrilli), the author paints a bleak picture about the difference between the success of short-term interventions to promote student success and the failure of schools to sustain that success so that it results in higher levels of college enrollment and completion. 

Challenging Misunderstandings About Student Assessment

A properly done assessment can be a powerful tool to improve student learning and help teachers refine lessons and feedback to students. The key challenge for teachers and school leaders is addressing some of the most common misconceptions about assessment and creating better understanding of the proper use of assessment to improve performance. Let’s dive into some of the misconceptions and how we can turn those around.

The Enduring Value of Changing One’s Mind

In Research Wednesdays, I have always quoted others rather than myself. I hope that readers will allow me an exception in this case.

Differentiation, Depth of Knowledge, and Artificial Intelligence: Integrating Frameworks for Rigorous and Responsive Instruction
Guest Contributor - Peter Noonan

Effective differentiation remains one of the most powerful yet challenging practices in contemporary classrooms. Grounded in the principle that instruction should be adapted to students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles, differentiation ensures that all learners engage meaningfully in the pursuit of shared academic goals (Tomlinson, 2014). The integration of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) framework with adaptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) offers a promising approach to achieving this goal by balancing cognitive complexity with accessibility. 

This interesting article in New Approaches in Educational Research, published in August 2025, describes new ways to predict student academic performance using AI. The goal of the research is to help avoid student dropouts.  

Agency: The New Literacy
Guest Research Wednesday by Jessyca Lucero-Flores

When we talk about preparing students for the future, we often focus on what they should know. But the most powerful shift in education today isn’t just about knowledge, it’s about agency: the ability to act with purpose, reflection, and confidence in a changing world.

The Missing Variable in the Childhood Attention Crisis: Parents

In this challenging article from the University of Virginia, Professor Dan Willingham requires us to reconsider the vilification of electronic devices as the source of the decline in attention and focus among today’s students.

Reconsidering the Causes for the Decline in NAEP Scores

NAEP scores have fallen in two consecutive administrations of “The Nation’s Report Card,” as NAEP is sometimes called. There are many speculations about the reason for the decline in NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress).

Reconsidering Trauma

I have written in the past about my concern that when I heard that “everybody is traumatized,” a generalization that risks trivializing the genuine need for trauma care.

Now is the Time for Courage

In this thoughtful article by Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati, now is the time for leaders at every level, from the classroom to the boardroom, to demonstrate courage in the face of adversity. This is from the September/October 2025 issue of Harvard Business Review.

What is Rigor?

In this thoughtful article (August 25, 2025) by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey, “Rigor is misunderstood,” the authors say. 

The Power of Super-Facilitators for PLC Teams 

Guest Research Wednesday article by Allyson Apsey 

In the September–October 2025 edition of Harvard Business Review, author and Harvard professor Jamil Zaki makes a compelling case for developing “Super-Facilitators” to drive team growth and performance.

The Miseducation of Boys

“It is easier to build strong boys than to repair broken men.” Frederick Douglass.

The data is striking about the differences between boys and girls in schools.

Returning to the Value of Play for Kindergarten Students 

In this thoughtful report from August 20, 2025, schools may want to reconsider the emphasis on kindergarten as the first step to preparation for state tests.

Misunderstandings About Teacher Compensation
In this revealing synthesis of research about teachers’ compensation, Evie Bald (July 31, 2025), shows how cash compensation to teachers fails to understand what actual compensation is from the employees' point of view.

Cautionary Tales About Curriculum Overload 
In this thoughtful article, Sarah Schwarz (Ed Week, August 4, 2025) notes that many districts that are already complying with mandatory “Science of Reading” curricula are also piling on with supplemental materials that teachers find more useful.

This week’s evidence comes from our San Bernardino City School District friends. Over the past 3 years, the DF rate decreased by 22.8% over the last year.

The new Mark Twain biography by Ron Chernow addresses forthrightly the debate about whether his books should continue to be taught in school. Chernow reveals in detail Twain’s strengths as a popular writer in books that, until recently, were part of the canon in many schools. Hemingway and others called Twain’s books “The Great American Novels.” Chernow also relentlessly details Twain’s many weaknesses, not the least of which was the stark racism, including the prolific use of the N-word in Huckleberry Finn.