Students take ownership of their learning and are more actively engaged in their schoolwork when they have choices, share their ideas, and feel heard—when they experience student voice. Created to support Cultivate and Elevate users or any educators interested in improving learning conditions, this guide introduces research, principles, practices, and measures related to student voice.

Students are more motivated to learn when the work in class feels interesting and relevant to them—when they experience meaningful work. Created to support Cultivate and Elevate users or any educators interested in improving learning conditions, this guide introduces research, principles, practices, and measures related to meaningful work.

Students learn more effectively when their teachers set high expectations, recognize progress, and offer respectful, critical feedback to help students improve—when they experience feedback for growth. Created to support Cultivate and Elevate users or any educators interested in improving learning conditions, this guide introduces research, principles, practices, and measures related to feedback for growth.

Students feel safe to engage and succeed in school when the classroom environment encourages a sense of community and fosters mutual support among classmates—when they experience classroom community. Created to support Cultivate and Elevate users or any educators interested in improving learning conditions, this guide introduces research, principles, practices, and measures related to classroom community.

Students feel more connected to and motivated in classes that recognize and affirm their backgrounds and identities—when they experience affirming identities. Created to support Cultivate and Elevate users or any educators interested in improving learning conditions, this guide introduces research, principles, practices, and measures related to affirming identities.

Students engage more deeply in their work when they feel like their teacher likes and cares about them—when they experience teacher caring. Created to support Cultivate and Elevate users or any educators interested in improving learning conditions, this guide introduces research, principles, practices, and measures related to teacher caring.

Constructivist listening is an effective strategy for engaging in conversations that are both intellectually demanding and emotionally challenging. It is distinct from most forms of listening in that its purpose is for the benefit of the speaker, not the listener.

The promise of social and emotional development as a lever for increasing educational equity rests on the capacity of educators to understand that all learning is social and emotional and all learning is mediated by relationships that sit in a sociopolitical, racialized context – for all children, not just those who are Black and brown.

Negative experiences have a powerful impact on the human brain, which is wired to recognize threats more readily than rewards. Research in neuroscience has revealed that the brain responds to perceived social threats in the same manner as threats to survival. For marginalized students who are highly attuned to potential dangers, survival mechanisms can kick…

Each school has a “sphere of success,” a set of students for whom current practices are working to get on the path to college and career-readiness. Regardless of how successful a school is, not every child is within its sphere of success. In order to bring increasing numbers of young people into that sphere, educators…