WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation

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We share evidence-based K-12 learning strategies that empower you to improve education.

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School Transformation Through Arts Integration at Bates Middle School

Teacher leading a class in dance with arms outstretched

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Constance Steinkuehler on Interest-Driven Learning (Big Thinkers Series)

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How to Thank a Teacher

Blogs on Brain Research

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Activities to Build Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students

Randy TaranSeptember 5, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Curriculum, Mental Health, Primary (K-2), , Upper Elementary (3-5)

Happiness is something we all want, and new research shows that happiness and well-being can be taught! But who has time to teach happiness when there is so much else to cram into a school day? At the university level, we see courses at Harvard and University of Southern California on the Science of Happiness. There are good reasons why those courses are among these schools' most popular classes. Happier people tend to be healthier, more productive, more generous and kinder to others. They also learn more easily and enjoy life. Who doesn’t want some of that?

A Neurologist Makes the Case for Teaching Teachers About the Brain

Judy Willis MDJuly 27, 2012

Tags Biology, Brain Research, Mental Health, Professional Development, Teacher Development

"Neuroscience should be required for all students [of education] . . . to familiarize them with the orienting concepts [of] the field, the culture of scientific inquiry, and the special demands of what qualifies as scientifically based education research." - Eisenhart & DeHaan, 2005

Do you recall some of your college professors who knew their subject matter but had zero teaching skills? Staying awake in their one-way-directed lecture classes required Herculean strength (or lots of coffee). They were never trained to develop the skillset of engagement strategies.

Bad for the Brain: Goodbye to Unsustainable Education Models

Judy Willis MDJune 13, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Standardized Testing, All Grades

My Prediction: Within five to ten years in some countries, open Internet access for information acquisition will be available on standardized tests. This access will significantly reduce the quantity of data designated for rote memorization.

How Do We Help Kids Make Better Choices? Let Them Practice

Matt LevinsonJune 7, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Expeditionary Learning, Parental Involvement, , Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

In her Wall Street Journal editorial, What's Wrong With the Teenage Mind?, University of California at Berkeley psychology professor Alison Gopnik highlights two key areas of the brain that dictate adolescent and human development: (1) emotion and motivation and (2) control.

She cites Berkeley pediatrician and developmental psychologist Ronald Dahl who uses the perfect metaphor to describe adolescence: "Today's adolescents develop an accelerator a long time before they can steer and brake."

How to Rewire Your Burned-Out Brain: Tips from a Neurologist

Judy Willis MDMay 22, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Mental Health, Professional Development, , Teacher Burnout, Teacher Development, All Grades

For many of you in the northern hemisphere, the school year is coming to a close, and with it comes a likely drop in the stressors that build up and promote teacher (and administrator) burnout. It therefore may not seem timely to suggest interventions to prevent or reduce burnout. However, it is often not until we are away from a high-stress situation for a while that the brain can move out of reactive survival mode and into a relaxed state where it can ponder the big picture.

Matching Teaching with How Students Learn

Ben JohnsonApril 25, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Multiple Intelligences, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

What is a learner? A learner naturally observes and mimics. From the time we are born to the age of two, we are what you would call a learning machine. All humans during that time period are learning prodigies.

Four Strategies to Spark Curiosity via Student Questioning

Kevin D. WashburnMarch 22, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Comprehensive Assessment, Performance Assessment, Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

British archaeologist Mary Leakey described her own learning as being "compelled by curiosity." Curiosity is the name we give to the state of having unanswered questions. And unanswered questions, by their nature, help us maintain a learning mindset. When we realize that we do not know all there is to know about something in which we are interested, we thirst. We pursue. We act as though what we do not know is more important than what we do, as though what we do not possess is worth the chase to own it. How do we help students discover this drive?

Neuroscience and the Bilingual Brain

Judy Willis MDMarch 22, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Comprehensive Assessment, English-Language Learners, Global Education, Parental Involvement, , English Language Arts, Math, World Language Learning

A selective attentive focus and the ability to block out distraction are seminal executive functions that are minimally developed in youngsters. These functions gradually become stronger throughout the years of prefrontal cortex maturation, which last into the twenties. It is with regard to these executive functions that research about the "bilingual brain" is particularly exciting.

A selective attentive focus and the ability to block out distraction are seminal executive functions that are minimally developed in youngsters. These functions gradually become stronger throughout the years of prefrontal cortex maturation, which last into the twenties. It is with regard to these executive functions that research about the "bilingual brain" is particularly exciting. Read More

Executive Function, Arts Integration and Joyful Learning (Part 6 of 7)

Judy Willis MDMarch 14, 2012

Tags Arts Education, Brain Research, Comprehensive Assessment, Integrated Studies, Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), Drama, High (9-12), Music, Visual Arts

This post is part of a series on executive function. Here I will cover the arts and the neuroscience of joyful learning.

Promising Starts

Children's brains need to acquire memory associations that link pleasure with learning. The creative arts can provide this link through associations with the pleasures of creative experiences enjoyed during early childhood.

Nine Things Successful People Do Differently

Heidi Grant HalvorsonFebruary 6, 2012

Tags Brain Research, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

One of the trickiest challenges any child faces (or any adult, for that matter) is figuring out how to get from wanting to do something -- like getting a better grade on his or her next quiz, or studying over the summer for college admissions tests -- to actually doing it. Commitment is a first and very necessary step when it comes to reaching a goal, but it's just the beginning.