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For those of us hoping for a quiet, back-to-normal kind of year, the research coming out of 2023 might disappoint. A rising tide of teenage mental health issues sent researchers scurrying for answers, and the sudden ascendance of AI posed a new threat to codes of academic conduct and caused some educators to forecast the end of teaching as we know it (we鈥檙e here to dispel that myth).

There was plenty of good news in the mix鈥攁nd fascinating news, too. Neuroscientists continued to push the envelope on mapping the human brain, using cutting-edge technology to get a sneak peek at the 鈥渂rain synchrony鈥� between students and teachers as they learn about complex topics, and a comprehensive review of social and emotional learning confirmed, once again, that there鈥檚 no substitute for caring, welcoming school environments.

Finally, we did our due diligence and unearthed classroom strategies that can make a big difference for students, from the use of math picture books to a better, more humane way to incorporate tests and games of knowledge into your classroom activities.

1. AI MAY CUT AN EDUCATOR鈥橲 PLANNING TIME DRAMATICALLY

In case anyone thought the jury was still out on the Turing test, which proposes a hypothetical threshold at which humans and machines respond indistinguishably to a prompt鈥� recently came in, and it鈥檚 becoming increasingly difficult to tell who鈥檚 testing who.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina set a 鈥渄eep neural鈥� AI model to work on a college-level anatomy and physiology textbook, after first training the software to recognize important information. The AI took stock, pondered in its fashion, and then dutifully produced 2,191 test questions tied to learning standards, which a panel of teachers judged to be 鈥渙n par with human-generated questions in terms of their relevance to the learning objectives.鈥� Remarkably, the instructors also said they鈥檇 consider adopting the machine-generated questions for their courses.

That鈥檚 spooky, but not without its silver linings. Test creation is time-consuming for teachers, and one knowledgeable educator who took AI for a test drive says that it performs well on other tasks like planning lessons, writing instructions, and even composing emails to parents. New AI-powered tools like Diffit, Curipod, and MagicSchool.ai, meanwhile, are starting to sound like revolutionary teaching aids.

Concern that the end of human teaching is one software release away is premature: Studies we鈥檝e reviewed suggest that AI still requires a lot of fine-tuning, and in , researchers concluded that without human intervention, AI is atrocious at mathematics, performing poorly on open-ended problems and routinely flubbing even simple math calculations. To be useful, it turns out, AI may need us more than we need it.

2. A FASCINATING GUIDE TO BETTER QUIZZING

No one likes tests鈥攅xcept the three authors of a , apparently. The trio, who have experience as teachers and researchers, sing the praises of virtually every kind of test, quiz, and knowledge game, asserting that such assessments should be frequent, low-stakes, highly engaging, and even communal. Their rationale: When properly designed and stripped of dread, tests and quizzes dramatically improve 鈥渓ong-term retention and the creation of more robust retrieval routes for future access,鈥� a well-established phenomenon known as the testing effect.

The study is a fascinating, granular look at the mechanics of testing and its impacts on learning. Here are some of the highlights:

Mix it up: To maximize student engagement, quiz students frequently鈥攂ut don鈥檛 let the format get stale. In their analysis, the authors endorse testing formats as varied as multiple choice, cued-recall tests, clickers, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and contests of knowledge.

Be competitive: When designing multiple-choice or true-false tests, opt for 鈥渃ompetitive alternatives鈥� in your answers. For example, when asking 鈥淲hat is the hottest terrestrial planet?,鈥� proffer Venus, Mars, and Mercury instead of Venus, Uranus, and Saturn鈥攂ecause 鈥淯ranus and Saturn aren鈥檛 terrestrial planets.鈥� Competitive alternatives require students to scrutinize all options, the authors hypothesize, leading them to retrieve and consider more learned material.

Pretest: Quizzing students on material they haven鈥檛 yet learned improves long-term performance 鈥渆ven if [students] are not able to answer any of those questions correctly,鈥� according to the researchers. Notably, pretesting can also lead to 鈥渁 reduction in mind wandering鈥� during subsequent lessons.

Get communal: Asking students to take tests in groups can improve retention and motivation while reducing anxiety. Consider focusing on specific rather than open-ended questions, the authors caution, since students can sometimes 鈥渞ecall and remember information less accurately鈥� when working together.

Pass it on: Teach students to self-test by 鈥渟ummarizing the main points from a lecture鈥� without looking at any notes,鈥� or by meeting in 鈥渟mall study groups where the students practice testing one another鈥攁n activity that many students already report doing.鈥�

3. HOW TONE OF VOICE CHANGES CLASSROOM CULTURE

Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, subtle shifts in a teacher鈥檚 tone of voice鈥攁 sharp rise in volume or a sudden barrage of repeated instructions born of frustration鈥攃an be the first sign that something鈥檚 awry in the classroom, disturbing a fragile equilibrium and leading students to clam up or act out, a suggests.

Researchers observed as teens and preteens listened to instructions given by teachers鈥斺�淚鈥檓 waiting for people to quiet down鈥� or 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to tidy up all of your belongings,鈥� for example鈥攄elivered in warm, neutral, or controlling tones. While the effect was unintended, an authoritative tone often came off as confrontational, undermining students鈥� sense of competence and discouraging them from confiding in teachers. Warm, supportive tones, on the other hand, contributed to a classroom environment that reinforced learning across multiple social and academic dimensions like sense of belonging, autonomy, and enjoyment of the class. 

It takes years to find the right tonal balance, says experienced middle school teacher Kristine Napper. 鈥淣either high expectations nor kind hearts can do the job alone,鈥� she coaches. Instead, teachers should strive for a warm, supportive tone and then draw on that 鈥渨ellspring of trust to hold students to high standards of deep engagement with course content.鈥�

4. BRAINS THAT FIRE TOGETHER WIRE TOGETHER

In 2021, we reported that as students progressed through a computer science course, the learning material left neural fingerprints that mirrored brain activity in other students, the teacher, and experts in the field. 鈥淪tudents who failed to grasp the material,鈥� we wrote, 鈥渆xhibited neural signatures that were outliers; they were drifting.鈥� But the brain patterns of students who performed well on a later test aligned strongly with other top performing students鈥攁nd with the teacher and experts, too.

Intriguingly, even abstract concepts鈥攖hose that lack any physical attributes鈥攁ppeared to trigger similar mental representations in students鈥� minds, attesting to the remarkable cognitive flexibility underlying human communication and knowledge sharing.

A using electroencephalography (EEG) largely confirms those findings. High school science teachers taught groups of young adults fitted with electrodes about science topics such as bipedalism, habitats, and lipids. Researchers found that stronger 鈥渂rain synchrony鈥� between peers鈥攁nd between students and teachers鈥攑redicted better academic performance on follow-up tests, both immediately and a full week later.

Together, these studies underscore the importance of scholarly expertise and direct instruction, but also hint at the downstream power of peer-to-peer and social learning. As knowledge passes from teachers to learners to greater and lesser degrees鈥攕ome students grasp material quickly, others more slowly鈥攁n opportunity to distribute the work of learning emerges. When advanced students are paired with struggling peers, assisted by nudges from the teacher, groups of students might eventually converge around an accurate, common understanding of the material.

5. IN SUM, MATH PICTURE BOOKS WORK

The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words鈥攁nd two are worth two thousand鈥攎ight be expressed, mathematically, as a simple multiplication formula. But can reading math picture books really multiply learning?

A of 16 studies concluded that math books like Are We There Yet, Daddy? and Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi improved student engagement and attitudes toward math; strengthened kids鈥� grasp of math representations like graphs or physical models; and boosted performance on tasks like counting to 20, understanding place value, and calculating diameters. In early childhood, in particular, math picture books worked wonders鈥攐ne study found that young students 鈥渢end to anticipate and guess what will happen next, resulting in high engagement, aroused interest in understanding the problems, and curiosity in finding solutions鈥濃�攂ut even middle school students seemed mesmerized by math read-alouds.

Importantly, math picture books weren鈥檛 a substitute for procedural fluency or mathematical practice. Typically, the authors noted, teachers bracketed math units with picture books, introducing a mathematical concept 鈥渋n order to prepare [students] for the upcoming practice and activities,鈥� or, alternatively, used them to review material at the end of the lesson.

6. TO IMPROVE STUDENT WRITING, REDUCE FEEDBACK (AND PUT THE ONUS ON KIDS)

It鈥檚 hard to move the needle on student writing. Hours of close reading followed by the addition of dozens of edifying margin notes can swallow teacher weekends whole, but there鈥檚 no guarantee students know how to use the feedback productively.

In fact, without guidance, revisions tend to be superficial, a suggests鈥攕tudents might correct typos and grammatical mistakes, for example, or make cursory adjustments to a few ideas, but leave it at that. A promising, time-saving alternative is to deploy rubrics, mentor texts, and other clarifying writing guidelines.

In the study, high school students were graded on the clarity, sophistication, and thoroughness of their essays before being split into groups to test the effectiveness of various revision strategies. Students who consulted rubrics that spelled out the elements of an excellent essay鈥攁 clear central thesis, support for the claim, and cohesive overall structure, for example鈥攊mproved their performance by a half-letter grade while kids who read mentor texts boosted scores by a third of a letter grade.

Rubrics and mentor texts are reusable, 鈥渋ncrease teachers鈥� efficient use of time,鈥� and 鈥渆nhance self-feedback鈥� in a way that can lead to better, more confident writers down the line, the new research suggests.

7. A NEW THEORY ABOUT THE TEEN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

Parents, teachers, and medical professionals are wringing their hands over the alarming, decades-long rise in teenage mental health issues, including depression, feelings of 鈥�,鈥� and drug addiction.

The root causes remain elusive鈥攃ell phones and social media are prime suspects鈥攂ut a offers another explanation that鈥檚 gaining traction: After scouring surveys, data sets, and cultural artifacts, researchers theorized that a primary cause is 鈥渁 decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.鈥�

Scholarly reviews of historical articles, books, and advice columns on child rearing depict an era when young children 鈥渨alked or biked to school alone,鈥� and contributed to their 鈥渇amily鈥檚 well being鈥� and 鈥渃ommunity life鈥� through meaningful chores and jobs. If that all feels vaguely mythical, over the last 50 years reveals a correlation: frank admissions by parents that their children play outdoors independently less than they did, and significant drops in the number of kids who walk, bike, or bus to school alone or are allowed to cross busy roads by themselves. In the U.S., for example, a government that 48 percent of K鈥�8 students walked to school in 1969, but by 2009 only 13 percent did.

Risky play and unsupervised outdoor activities, meanwhile, which might 鈥減rotect against the development of phobias鈥� and reduce 鈥渇uture anxiety by increasing the person鈥檚 confidence that they can deal effectively with emergencies,鈥� are often frowned upon. That last point is crucial, because dozens of studies suggest that happiness in childhood, and then later in adolescence, is driven by internal feelings of 鈥渁utonomy, competence, and relatedness鈥濃�攁nd independent play, purposeful work, and important roles in classrooms and families are vital, early forms of practice.

Whatever the causes, young children seem to sense that something鈥檚 off. In one , kindergartners who viewed images of fun activities routinely struck pictures that included adults from the category of play, rejecting the role of grown-ups in a domain they clearly saw as their own.

8. DIRECT INSTRUCTION AND INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING ARE COMPLEMENTARY

It鈥檚 an often-fiery but ultimately dubious debate: Should teachers employ direct instruction, or opt for inquiry-based learning?

At its core, direct instruction often conveys information 鈥渂y lecturing and by giving a leading role to the teacher,鈥� researchers explain in a examining the evidence supporting both approaches. Critics typically focus solely on its passive qualities, a straw-man argument that ignores activities such as note-taking, practice quizzes, and classroom discussions. Opponents of inquiry-based learning, meanwhile, characterize it as chaotic, akin to sending students on a wild goose chase and asking them to discover the laws of physics on their own鈥攖hough it can actually unlock 鈥渄eep learning processes such as elaboration, self-explanation, and metacognitive strategies,鈥� the researchers say.

Both sides misrepresent what teachers actually do in classrooms. Instructional models are 鈥渙ften combined in practice,鈥� the researchers note, and inquiry-based learning is usually supported with direct instruction. Teachers might begin a lesson by leading a review of key concepts, for example, and then ask students to apply what they鈥檙e learning in unfamiliar contexts. 

Let the debate rage on. Teachers already know that factual fluency and the need to struggle, flail, and even hit dead-ends are integral to learning. Teaching is fluid and complex and spools out in real time; it resists every effort to reduce it to a single strategy or program that works for all kids, in all contexts.

9. A TRULY MASSIVE REVIEW FINDS VALUE IN SEL鈥擜GAIN

It鈥檚 d茅j脿 vu all over again. The researcher Joseph Durlak, who put social and emotional learning on the map with his that concluded that SEL programs boosted academic performance by an impressive 11 percentile points, was back at it in 2023鈥攚orking with an ambitious new team, led by Yale professor Christina Cipriano, on a similar mission.

The group just published a that surveyed a whopping 424 studies involving over half a million K鈥�12 students, scrutinizing school-based SEL programs and strategies such as mindfulness, interpersonal skills, classroom management, and emotional intelligence. The findings: Students who participated in such programs experienced 鈥渋mproved academic achievement, school climate, school functioning, social emotional skills, attitudes, and prosocial and civic behaviors,鈥� the researchers concluded.

Intriguingly, SEL remained a powerful driver of better cultures and student outcomes into the middle and high school years, a reminder that there鈥檚 no cutoff point for building relationships, teaching empathy, and making schools inclusive and welcoming.

While politicians continue to stoke controversy on the topic, there鈥檚 actually widespread support for SEL, as long as it鈥檚 connected to better academic outcomes. A revealed that parents reacted negatively to classroom instruction labeled 鈥渟ocial and emotional learning,鈥� but were favorably disposed when a single clause was added鈥攃alling it 鈥渟ocial-emotional & academic learning鈥� turned the tide and secured parental buy-in.

10. MORE EVIDENCE FOR MOVING PAST 鈥淔INDING THE MAIN IDEA鈥�

In the United States, the teaching of reading comprehension has ping-ponged between skills-based and knowledge-based approaches. In 2019, things appeared to come to a head: While reading programs continued to emphasize transferable skills like 鈥渇inding the main idea鈥� or 鈥渕aking inferences,鈥� the author Natalie Wexler published The Knowledge Gap, an influential takedown of skills-based methods, and a from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute concurred, noting that 鈥渆xposing kids to rich content in civics, history, and law鈥� taught reading more effectively than skills-based approaches.

Now a pair of new, high-quality studies鈥攆eaturing leading researchers and encompassing more than 5,000 students in 39 schools鈥攁ppears to put the finishing touches on a decades-long effort to push background knowledge to the forefront of reading instruction.

In a , 3,000 elementary students participated in a yearlong literacy program focused on the 鈥渒nowledge rich鈥� domains of social studies and science, exploring the methods used to study past events, for example, or investigating how animals evolve to survive in different habitats. Compared to their counterparts in business-as-usual classes, the 鈥渒nowledge based鈥� readers scored 18 percent higher on general reading comprehension. Background knowledge acts like a scaffold, the researchers explained, helping students 鈥渃onnect new learning to a general schema and transfer their knowledge to related topics.鈥�

In the other , a team of researchers, including leading experts David Grissmer, Daniel Willingham, and Chris Hulleman, examined the impact of the 鈥淐ore Knowledge鈥� program on 2,310 students in nine lottery-based Colorado charter schools from kindergarten to sixth grade. The approach improved reading scores by 16 percentile points, and if implemented nationally, the researchers calculated, might catapult U.S. students from 15th to fifth place on international reading tests.

The pendulum is swinging, but the researchers caution against overreach: There appear to be 鈥渢wo separate but complementary cognitive processes involved in development and learning: 鈥榮kill building鈥� and 鈥榢nowledge accumulation,鈥欌�� they clarified. We may have the balance out of whack, but to develop proficient readers, you need both.