Given the robust nature of learning sciences research, this website is best viewed on tablets and computers. A small screen experience is coming in the future.
On June 22, 2021, we will launch updated strategies for the Math PK-2 model, as well as additional updates to the Navigator that highlight equity, SEL, and culturally responsive teaching. To learn more, visit our Site Updates (available in the "About" menu at the top of any page).
Hover to see how factors connect to Social Supports. Then click connected factors to explore strategies related to multiple factors.
People are social creatures, and our happiness is in part based on having supportive friends and family. The power of Social Supports extends to learning: A student’s perception of the strength of the support they have, even if they do not call upon their supports, is a key contributor to their academic success, including learning to read.
Two important aspects of Social Supports are peer relationships and external supports, including parents, teachers, and other family members.
Social Supports include:
Social Supports can be beneficial even when students do not take advantage of the support. Rather it is important that students perceive that these Social Supports are available to them.
Providing plenty of space for students promotes socially cooperative play and collaboration.
Teaching students how to label, identify, and manage emotions helps them learn self-regulation skills.
Free play supports learner interests and allows more complex social interactions to develop.
As students walk through stations working in small groups, the social and physical nature of the learning supports deeper understanding.
Learning about students' cultures and connecting them to instructional practices helps all students feel like valued members of the community.
Overtly encouraging all students to ask when they have forgotten something creates a classroom that supports risk-taking and skill development.
Rhyming, alliteration, and other sound devices reinforce language development by activating the mental processes that promote memory.
To promote acceptance of learning diversity, students explore learning tools and strategies to see how they work and why they and others might use them.
Multiple tables and chairs on wheels allow for setting up the classroom to support the desired learning outcomes of each classroom activity.
Multiple display spaces promote collaboration by allowing groups to share information easily as they work.
Multiple writing surfaces promote collaboration by allowing groups to share information easily as they work.
A parent evening meeting about how to support literacy at home with one follow-up meeting with each family has shown strong results for students' reading development.
Reading aloud helps students to hear and practice reading and fluency skills.
The prime time to engage families as positive partners in support of their students is the start of the year.
Pretending allows students to step back from a problem or task and think about it from multiple angles.
Students are more likely to come to school when families feel like a valued part of the community.
Cards with strategies for managing emotions help students remember how to act when faced with strong feelings.
When students explain to others, they deepen their understanding and gain confidence in their learning.
Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based approach focused on the link between academic success and SEL development.
Books with SEL topics, such as developing friendships and identifying emotions, help teach these skills.
Many programs offer lesson plans for focused sessions on understanding and managing emotions.
Consistent, clear policies help families understand attendance and behavioral expectations and build trust in their enforcement.
A talking piece passed around a circle invites equal participation.
Students develop reading skills by listening to and speaking with others in informal ways.
This toolkit provides resources to support family well-being and students’ ongoing learning and development.
Videos developed with discussion guides can teach students about SEL skills.
A web dictionary can serve as a resource for students to expand their Vocabulary knowledge.
Puzzles and games help students visualize how to connect one fact to another.
Actively manipulating word parts deepens a student's understanding of the way words are formed.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This is our homepage. You can access many of the features of the Navigator here, and learn more about how learner variability intersects with topics in education and learning. To start, select a content area – we call them Learner Models – to visit a factor map.
Factor maps show research-based concepts, "factors," that likely impact learning. They are organized into four categories: Learner Background, Social and Emotional Learning, Cognition, and Content Area. The map is interactive. Move your cursor over a factor to see connected factors. Select any factor to visit its summary page. We'll look at factor summary pages next.
This is a factor summary page. It provides a brief definition and review of the factor, a factor connections diagram, additional resources, and strategies that support this factor. On the strategy card, the multi-colored boxes show all the factors that it supports. Select a strategy to visit its summary page.
Strategy summary pages have an overview, information about using the strategy in different learning environments, resources of interest, the factors this strategy supports, and related strategies you can explore. To view all the strategies in a content area, use the strategies tab at the top of the page. We'll look at all the Strategies for this learner model next.
The strategy page shows ALL of the strategies for that learner model. You can select factors of interest for you or your learners, and it will narrow the strategies to only those that match all of the factors selected. This makes it easy to find key strategies to better design for learner variability. Again, select the strategy name to visit its summary page. Use the plus signs on each strategy card to add a strategy to a workspace. We'll explore those next.
The “Tools & Workspaces” tab on the navigation bar or the “My Workspaces” button on the account menu takes you to a page that shows your workspaces. There are two tabs on the My Workspaces page: a Workspaces tab and a Reports tab. The Workspaces tab lists workspaces you can personalize and update. You can create new sections, move cards between sections, add annotations, share with collaborators, and write reflections. The second tab, "Reports", are a kind of workspace created through the Instructional Design Tool or the Product Assessment Tool and have fewer personalization options.
There are three, step-by-step tools you can access on the Navigator to help make workspace or a workspace report. The Learner Centered Design Tool has four steps and helps you create a workspace. First, enter basic information and select a content area of interest. Second, select a few factors that you want to focus on. Third, review connected factors you may not have considered. Note – you don't have to select any extra factors on this step if you don’t want to. The fourth and final step, review and select strategies that you want to use, and save them to a workspace.
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Learner variability is the recognition that each learner is a unique constellation of strengths and challenges that are interconnected across the whole child. Understanding these connections and how they vary according to context is essential for meeting the needs of each learner.
It disrupts the notion of a one-size-fits all education. Understanding learner variability helps educators embrace both students’ struggles and strengths as we connect practice to uplifting the whole learner.
Throughout the site, we talk about "factors" and "strategies." Factors are concepts research suggests have an impact on how people learn. Strategies are the approaches to teaching and learning that can be used to support people in how they learn best.
Use the Learner Centered Design Tool to build a workspace. Go to Learner Centered Design Tool.
Or, create a new blank workspace for your product or project.
Use one of the guided tools to build a workspace.
Or, create a new blank workspace for your product or project.
Make a copy of this workspace.
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On this page, using your heatmap, you will be asked to select factors to further explore, and then select new strategies you might incorporate into upcoming instruction. Once done, click “Show Summary" to view your Design Summary Report.
On this page, using your heatmap, you will be asked to select factors to further explore, and then select new strategies you might incorporate into upcoming instruction. Once done, click “Show Report” to view your Design Summary Report.
By selecting "Show Report" you will be taken to the Assessment Summary Page. Once created, you will not be able to edit your report. If you select cancel below, you can continue to edit your factor and strategy selections.
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Learner variability is the recognition that each learner is a unique constellation of strengths and challenges that are interconnected across the whole child. Understanding these connections and how they vary according to context is essential for meeting the needs of each learner. It embraces both students’ struggles and strengths. It considers the whole child.
Throughout the site, we talk about "factors" and "strategies." Factors are concepts research suggests have an impact on how people learn. Strategies are the approaches to teaching and learning that can be used to support people in how they learn best.
The Learner Variability Navigator is a free, online tool that translates the science of learner variability into factor maps and strategies that highlight connections across the whole learner. This puts the science of learning at teachers' fingertips, empowering them to understand their own practice and support each learner.
