Foreward

Introduction

LaQuita Outlaw, Ed.D., has worked in school leadership for over a decade. Dr. Outlaw serves as a peer editor for Corwin Press and assists several local organizations with organizing professional development opportunities for educators across Long Island.

We all have more to do than time permits. When looking at classroom instruction and the impact the Pandemic had on students, it is even more important to focus on the essential learning that must take place for students. Renowned educator, Douglas B. Reeves, shares three criteria when deciding the content classroom teachers should focus on in his article “Power

Standards: The Answer to the Reality of Too Many Standards and Too Little Time.” In addition to honing in on the standards, Gregory Borman, Okhee Lee, and Theresa Ocol, help us to focus on developing student understanding in an equitable environment in their article, “Student Agency and Equity in Contemporary Science Education With All Students.”

Keeping students at the center of learning continues to be a fundamental classroom requirement. Bob Greenleaf, Elaine M. Millen, and LaVonna Roth remind us of that in their second installment of “The DNA of

Learning: Kids Leading the Learning Journey.” The focus of reaching every learner must include a conversation about reaching students who also need language support. In their article entitled “Integrating Science and Language with Multilingual Learners Through Consensus Among Policy, Research, and Instructional Approaches,” Gregory Borman, Okhee Lee, and Theresa Ocol look at how we can provide the necessary support for students. We have important work ahead of us if we are going to advance student learning outcomes. The work won’t be easy, but we have resources that we can use to begin the conversation and the heavy lifting.

Thank you to our authors in this issue of the Impact Journal and to Dominick Fantacone for their contributions and leadership.