Supporting Teachers in Implementing the Science of Learning

When Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland made the decision to implement the science of learning across their 48,000-student district, school leaders knew the process would take a lot of time—and a monumental effort. But school leaders saw the potential for impact on student learning, and they were curious if  the shift could  alleviate the ever-growing burden placed on classroom teachers. ​​

Teaching has always been a complex profession, and today’s classrooms bring ever-greater challenges. Students arrive with diverse needs, teachers juggle demanding curricula, and every lesson requires thoughtful decisions about what will help students learn best. In Frederick County, educators turned to the science of learning to guide those decisions, and based their approach on evidence-based practices and relevant research.

“No one had ever taken the opportunity to really break down the model of the mind and how learning actually happens,” the district’s supervisor of induction and professional learning Amy Struntz says. “Once you see things that really make a difference in your teaching, you can’t help but want to be part of it.”

By focusing district-wide efforts on training educators on how the brain processes, stores, and retrieves information, Frederick County set out to equip teachers to better recognize which instructional practices support learning—and which may be less impactful. Meg Lee, Frederick County’s former director of organizational development, explains, “Learning science helps teachers understand what works the best for their students so they can stop doing some things that maybe are not as effective, and elevate the practices that work the best.”

The district has made this work a priority for both new and experienced educators. New hires are introduced to learning science principles as part of their three-year induction program, giving them an early groundingin strategies that support student learning. Veteran teachers continue to deepen their understanding through professional development, collaborative learning, and mentorships.

Across the district, teachers are learning new strategies—and revisiting familiar ones with a deeper understanding of why they work and how to use them most effectively. 10 years into the initiative, Frederick County’s goal is simple but ambitious: ensure every teacher has a strong foundation in the science of learning so they can continually refine their practice and help every student succeed.

The learn more about Frederick County's implementation process, watch the video Making the Shift to Learning Science. To see videos showing some of the many teaching strategies based on the science of learning in action, search “How Learning Happens” on Edutopia.