Virginia Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Center at Virginia Commonwealth University

In his memoir, Matthew McConaughey talks about bumper stickers, quick-hit lines that try to sum up something bigger, something true (McConaughey, 2020). In education, we have our own, “I do, We do, You do.” It sounds good, rolls off the tongue, and feels like wisdom on a teacher-lounge fridge magnet. But like a real bumper […]

Scaffolding is an essential instructional strategy that helps bridge the gap between what students currently know and what they are capable of with guidance. Originating from Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development, scaffolding involves providing temporary supports that enable learners to perform tasks they could not accomplish independently. As students gain understanding and confidence, these […]

It seems like every year we wonder about teacher talk versus student talk. Am I talking too much during instruction? Are all of the students engaged in opportunities to respond? As teachers, coaches, and administrators, we often reflect on whether instruction is student-centered. Sometimes it feels like we’re doing everything right, but the students still […]

Registration is open for the 2025 VCU School of Education’s Dyslexia Symposium! Come join fellow educators on November 8, 2025, for a day of learning, networking, and professional development. The keynote speaker, Kelli Sandman-Hurley, Ed.D., founder of the Dyslexia Training Institute, author, and national advocate for dyslexia education, will share her presentation, Dyslexia: What We […]

Teachers often revisit the question at the beginning of the school year: Is homework an unnecessary burden or is it a valuable pedagogical practice? The debate has persisted for decades with little change in public opinion or the amount of homework assigned. According to Dr. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, […]

Today’s educators face the ongoing challenge of providing high-quality instruction to increasingly diverse student populations. As classrooms grow more varied in terms of learning needs, language backgrounds, and abilities, teachers must seek effective strategies to ensure that every student receives meaningful, personalized instruction. One such strategy, small group instruction, has gained recognition for its ability […]

What do research and data have to say about using leveled texts and grouping vs. other grouping strategies? For decades, elementary classroom teachers attempted to meet the broad literacy needs of their students by using leveled reading groups. Teachers would begin by assessing and grouping students with similar achievement levels and providing guided instruction in […]

In January 2025, the National Assessment of Educational Progress released reading and mathematics test scores for Grades 4 and 8, revealing a statistically significant decline in reading performance between 2022 and 2024 (National Assessment of Educational Progress, (n.d.); Schwartz, 2025). These data raise an urgent question: How can educators support students and their families during […]

Have you been thinking about science instruction lately? Are you wondering how to help students “to pry” open visuals like diagrams, graphs, and tables? TPRY is the cognitive strategy you are looking for! TPRY is a learner-owned mnemonic strategy that captures the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practice of Developing and Using Models. Although it […]

Professional development (PD) is the primary way in which knowledge, skills, and information are shared with teachers. The general approach to PD involves initial training; teachers are expected to take the presented information back to their respective classrooms and implement it, often with little to no follow-up (Saunders et al., 2021). This traditional model of […]