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ResearchED held its first Midwest conference at a public high school near St. Louis, drawing about 160 attendees for a one-day program on learning science and teaching practice. The event is part of an international network that began in London in 2013; how much the U.S. conference will influence classroom practice remains unclear.
ResearchED held its first Midwest conference at a public high school near St. Louis, bringing about 160 educators together for a one-day program on learning science and classroom teaching. The gathering extends an international series founded in London in 2013, as organizers seek to introduce U.S. teachers to research on memory, attention and practice.
The event featured about 40 sessions, according to The 74’s report, with speakers discussing ways to put evidence about learning into practice. Keynote speaker Tom Sherrington, a British teacher, author and consultant, used a model geography lesson to demonstrate techniques involving memorization, discussion and repetition. He urged teachers to make sure every student participates.
“We don’t need to do new stuff,” Sherrington told the audience. “We need to do the things we know really, really well.” His point, as presented in the report, was to focus on applying established teaching practices rather than chasing novelty. Sherrington said he had attended 53 ResearchED events and described cognitive science principles as “not niche ideas.”
The St. Louis conference was organized by educators including Cindy Nebel, a cognitive scientist, and MJ Mercanti-Anthony, a Bronx principal who has organized ResearchED events in New York City. The report says the program largely avoided political disputes and included one session on evaluating artificial-intelligence tools. It does not provide outcome data on changes to teaching or student learning after the event.
A Regional Route Into Learning Science
ResearchED offers teachers a forum to discuss how findings about memory, attention and practice can inform lessons. The event’s arrival in the Midwest matters because the report describes U.S. adoption of those ideas as uneven, despite foundational cognitive-science research being conducted largely in the United States.
The conference is a professional-development gathering, not evidence that its approach has improved student outcomes. Its immediate reach was modest: about 160 people attended. Still, the local event gives educators in the region access to speakers and peers focused on research-informed instruction, rather than requiring them to travel to conferences elsewhere.
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From London Gathering to Network
ResearchED began amid online discussions among British teachers in 2012 about why teacher preparation often did not cover how learning works. In September 2013, teacher Tom Bennett and fellow educator Hélène Galdin-O’Shea organized a one-day event at Dulwich College in south London. Sherrington recalled that around 30 people presented and organizers initially expected it to be a one-off.
Further events followed as educators requested gatherings in their own cities. A local-organizer model helped the series spread across Britain and internationally. The report says events were scheduled next in Toronto, Doha and Haninge, Sweden. It also contrasts Britain’s policy and teacher-training support for cognitive science with the absence, in one speaker’s view, of similar mechanisms across U.S. schools.
““We don’t need to do new stuff. We need to do the things we know really, really well.””
— Tom Sherrington, keynote speaker
The Reach Beyond One Saturday
The report does not specify the conference’s exact date, whether future Midwest events have been scheduled, or how many U.S. educators attended earlier ResearchED gatherings. It also offers no independent evaluation of whether the conference’s ideas were adopted by participants or affected classroom instruction and student learning.
Some claims about national progress are attributed opinions, not established comparisons in the article. For example, Mercanti-Anthony said the United States is “easily 10 years behind” England and Australia in classroom use of learning science; the report does not supply data measuring that gap. The scale and longer-term effect of ResearchED in the Midwest therefore remain uncertain.
More Events, Measured Impact
The report identifies Toronto, Doha and Haninge as the next locations on ResearchED’s international calendar, but does not give event dates or announce another Midwest gathering. The next concrete test for the St. Louis event will be whether local organizers hold further conferences and whether participating educators carry the discussed practices into their schools.
Any claim that the series changes teaching or student outcomes would require follow-up evidence, such as participant surveys, classroom observations or student-learning measures. The report describes the conference’s goals and format, but does not provide those results.
Key Questions
What happened at the St. Louis-area ResearchED event?
ResearchED held its first Midwest conference at a public high school near St. Louis. About 160 people attended a one-day program on learning science and teaching.
What does ResearchED focus on?
The conference series focuses on how research into memory, attention and practice can inform classroom instruction. The St. Louis program included a model lesson and sessions for educators.
When and where did ResearchED begin?
Teachers Tom Bennett and Hélène Galdin-O’Shea organized the first event in September 2013 at Dulwich College in south London.
Did the conference show that learning science improves student outcomes?
No outcome data were reported. The article describes the conference’s teaching ideas and attendance, but does not establish whether participants changed their instruction or whether student learning improved.
Are more ResearchED events planned?
The report lists Toronto, Doha and Haninge, Sweden, as upcoming international locations. It does not provide dates or confirm another Midwest event.
Source: the74million.org
