What if every student in your building had a teacher who could work with them directly, not just once in a while, but as a regular part of every class? School leaders hear a lot about student-centered instruction. They hear less about what actually makes it stick and what the research says separates real instructional change from the kind that fades after the first unit.

This session cuts through the noise. Drawing on a growing body of evidence and data from thousands of K–12 classrooms, presenters from the Modern Classrooms Project walk leaders through two of the highest-leverage instructional shifts: moving from whole-class instruction to targeted small-group and 1:1 support, and shifting from time-based to mastery-driven learning. Dr. Emily Persons shares the measurable changes she has evaluated in how teachers use class time, how students access support, and how leaders can tell the difference between surface-level implementation and the real thing. In this session, leaders:

• Examine the research base behind small-group instruction and mastery-driven learning and what it means for how we support teachers and design schools.

• Explore real classroom data on how these shifts change teacher behavior, student engagement, and the quality of feedback students receive.

• Understand what leaders can look for in classrooms, in data, and in coaching conversations.

• Leave with a clear framework and tools for supporting teachers to ensure instructional shifts are sustainable