Research Briefs

Our research is meant to be shared—and used.

SchoolWorks Research Briefs translate emerging research, relevant scholarship, and lessons from our pilot work into concise, accessible resources for educators, researchers, school leaders, policymakers, and partners.

Each brief examines an important question about learning, educational evidence, professional judgment, or the systems that support teaching. The briefs explain what is known, identify implications for practice, and make clear what still needs to be investigated.

Our Research Briefs reflect work at different stages of development. Some introduce foundational ideas. Others document emerging findings, examine questions raised by educators, or report what we are learning alongside our pilot partners.

We publish not only what we believe, but what the evidence supports, what we are learning, and what remains uncertain.

Featured Publications

Our Current Thinking

The Pathfinder Blueprint

Reimagining Learning, Assessment, and Human Intelligence

A comprehensive exploration of the ideas behind Pathfinder and the case for moving from periodic measurement toward a richer, longitudinal understanding of student learning.

Living Intelligence

Rethinking Intelligence as a Developing Human Capacity

An exploration of intelligence not as a fixed quantity or single score, but as a dynamic human capacity that develops through experience, interaction, reflection, and changes in understanding

VIA

A Framework for Understanding Developing Intelligence

An introduction to VIA and its role in examining learning and intelligence as multidimensional, developmental processes.

Toward A Science of Educational Evidence

Understanding Learning Through Evidence, Inference, and Professional Judgment

An exploration of how multiple sources of longitudinal educational evidence might support trustworthy inferences about developing student understanding.

Research From the Field

Pilot Reports & Findings

Research in progress. Findings will be published as evidence becomes available

St. James Parish Primary School Pilot Research Report

Forthcoming

Seabrook Middle School Pilot Research Report

Forthcoming

Winnacunnet High School Pilot Research Report

Forthcoming

India Research Partnership Pilot Research Report

Forthcoming

Built for the Moment Teachers Are In

Teachers are being asked to respond to increasingly diverse learning needs while managing heavy workloads, fragmented information and growing concern about technology’s effect on human thinking.

The SchoolWorks Lab studies how better evidence can strengthen teaching. Pathfinder puts that work into practice.

Pathfinder organizes observations, student work and other evidence generated during ordinary instruction into a developing picture of learning. It helps teachers recognize patterns, respond sooner and determine what each learner may need next.

It does not replace curriculum, assessment or professional judgment. It does not think for students or make educational decisions for teachers.

Pathfinder increases teachers’ capacity while keeping people responsible for the decisions that matter.

Our Approach

Evidence from real learning: Capture multiple forms of evidence as understanding develops.
Support for professional judgment: Help teachers connect evidence to learning goals and instructional choices.
A longitudinal view: Show change over time rather than reducing a learner to one score.
Human-governed technology: Use AI to organize and support—not to replace student thinking or teacher judgment.
Research before claims: Develop Pathfinder through carefully governed pilots with teachers and schools.

The Roles Are Clear

SchoolWorks Lab investigates how evidence, research and technology can strengthen teaching.

Pathfinder is the instructional evidence system being developed and tested through that research.

Teachers and pilot schools are partners who help determine whether the system saves time, improves decisions and supports diverse learners.

Teachers already know more than existing systems allow them to see and use. Pathfinder helps make that knowledge visible, connected and actionable.

Discover how learning happens

Research Briefs

Making the Research Accessible

Not every important research question requires a lengthy academic paper. SchoolWorks Research Briefs translate emerging research and scholarship into concise resources for educators, researchers, school leaders, policymakers, and partners. Topics will include:

Recognizing Learning Patterns

What might changes in student thinking look like across time?

Coming Soon

Teacher Professional Judgment

How do educators make trustworthy inferences from multiple forms of evidence?

Coming Soon

Student Learning Portfolios

What happens when students participate in documenting their own development?

Coming Soon

Teacher Workload

Can better evidence systems reduce rather than increase the burden on educators?

Coming Soon

AI and Human Judgment

Where can artificial intelligence assist educators — and where should human judgment remain decisive?

Coming Soon

Interoperability

Can schools make better use of the evidence already distributed across their existing systems?

Coming Soon

Essays & Perspectives

Ideas That Invite Conversation

Some SchoolWorks publications are intentionally exploratory.

These essays allow us to examine larger questions surrounding learning, intelligence, assessment, technology, and the changing role of educators.

They provide a place to ask questions before research has necessarily provided definitive answers.

Because important research often begins with an idea worth questioning.

Our Publication Standard

“Ideas should be identified as ideas. Evidence should be identified as evidence. Findings should be earned.”

We believe readers should always be able to tell what kind of knowledge they are reading. For that reason, SchoolWorks publications are clearly identified as:

Foundational
The ideas and propositions underlying our work.

Conceptual
Frameworks and models we are developing.

Working Paper
Research and thinking still being refined.

Research Brief
Concise synthesis of evidence or scholarship.

Pilot Report
Documentation and analysis from a research site.

Research Finding
A conclusion supported by systematic analysis of evidence.

Essay / Perspective
Interpretation, argument, or emerging thinking intended to invite discussion.

An Open Research Record

The SchoolWorks Lab is engaged in work that is still developing. That means some of our most important publications will change as we learn. New evidence may strengthen an idea. It may complicate it. It may require us to revise it. And occasionally, it may require us to abandon it. That is how knowledge advances.

Where appropriate, we will preserve versions and publication dates so readers can see how our thinking has developed alongside the research.

Go Deeper

Publications present the work of SchoolWorks. Our Research Library provides the scholarship behind it. There, readers can explore the researchers, theories, studies, evidence, and sources informing our investigation of learning.