As we reflect on another year in education, let’s revisit the articles that resonated most with Educational Leadership readers. This year brought fresh opportunities and persistent challenges to the teaching profession—from integrating AI in classrooms to addressing students’ mental health needs and equity in learning. At the heart of it all, educators sought out insights and employed strategies to foster transformative learning for both their students and themselves.
Throughout the year, EL magazine explored themes aimed at helping schools thrive in today’s education landscape. Whether it was finding joy in the classroom, fostering teacher agency, or engaging students in real-world problem solving, authors highlighted educators’ creativity, insights, and resourcefulness while posing critical questions about how to create environments that truly serve all learners.
Here are the most popular reads from each issue of Educational Leadership in 2024, along with bonus reads that complement each theme. These pieces reflect the diverse and dynamic priorities of the education community—timely reminders of the collective progress we’ve made and the work that lies ahead.
“What I Heard from Students About Mental Health—and What Helps” by Nick Ironside (February 2024)
“Teachers need to believe that mental health is more important than academics,” one of Nick Ironside’s students shared during a candid conversation about well-being. In EL’s issue on Mental Health Matters, the middle and high school educator reflects on how open conversations with his students transformed his teaching practices. By listening deeply and implementing students’ suggestions—like incorporating emotional check-ins and offering in-the-moment supports (rather than jumping to consequences) for disruptive behaviors—he built a classroom culture of safety and trust. Ironside emphasizes that while teachers can take small, meaningful steps to support mental health, addressing the crisis also requires systemic change, including better resources and professional development for educators.
Bonus Read: “Let’s Stop Shaming Teens About Social Media Use” by Candice L. Odgers and Gillian R. Hayes
Mental Health Matters
What mental health challenges look like for students today and how schools can better support learners’ psychological and emotional wellness.
“The Vital Role of Joy for Educators” by Kimberly Tsai Cawkwell (March 2024)
Joy isn't just a nice-to-have in education—it's fundamental to effective teaching and learning, writes Kimberly Tsai Cawkwell in EL’s issue on The Emotionally Intelligent Educator. Cawkwell describes joy as “a powerful force that can enhance self-awareness, empathy, optimism, social skills, and resilience—the core components of emotional intelligence.” To create an emotionally intelligent classroom, educators need to start by prioritizing teacher joy, then find ways to help that joy ripple throughout the school community. Her article offers concrete strategies for fostering joy in daily practice, from ongoing identity-conscious learning to centering moments of collective joy in classroom routines.
Bonus Read: “The Value of Descriptive, Multi-Level Rubrics” by Jay McTighe, Susan M. Brookhart, and Thomas R. Guskey
The Emotionally Intelligent Educator
Ways educators can strengthen characteristics of emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, empathy, optimism, and teamwork.
“Reimagining Mathematics to Save the World” by Jennifer Bay-Williams (April 2024)
How do professional mathematicians think? And how can we bring this type of reasoning and decision making into the classroom? In her article for EL’s issue, Can STEM Save the World?, mathematics teacher educator Jennifer Bay-Williams shows how math instruction can engage students in meaningful problem solving needed to address the critical global challenges our world faces. Bay-Williams unpacks which mathematical practices to get rid of and which ones to expand on in today’s STEM classrooms, emphasizing that “the future requires a population of confident, competent, and mathematically fluent decision-makers who can understand global challenges and take action to address them.”
Bonus Read: “We Can All Teach Climate Change” by Mark Windschitl
Can STEM Save the World?
How educators can engage students in multidisciplinary, inclusive, and inquiry-driven STEM instruction that is relevant to the world today.
“Stop Making Teachers Submit Lesson Plans!” by Paul Emerich France (May 2024)
In EL’s issue on The Power of Teacher Agency, teacher, speaker, author, and recurring EL contributor Paul Emerich France urges administrators to rethink traditional accountability measures that all too often stifle teacher creativity and responsiveness to student needs. His article offers alternative approaches to planning practices that balance necessary oversight with professional respect for classroom teachers: “Hopefully, this will create the best of both worlds: teachers won’t feel micromanaged, and leaders will have more awareness about what teachers are teaching.” To learn more, check out his recent ASCD book, Make Teaching Sustainable: Six Shifts That Teachers Want and Students Need.
Bonus Read: “How Leaders Can Support Culturally Responsive Instruction” by Andrea Terrero Gabbadon
The Power of Teacher Agency
Why teachers need autonomy and discretion to develop their practice, and strategies schools can use to cultivate teacher agency.
“Using AI to Fuel Engagement and Active Learning” by Amy Holcombe and Steve Wozniak (Summer 2024)
"Artificial Intelligence + Actual Intelligence = Increased Student Engagement," write Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and education leader Amy Holcombe in EL's issue From Absent to Engaged. They explore innovative ways to bring this equation to life in K-12 classrooms, offering practical strategies like using AI to gamify lessons or create personalized content that addresses diverse learner needs. By positioning students as active participants in their own learning, educators can spark authentic curiosity and deeper engagement—and AI can serve as a powerful catalyst for making this transformation happen.
Bonus Read: “Good Attendance Starts in the Classroom” by Hedy N. Chang
From Absent to Engaged
Strategies to address student absenteeism and disconnection, with a focus on engaging learning experiences.
“Teaching for Total Participation” by Pérsida Himmele and William Himmele (September 2024)
New teachers often rely on familiar methods to assess student learning, such as Q&A sessions that engage only a handful of students. In EL’s issue Helping New Teachers Thrive, Pérsida and William Himmele introduce strategies to disrupt this pattern through what they call Total Participation Techniques. These tools, like the Ripple Model and the Cognitive Engagement Model, promote whole-class engagement and encourage higher-order thinking. Adapted from the second edition of their book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner, this article equips instructional leaders to guide new teachers toward responsive, student-centered instruction.
Bonus Read: “Reframing New Teachers’ Common Misconceptions” by Lisa Westman
Helping New Teachers Thrive
Best practices and systemic shifts for instructional leaders to boost staff capacity and help new teachers thrive.
“Making the Choice to Teach Up” by Carol Ann Tomlinson (October 2024)
Inspired by Carol Ann Tomlinson’s concept of “teaching up,” the October 2024 issue of EL embraced the theme Teaching Up for Student Success. It’s no surprise that Tomlinson’s was the issue’s most-read article, as she challenges educators to view every student as capable of extraordinary growth. “Teaching up asks teachers to push against labels and stereotypes that lead to categorizing students as ‘low,’ ‘average,’ or ‘high’ and to instead assume every student has the capacity to become something much grander than a category,” she writes. In the article, Tomlinson offers practical, everyday choices educators can make to bring this mindset to life, extending her influential work on differentiated learning into actionable strategies.
Bonus Read: “Thriving in the Zone of Productive Struggle” by Lee Ann Jung
Teaching Up for Student Success
Strategies to provide all students with equitable access to challenging learning opportunities—and the scaffolding they need to succeed.
“Helping Students Navigate Digital Drama” by Michael Creekmore (November 2024)
How can educators help students de-escalate digital drama rather than fueling it? In EL’s Growing a Generation of Digital Problem Solvers, Michael Creekmore shares his approach for turning “digital problem starters” into problem solvers. “Any student who can recognize the pitfalls of social media is well on their way to navigating tricky communication issues,” he writes, emphasizing the importance of teaching students to identify and diffuse online conflict rather than being entertained by it. Using storytelling, role-playing scenarios, and skill-building in areas like active listening, educators can equip students to approach digital drama with empathy and integrity.
Bonus Read: “It’s Time to Get Serious About Digital Citizenship Education” by Kristen Mattson
Growing a Generation of Digital Problem Solvers
How educators can develop and support students’ digital problem-solving and citizenship skills.
“Joy: The Oxygen for Learning” by Katie Egan Cunningham and Kristin N. Rainville (December 2024)
"Learning environments where students are active, engaged, and joyful don’t happen by accident," write education professors Katie Egan Cunningham and Kristin N. Rainville. "You will need to be intentional about the ways you prioritize joy as an essential part of learning." In their article from EL’s Centering Student Joy, the authors dispel myths about joy as requiring perfection or extravagant efforts. Instead, they define it as moments of connection, challenge, and growth. Based in principles of cognitive science and positive psychology, they offer a framework for cultivating joy through meaningful relationships and brain-friendly instruction.
Bonus Read: “What Does Centering Student Joy Mean?” by Lauren Porosoff
Centering Student Joy
How joy humanizes learning and the many ways educators can cultivate it.
