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177 Huntington Ave Ste 1703 PMB 74520
Boston, MA, 02115
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617-725-0000

ANet is a nonprofit dedicated to the premise that every child in America deserves an excellent education and the opportunities it provides. We pursue our vision of educational equality in America by helping schools boost student learning with great teaching that is grounded in standards, informed by data, and built on the successful practices of educators around the country.

Unfinished Learning and Unfinished Teaching

Blog

As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, our primary concern is helping ensure equitable opportunity for all students.

Working alongside schools, we’ve learned that great teaching is grounded in standards, data, and insights shared among educators. We believe a blog can help us make a difference by spreading the ideas and effective practices of educators we work with.

We’re proud of the expertise our team has built over our ten years, and we'll be featuring contributions from ANetters across the org on topics in which they’ve immersed themselves.

Help us spread opportunity for all students: please share posts that you find valuable with your colleagues. And please add your thoughts in the comments: we would love this blog to facilitate knowledge-sharing in all directions.

Unfinished Learning and Unfinished Teaching

Kate Shanahan

What is unfinished learning?

Unfinished learning refers to concepts students have not yet mastered—knowledge they will need in order to grasp upcoming ideas. Rather than the negative framing of terms like “weakness” or “gap,” unfinished learning suggests that with more work, students can and will achieve mastery.

Teachers can address unfinished learning by reengaging with concepts their students haven’t grasped. By providing new strategies and connecting old and new concepts, teachers will help students see concepts in new ways—and equip them with the understanding they will need to move forward with their peers.

Addressing unfinished learning should be a supplement to grade-level teaching, not a replacement.

What is unfinished teaching?

Unfinished teaching reframes unfinished learning, emphasizing educators’ responsibility when students have not yet mastered a concept. Unfinished learning reflects a growth mindset, but unfinished teaching advances educational equity as well, dismantling the idea that students are to blame  when they aren’t equipped to master lessons on their first encounter. It encourages educators to examine the biases that leave marginalized students vulnerable to unfinished teaching—and pushes us to change our approach in order to serve all students equitably.

Ready to learn more? Here is an educator’s perspective on how terminology helps remove barriers to equitable instruction.



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categories EduSpeak
tags unfinished learning, gap, eq, growth mindset, bias