Katie Martin - Evolving Education: Shifting to a Learner-Centered Paradigm

Evolving Education is an inspirational and practical guide to shifting to a learner-centered approach. It clearly articulates how to redefine success, create powerful learning experiences, and support them with enabling conditions. Evolving Education would make a great book study for any school faculty or community group.

Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Getting Smart, author, and international thought leader

Katie Martin absolutely nailed it in Evolving Education. The book continually challenges us to ask ourselves, What does it mean to be successful? and How can we design classrooms, schools, and systems to improve the lives of the students we serve? A learner-centered paradigm requires that we examine beliefs and biases and disrupt systems that do not serve each and every learner. This work requires innovation, creativity, flexibility, and heart. This book is the perfect mix of incredible storytelling, inspiration, and concrete strategy.

Katie Novak,EdD, educational consultant and author of nine books, including UDL and Blended Learning

Dewey, Marzano, and Hattie delivered a modern pedagogy connected to tangible practices and authentic examples from the field; Katie Martin provides the next chapter. Evolving Education will be relevant for decades to come. If theres one book to put in the hands of teachers and school leaders to help make the shift to learner-centered classrooms and schools, it is this one.

David Miyashiro, EdD, superintendent of Cajon Valley Union School District

Thought-provoking and inspiring! Shifting the narrative from deficit-thinking to an asset-based approach, this book empowers educators with the mindset and practices needed to evolve. Dr. Martin weaves together stories and research to illustrate the power of a culture of care and agency that maximizes the curiosity, passions, and talents of all learners. If you are ready to evolve beyond a compliance-driven model and innovate to authentic, learner-centered education, this book is a must-read!

Lainie Rowell, lead author of Evolving Learner and international education consultant

Filled with Katies personal experiences, her extensive research and practice, and authentic educator stories, Evolving Education is a book that will inspire educators to more closely connect with learners and create experiences to help them thrive! Evolving Education is a must-read for anyone in education looking to improve their teaching practice and expand the types of learning experiences they provide for all students.

Rachelle Dene Poth, ISTE-certified educator, teacher, consultant, speaker, attorney, author, and blogger

Katie Martin does it again! This is an incredible book by a brilliant thinker who has skillfully connected personal stories, research, and professional insights from working with hundreds of schools into frameworks and practical suggestions to inspire and guide the shift to learner-centered education. Evolving Education is an instant classic, and it is essential reading to inform effective and empowered learning for all.

Devin Vodicka, EdD, chief impact officer of Learner-Centered Collaborative and the author of Learner-Centered Leadership

If we are going to address systemic inequity in our schools, then we need to take an approach that is focused on the diverse needs of our students and less on the perceived needs of the school. This approach requires identifying the skills that all students must develop. Katie Martin shows us that these skills are not just an add-on to our school curriculum but the foundation to learning in our schools. Dr. Martins learner-centered paradigm shows us the way to move our schools forward. For those of us who care deeply about equity, our students need to be the center of our approach. Katie Martin not only shows us how to do this, but how to do it well. Now is the time to move the needs of every student into the center of our schools, and now is the time for this book.

Henry Turner, EdD, high school principal, speaker, and writer

Evolving Education issues the bold challenge for educators to consider it an obligation to create the conditions for students to be at the center of learning. The timing is right for practices to shift, and this book fuels the inspiration to take action. Evolving Education is more than a must-read; it offers a number of must-apply practices for all readers.

Marlon Styles, superintendent of Middletown Public Schools

Katie Martin is one of my favorite educational authors because she has a wonderful ability to combine the big picture with specific illustrations and practical strategies. In her new book, Martin thoughtfully weaves together important ideas, inspiring stories about learning, and concrete examples from schools to help us understand the large and small shifts that are necessary for an evolving education. Each chapter includes numerous scenarios, provocations, and guiding questions that will get you thinking deeply, and there is an emphasis throughout the book on creating systems, not just isolated pockets of innovation. If you care about transforming student learning, Evolving Education should be a keystone book in your school-improvement library.

Dr. Scott McLeod, professor at University of Colorado Denver and founding director of CASTL

In Evolving Education, Dr. Katie Martin provides a much-needed inspirational resource for how every educator can transform their classroom and culture into an environment that prioritizes the needs, curiosity, and futures of young people. From provocations that help educators reflect on their practices to strategies that support schools designing personalized pathways for learning, this book shows us how to create engaging, learner-centered spaces. With stories from her own life and examples of pedagogical practices like project-based learning and design thinking as well as the current research on the science of learning, Dr. Martin illustrates why we need to change education and also how to do it. Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Martin takes a deep look at the process of changeaddressing the emotional arc of transforming ones practice and acknowledging that as we change our teaching practices and shift the culture of schools, we too are transformed into the educators our students need us to be.

Laura McBain, K12 lab director of community and implementation at Stanford d.school