Chatbots, novices, the automation of learning and the case for Alpha School carlhendrick.substack.com/p/children-o...

Why growth mindset works in the laboratory, fails in the classroom, and reveals something true about both. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-you-ca...

Privileged to be part of the #TransformED curriculum team. Thanks to the Minister Paul Givan and the brilliant dept of education team for the welcome and tour of Parliament Buildings at Stormont today.

Are students learning anything from TikTok and YouTube? And do we have the research to know? ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/learning-i...

A LOT going on this month in the science of learning. New studies on the limits of retrieval practice, phone bans that don't move test scores, ChatGPT as cognitive crutch, and why early vocabulary growth tells us surprisingly little about later reading. ⤵️ substack.com/home/post/p-...

Do test scores improve after phone bans? Not really. - High schools gain a little. Middle schools lose a little. The average is close to zero. www.nber.org/papers/w35132

The Evidence Base on AI in K-12: A 2026 Review scale.stanford.edu/sites/defaul...

The problem with banning social media is that it's social. New post ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-proble...

Rethinking Retrieval Practice: Remembering Is Not Knowing carlhendrick.substack.com/p/rethinking...

What's new in learning science? Monthly roundup: Retrieval practice under scrutiny, feedback's missing mechanism, AI that actually teaches, and the quiet erosion of cognitive effort. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-monthl...

I have written a free guide on responsive teaching for UNESCO available here: t.co/puvgOyGgi3

We tend to think of reading as a visual act. But a growing body of research suggests that by the time a child encounters a word in print for the first time, their mind has already been preparing for that encounter. ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/orthograph...

Researching early teaching machines and fascinated by this 1937 device by Joseph James Ray. Like some weird Steampunk nightmare! It basically tested whether children could generalise from picture pairs: green light for correct, red for incorrect. Pure operant conditioning.

Learning at the Edge of Understanding: Correct answers are a lagging indicator of learning, not the mechanism. New post ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/learning-a...

Delighted to receive a copy of this today. Great to see the Spanish edition of How Learning Happens out in the world. @paulkirschner.bsky.social

If the job of teaching is dependent on people sacrificing their own mental health and wellbeing to do the job then this is simply not sustainable.

AI makes it easier to do more and harder to stop. New piece on "AI brain fry", intensified work, and what this means for education. New post ⬇️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/ai-brain-f...

Proud to announce that How Learning Happens is being released in the Netherlands as a 3 part series. First one released in September. www.uitgeverijpica.nl/titels/hoe-l...

Does it matter whether students generate examples before retrieval practice or after it? This study suggests the order barely matters. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The Dutch version of Instructional Illusions is out now. What a lovely cover it is too. telos-uitgevers.nl/boeken/onder...

*NEW DATE* Friday - 29 May Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (AEST) Location: Melbourne Exhibition Centre, South Wharf VIC 3006

Reading comprehension is not a skill. It’s an outcome of what you know. Strategies plateau. Knowledge compounds. lnkd.in/e-P9uNE2

Australia! March 2026. Four events on applying the science of learning: 🗓 Sydney — Mar 10 🗓 Canberra — Mar 12 🗓 Melbourne — Mar 13 🗓 Auckland — Mar 16 Tickets at carlhendrick.com/events-2-1

What is the number 1 thing schools are getting wrong in applying the science of learning? For me it's retrieval practice and this post attempts to say why: substacktools.com/sharex/5L00N...

Looking forward to speaking at the Abu Dhabi Teaching Conference tomorrow. #ADTC2026

Spent the morning at GEMS School of Research & Innovation in Dubai. Honoured to be invited to talk about the science of learning with Abeer Sakka who has done an incredible job there implementing research and practice across the GEMS Education network with the TLAG playbook.

New study on cognitive load shows it's not a single, stable thing that students carry through a lesson. It rises, falls, peaks, and interacts with motivation. 1/4 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Are natural learning environments really the best way learn? New post on Herbert Simon and why effective instructional design needs to be artificial. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/in-praise-...

Despite daily use of high quality comprehension curricula across four leading US districts, two thirds of observed lessons facilitated only surface level understanding of texts rather than the robust comprehension these materials were designed to support. sri.com/publication/...

Who are we talking about?