Every Student is a Powerful Learner.

Not by Chance,
but by Design.

Leverage the power of culturally
responsive teaching to accelerate
students’ academic achievement.

ALL STUDENTS ARE WIRED TO LEARN.
But we have underdeveloped the cognitive capacity for some.

You see it every day: students who’ve fallen behind in reading, who struggle to keep up in math. Not because they can’t learn—but because the way we’ve designed teaching doesn’t close their existing learning gaps. You’re trying to get students where they need to be but you’re still not seeing the growth your students deserve.

Reading Proficiency
Has Dropped

of eight-grade students performed at or above NAEP Proficient in 2024, lower than in previous years.1

12024 NAEP Report Card        2EdWeek Research Center

Math Anxiety
Has Risen

of teachers say that math anxiety was a challenge for their students.2

Too Much Support,
Not Enough Struggle

When educators over-scaffold,
they inadvertently limit students’
capacity to build their own
cognitive muscles.

Culturally Responsive Teaching When Done Effectively Offers the Next Generation of Instructional Innovation.

First generation equity initiatives focused on providing more diverse content. Second generation equity initiatives have focused on providing high-quality, grade-level materials.

With growing majority-minority student demographics, culturally responsive 
teaching is ushering in the third generation of instructional innovation.

Culturally Responsive Teaching Leverages...

Social Neuroscience

The Science of Learning

Cultural Funds of Knowledge

More than a motivation gimmick, culturally responsive instruction builds each
student’s capacity to be the leader of their own learning.

The Distinctions of Equity

How Culturally Responsive Teaching Differs from Social Justice Education

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Build the Will, Skill, Knowledge, and Capacity That Changes Outcomes for Students.

Most approaches to culturally responsive teaching focus only on diversifying content or building relationships with students. The Ready for Rigor® Framework takes you further.

  • Get students ready to take on more rigor by improving their information processing skill—not just executive function

  • Build a learning partnership with students that allows you to coach, not just a friendly relationship with no trust

  • Establish a cognitive apprenticeship in the classroom that disrupts Processing the all too common pedagogy of compliance

  • Sharpen your awareness lens to recognize inequitable practices masquerading as helpful instruction

Awareness
Awareness
Learning Partnerships
Learning Partnerships
Information Processing
Information Processing
Community of Learners
Community
of Learners
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We are here to support you to operationalize culturally responsive teaching practices

So you can help students close their learning gaps quickly and regain their learning power.

Based on bestselling book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, the Ready for Rigor® Framework will help you create the instructional moves, routines, and structures that result in a classroom where students thrive and are prepared to tackle rigorous learning.

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Explore Ways to Operationalize the Ready for Rigor® Framework

Ready to begin? The four areas of the framework are interdependent and work together. Select an area where you’d like to deepen your understanding and build your skill or capacity. You can use these guiding questions to identify where you are in your journey with culturally responsive teaching and then take the next step in your learning.

Awareness
Understand your context and yourself.

 

  • Have I explored how culture shapes how I see, teach, and relate to students?
  • Do I understand how the brain learns—and how bias can disrupt that process?
  • Am I aware of how race, language, and identity impact learning in my classroom?
Learning Partnerships
Shift from power over to power with.
  • Do I see myself as a
    partner in my students’
    learning, not just a
    deliverer of content?
  • Am I creating a
    classroom culture that
    reduces stress from
    stereotype threat and
    microaggressions?
  • Am I balancing care
    with high expectations
    to build student
    confidence and agency?
Community of Learners
Create a cognitive apprenticeship in the classroom.
  • Have I built a learning
    space where students
    feel intellectually and
    emotionally safe?
  • Do students have
    voice, agency, and
    meaningful roles in
    shaping our classroom?
  • Am I using
    collaborative routines
    and restorative
    practices to build
    a strong learning
    community?
Information Processing
Improve the brain’s engine for deeper learning.
  • Am I providing the
    right level of challenge
    to stretch students’
    cognitive capacity?
  • Do I connect new
    content to students’
    lives, cultures, and
    ways of making
    meaning?
  • Am I using culturally
    grounded strategies
    to help students
    process and retain
    what they learn?

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Sign up for the Ready for Rigor newsletter to get:

  • Actionable tips to evolve your practice and empower all students to think, grow, and succeed
  • Exclusive resources and tools to guide your learning journey
  • Personal reflections and insights straight from Zaretta Hammond
  • Early access to information about upcoming courses, events, and more