From Knowing to Doing: Classroom Takeaways from researchED Toronto 2026

You've sat through the PD, read the research and nodded along. Then Monday arrives, the schedule falls apart, and the strategies you meant to try get pushed to next week. If that sounds familiar, you're in good company.

That gap between knowing and doing ran through every session at researchED Toronto on October 24, 2026, where the theme was From Evidence to More Equitable Outcomes.

My colleague Eryn Steele and I spent the day at the conference with educators from all across Ontario and beyond. The speakers came from very different angles: keynotes, classroom coaches, researchers, and program developers. Yet they kept landing on the same message: research matters when it changes what happens in the classroom, and equity is decided less by the instruction each child actually receives.

Here are six ideas from the day that you can bring into your classroom this week.

1. Everyone responds, not just the hand-raisers.

Anita Archer reminded us that attention is the gateway to learning. If only the confident students answer, the rest of the class can look engaged while learning only a little, and you never find out who is struggling.

Her fix is to build response routines so that every student answers every time:

• Teach the routine explicitly. Choral responses, partner responses, and written responses on whiteboards all need to be practiced before they run smoothly.
• Give thinking time before calling for an answer, so slower processors get a real chance.
• Make responses visible or audible enough to act on. A group answer is only useful if you can hear who hesitated or who got it wrong.

Try this: In your next phonics or vocabulary lesson, swap "Who can tell me...?" for a cue such as "Think... everyone, say it." Then listen for the voices that lag behind the group.

2. Only the learner learns.

Zaretta Hammond made a point that sounds obvious but is easy to forget: teaching something doesn't prove it was learned. Students have to process and use what we teach them. Covering a lesson, finishing a worksheet, and completing a program are not evidence of learning on their own.

She also cautioned that using the science of learning does not automatically make instruction equitable. The real test is who is actually learning and whether we are reducing how predictable it is which students succeed and which struggle.

Hammond contrasted routines that build students' capacity to learn with routines that mainly secure compliance. Warning signs of the second kind include:

• Student talk that is kept to a minimum
• Finishing a task is treated as more important than learning from it
• Mistakes that are moved past rather than explained

Try this: Pick one routine you use every day. Ask yourself whether every student responds, explains, practices, and applies, and what you do when a mistake happens. A mistake is information about what the student is thinking, so it's worth your time.

3. Instructional time is not the same as dosage.

Erica Tutte and Ang Marshall, instructional coaches with the Peel District School Board, challenged the idea that struggling readers always need another intervention block. Their point: 30 minutes on the timetable doesn't necessarily tell you about how much practice a student actually got. What counts is the number of meaningful chances to respond, with accurate feedback.

They described tiers of support as changes in how much help a student gets, not separate places a student is sent. The learning goal can stay the same for everyone while the support around it flexes. Some students need only a handful of repetitions to secure a skill, while others need many more. The amount of practice should be guided by what each student shows you they have learned, not by a label.

Try this: For one small group, count the times each student responds in a ten-minute stretch. If the number is low, add quick-fire practice (reading words, saying sounds, spelling with tiles) before adding more minutes.

4. Give spelling its own instructional attention.

Sean Morrisey, creator of the Word Mapping Project, argued that reading benchmarks don't tell the whole story. Spelling is harder than reading: reading asks students to interpret a written word, while spelling asks them to produce it, often choosing between several plausible options. Students also need spelling to be automatic so they have attention left over for composing their ideas in writing.

Try this: When you teach a spelling rule such as dropping the final e before a suffix, teach the conditions and exceptions too. Then connect each new word to its sound, its spelling, and its meaning in the same short routine.

5. Reading progress and resilience go together.

Nicole Conrad's session connected literacy instruction with students' mental health. Learning disabilities can be associated with mental health concerns, though that is not an inevitable outcome for any individual child. Teachers don't need to be mental health experts to make a difference.

Her scoping review identified several protective factors, including social support, belonging through activities and teams, an inclusive school culture, mentoring, and current reading skills. That last one matters for us: good reading instruction may be part of what helps a struggling reader stay resilient.

Try this: Make progress visible without public comparison. Show students what they can do now that they couldn't do a month ago, recognize persistence, and remove situations where a student fails in front of the class, such as unprepared reading aloud.

6. Professional learning sticks when you use it between sessions

Kristie Clements and Nicole Kade of Eos Learning spoke about what makes professional learning change outcomes. A single intensive PD day rarely shifts practice on its own. Learning works better in smaller pieces, spaced over time, with a chance to try it in class and get feedback before the next session.

Their working cycle was simple: learn, implement, get feedback, learn more. They also asked three questions of any training: did teachers gain knowledge, did their practice change, and did students benefit?

Try this: After your next PD session, choose one practice to try within a week. Ask a colleague or coach to watch for it, or record a short clip yourself, then look for evidence that students learned from it.

Choose one action

Kareem Weaver's keynote ended with a challenge that ties all of this together: knowing what works is not enough without the resolve to act on it. Teachers, principals and superintendents can each find one thing within their influence to change, and caring about children has to show up in daily routines, not just in good intentions.

So don't try all six ideas at once. Pick one, try it for two weeks, and watch what your students show you.

At Halifax Learning Centre, these ideas are close to the heart of how we train teachers in structured literacy: explicit routines, frequent student responses, and attention to whether each child is actually learning. If you'd like support bringing structured literacy into your school or board, we'd love to hear from you.

Melinda Cameron is Director of Clinics and Research at Halifax Learning Centre.