™
Join us in 2024!
Denver, CO
June 10 - 13, 2024
Washington, D.C.
July 15-18, 2024
The Standards Institute™ is an immersive and transformative in-person learning experience appropriate for teachers, coaches, and leaders.
This highly interactive experience focuses on the mindsets, planning, and instructional actions required for implementing grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful (GLEAM™) instruction.
What to Expect from the Standards Institute™
During the experience, participants will explore the impacts of racist and biased instruction on students of color. They will identify specific mindsets and practices that embody GLEAM™ instruction for their chosen pathway. Throughout the sessions, participants will reflect on and commit to specific action steps aligned with GLEAM instruction in their chosen pathway. Participants leave Standards Institute with a personalized action plan that identifies context-specific opportunities to ensure students receive GLEAM instruction.

How We Organize the Learning
Pathways are designed by content and grade band applicable to teachers, coaches, or leaders:
The Elementary Reading Academy gives educators fundamental knowledge of standards-aligned and evidence-based reading practices rooted in the Science of Reading. At the end of the Elementary Reading Academy, educators will be able to:
- Deliver standards-aligned and evidence-based reading instruction
- Articulate the research on reading instruction and link research to practice
- Employ high-leverage instructional routines
The Leadership for Literacy pathway provides participants with transformative instructional practices to develop a foundational understanding of the Science of Reading and create a literacy system to accelerate student literacy. Through CORE's Leadership for Literacy course, educators (leaders) will:
- Develop a foundational working knowledge of the Science of Reading and how it can be implemented in a system through transformative instructional leadership
- Utilize tools and processes to evaluate school-wide literacy programs
- Identify leadership actions that build school-wide professional capacity to remove barriers and increase opportunities for students to become successful readers and communicators
During Standards Institute ELA sessions, participants learn and practice crafting supports and scaffolds that help address students’ unfinished ELA instruction while maintaining the rigor and demands of the standards and curriculum. Participants explore the commitment, knowledge, and skills necessary to use ELA standards, texts, and tasks to provide all students access to GLEAM™ instruction. They leave with a personal action plan for bringing GLEAM instruction to life in their ELA classrooms.
During Standards Institute Leadership sessions, participants learn key concepts of ELA and math instruction in order to develop a deeper understanding of each subject area. Participants will consider key components of planning, instructional delivery, and coaching that lead to GLEAM™ instruction. They also unpack their roles as leaders in educational equity and operationalizing GLEAM within a school system. Participants will leave Standards Institute with a personal action plan to lead GLEAM instruction in their schools.
During Standards Institute Math sessions, participants learn through an interactive, hands-on experience that focuses on planning and implementing GLEAM™ mathematics instruction. Participants reflect on math identity and its impact on GLEAM math instruction. They deepen their understanding of the Mathematical Shifts to support GLEAM math instruction. Participants also learn a new approach to address students' unfinished instruction that supports GLEAM math instruction within their school contexts. Participants leave Standards Institute with a personal action plan for bringing GLEAM instruction to life in their math classrooms.
During Standards Institute Science sessions, participants learn and practice the principles and key practices of science instruction that embodies the Next Generation Science Standards and a vision of GLEAM™ instruction for all students. These hands-on sessions involve a balance of exploring new ideas and seeing how they work through lessons and investigations across scientific domains. Participants leave Standards Institute with a repertoire of practical strategies and a personal action plan for bringing GLEAM instruction to life in their science classrooms.
Note: The science pathway is available for grades 6-8 and 9-12.
During Standards Institute UnboundEd Planning Process™ (UPP) sessions, participants learn a set of powerful practices for bringing each aspect of GLEAM™ instruction to life in ELA and math classrooms. For each practice, participants explore what it is, learn a step-by-step recipe for using the strategy with any lesson, and apply it to a set of high-quality lessons. They leave with a repertoire of well-rehearsed strategies they can implement on Monday morning and a personal action plan for bringing GLEAM instruction to life in their classrooms.
Note: K-5 participants will use both ELA and math lessons during the week; participants in grades 6-12 will use lessons in their preferred subject area — either ELA or math.
I’ve learned to keep the standard and task rigorous; however, allow the students as a group to scaffold how they may approach the task as opposed to the teacher breaking down all of the little pieces and giving students the road map.
I learned so much from the Standards Institute. Not only did I gain a deeper understanding of the standards myself, I also learned ways to support and coach teachers on ways to ensure effective instruction based on the standards.
The presentation on the last day of Standards Institute on the inequity in schools was eye-opening. I am now focused on my reactions to students and parents. I ask myself, 'is my treatment fair and equitable to every student? Am I showing bias?'
July 2023 Keynote Speakers

Lacey Robinson
President and Chief Executive Officer, UnboundEdLacey Robinson is the president and CEO of UnboundEd, and the chair of the Board of CORE Learning. As CEO, Robinson sets the organization’s vision for transforming instruction for students at the margins. She is a former teacher, principal, and professional development specialist who has focused on literacy, equity, and school leadership for more than 25 years. Her life’s work aims to enable educators to disrupt systemic inequities in their school districts and classrooms.
As CEO of UnboundEd, Robinson is responsible for overseeing UnboundEd’s health, sustainability, and vision for how engaging, affirming and meaningful grade-level teaching can transform teachers’ experiences and student learning. In 2022, she also led the merger of UnboundEd, Pivot Learning, and CORE Learning under the UnboundEd banner — creating the nation’s largest K–12 educator development organization focused on improving teaching and learning for underserved students.
Robison is a leading national voice on disrupting the predictability of students’ educational outcomes, and was named to 2023’s Forbes 50 Over 50 list in recognition of her innovative leadership. Her new book, Justice Seekers: Pursuing Equity in the Details of Teaching and Learning, released in July 2023, is a love letter to teachers inspiring us all to recognize that “justice is found in the details of teaching and learning®.” She frequently serves as a keynote speaker and is featured on Emily Hanford’s 2022 “Sold a Story” podcast.
She is a proud graduate of Florida A&M University and Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dr. Lisa Delpit
Educationalist, Author, Eminent Scholar and Executive Director of the Center for Urban Educational Excellence, Florida International UniversityRecently retired from her position as the Felton G. Clark Distinguished Professor of Education at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Lisa D. Delpit is the former Executive Director/Eminent Scholar for the Center for Urban Education & Innovation at Florida International University, Miami, Florida. She is also the former holder of the Benjamin E. Mays Chair of Urban Educational Excellence at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she is a nationally and internationally-known speaker and writer whose work has focused on the education of children of color and the perspectives, aspirations, and pedagogy of teachers of color. Delpit's work on school-community relations and cross-cultural communication was cited as a contributor to her receiving a MacArthur “Genius” Award in 1990. Dr. Delpit describes her strongest focus as "...finding ways and means to best educate marginalized students, particularly African-American, and other students of color." She has used her training in ethnographic research to spark dialogues between educators on issues that have impact on students typically least well-served by our educational system. Dr. Delpit is particularly interested in teaching and learning in multicultural societies, having spent time studying these issues in Alaska, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and in various urban and rural sites in the continental United States. She received a B.S. degree from Antioch College and an M.Ed. and Ed.D. from Harvard University. Her background is in elementary education with an emphasis on language and literacy development.
Dr. Delpit’s recent work has spanned a range of projects and issues, including assisting urban school districts engaged in school restructuring efforts; developing innovative alternative teacher education programs in urban education and teacher leadership; founding the post-Katrina National Coalition for Quality Education in New Orleans; recruiting renowned mathematician and Civil Rights leader, Dr. Robert Moses to South Florida to establish the national Algebra Project; assisting in the creation of high-standards, innovative schools for low-income, urban children; and developing urban leadership programs for principals and school district central office staff. She has taught pre-service and in-service teachers and principals in many communities across the United States.
Her numerous awards include the Harvard University Graduate School of Education 1993 Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education; the 1994 American Educational Research Association Cattell Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement; 1998 Sunny Days Award from Sesame Street Productions for her contributions to the lives of children; and the 2001 Kappa Delta Phi Laureate Award for her contribution to the education of teachers.
Dr. Delpit was also selected as the Antioch College Horace Mann Humanity Award recipient for 2003, which recognizes a contribution by alumni of Antioch College who have "won some victory for humanity." Winning candidates are those persons, or groups of persons, whose personal or professional activities have had a profound effect on the present or future human condition. She was also selected to deliver the prestigious DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Distinguished Lecturer Award at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The award recognizes the contributions of an educational researcher whose work leads to improved learning for low income, elementary or secondary students.
Her most recent book, published in 2012, “Multiplication is For White People”: Raising Standards for Other People’s Children explores strategies to increase expectations and academic achievement for marginalized children. Library Journal named Multiplication… one of the 20 best-selling education books of 2013, and the American School Board Journal selected it as one of eight “notable books” for 2012. A previous book, Other People’s Children, has sold well over a quarter of a million copies and received the American Educational Studies Association’s “Book Critic Award,” Choice Magazine’s Eighth Annual Outstanding Academic Book Award, and has been named “A Great Book” by Teacher Magazine. Her other books include: The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children; and The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom.

Dr. Wayne Au
Interim Dean and Professor in the School of Educational Studies at the University of Washington BothellA former public high school social studies teacher, Wayne Au is currently Interim Dean and Professor in the School of Educational Studies at the University of Washington Bothell. He is a long-time editor for the social justice teaching magazine, Rethinking Schools, and his work focuses on both academic and public scholarship about high-stakes testing, neoliberal education policy, teaching for social justice, critical pedagogy, and anti-racist education. Author or editor of over 100 publications, his recent books include the 2nd edition of Unequal by Design: High-Stakes Testing and the Standardization of Inequality, Rethinking Ethnic Studies (co-edited) and Teaching for Black Lives (co-edited). He was honored with the University of Washington Bothell Distinguished Teaching Award in 2015, presented the William H. Watkins award for scholar activism from the Society of Professors of Education in 2017, and recognized with the Distinguished K-12 Educational Leader Award from the Evergreen State College MiT program in 2019.

Dr. Manny Scott
Scholar, Speaker, Author, Founder of Ink International, Inc., and Original Freedom WriterDr. Manny Scott is an inspiration to millions worldwide as an original Freedom Writer whose story is depicted, in part, in the hit movie, Freedom Writers. Despite a troubled upbringing and a seemingly hopeless future, Dr. Scott has overcome unimaginable obstacles and achieved incredible success. He has dedicated his life to helping others, traveling up to 300 days per year for over 20 years to inspire and empower educators, students, and leaders.
At just 16 years old, his life was hanging by a thread. Trapped in a cycle of poverty and violence, with a father in prison and a best friend brutally murdered, he felt that his future was bleak and hopeless. He dropped out of school, missed 60-90 days annually, lived in 26 different places, and felt like his life was spiraling out of control. He sat on a park bench, contemplating how to make others feel the depth of despair and anger he felt inside. He was headed down a path that would have destroyed him.
But then, he met several individuals who changed his life forever. They helped him to turn the page, and he returned to school, ending up in the back of Erin Gruwell’s English class, known worldwide as the Freedom Writers, portrayed in the hit movie. He became the first person in his family to graduate from high school, earn a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, and, most recently, a Ph.D in Intercultural Competence. Through hard work, perseverance, and the help of others, he is now living the life of his dreams.
Through his tireless efforts, Dr. Scott has helped over two thousand schools and organizations improve student achievement, teacher efficacy, and intercultural competence. He has also helped to prevent thousands of suicides. He is the author of several best-selling books, including “Even on Your Worst Day You Can Be a Student’s Best Hope.” He is also a mentor, pilot, ordained minister, content creator, and one of the nation’s most sought-after education speakers.
When he is not on the road for work, Dr. Scott enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, writing, and spending quality time with his family. He and his family have visited 49 states and 6 continents.
Dr. Manny Scott is truly a shining example of how, with hard work, perseverance and the help of others, anyone can turn their life around and achieve their dreams.
Support for Registered Attendees
If you are registered for the Standards Institute™ and have questions related to things like attendance, billing, technical assistance, or accommodation, please contact standardsinstitute@unbounded.org for support.