1.1 — Using knowledge of students to engage them in learning

This guide turns CSTP element Using knowledge of students to engage them in learning into observable practice: what teachers can plan and do, what students may experience, what evidence can support reflection, and where technology can add value without becoming the goal.

California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) • Practical guide for planning, coaching, reflection, and professional growth

Use this as a professional-learning companion. It does not replace the complete CSTP, California content standards and frameworks, local policy, collective bargaining agreements, credential requirements, legal advice, or the individualized requirements in a student’s IEP or Section 504 plan.

What Effective Practice Looks Like

Learn students’ strengths, identities, languages, interests, prior knowledge, and current understanding through multiple sources.
Make the purpose and relevance of learning visible without stereotyping students or requiring personal disclosure.
Model thinking, provide guided practice, and offer multiple accessible pathways to the same worthwhile intellectual goal.
Use discussion, inquiry, problem solving, creation, and reflection so students actively make meaning.
Check understanding during learning and adjust grouping, representation, pacing, prompts, feedback, or next steps.

Focus Points for This Element

Plan intentionally

Connect each decision to an identified student-learning need and a clear instructional purpose.

Teach responsively

Use multiple sources of evidence and examine who is participating, succeeding, or encountering barriers.

Study the impact

Document what was tried, what students did, and what the evidence suggests should happen next.

Teacher Inquiry Cycle

Identify: Name a specific student-learning opportunity, barrier, or question connected to this element.
Learn: Gather student, family, curriculum, assessment, and contextual information while protecting privacy.
Design: Choose an evidence-informed strategy, success criteria, access supports, and a feasible way to gather evidence.
Enact: Teach, observe, confer, and make in-the-moment adjustments without losing the intended learning.
Study: Examine student work, participation, explanation, transfer, and student perspective—not implementation alone.
Respond: Keep, adapt, intensify, replace, or discontinue the practice and record the reasoning.

Possible Evidence for Reflection or Coaching

student-interest and learning-profile notes used responsibly
annotated plans showing purposeful connections and access supports
samples of student questions, reasoning, revisions, and transfer
formative-check records paired with documented instructional adjustments
student feedback about relevance, challenge, belonging, and access

Evidence caution: No single artifact proves accomplished teaching. Interpret evidence in context, center student learning, use multiple sources, and avoid collecting identifiable student information that is not necessary.

Technology and Software: Purpose Before Product

Purpose	Possible tools	Professional-use guidance
Create and collaborate	Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for collaborative drafting and feedback	Use version history, comments, exemplars, and clear roles; explicitly teach digital collaboration.
Elicit and assess	Padlet or district-approved discussion tools for visible thinking	Keep checks low stakes when formative; inspect item quality and pair scores with student work and conversation.
Model and investigate	Nearpod or Pear Deck for checks for understanding	Require prediction, observation, explanation, and transfer so the tool supports—not replaces—disciplinary thinking.
Access and communicate	Book Creator for multimodal composition	Follow student plans, provide captions and accessible formats, and use human-reviewed interpretation or translation.
Manage and reflect	Desmos, GeoGebra, PhET, or subject-specific simulations when they clarify disciplinary ideas	Minimize collected data, restrict sharing, use approved accounts, and periodically remove records according to policy.

Software is illustrative, not endorsed. Availability and features change. Before use, follow district approval processes and review accessibility, age restrictions, privacy, security, advertising, data ownership and retention, interoperability, copyright, AI features, and the need for family notice or consent. Never enter confidential student information into an unapproved service.

Questions for Collaborative Reflection

What do students say, do, create, explain, or transfer when this practice is working?
Whose participation or success has changed, and whose has not? What barriers or unintended effects remain?
Does the evidence reflect the intended learning, or might language, disability, technology, background knowledge, or task design be obscuring it?
What is the smallest high-leverage adjustment to test next, and what evidence will show whether it helped?
How will student and family perspectives inform the next decision?

Original Examples and Resources, Cleaned for Migration

Teachers know and care about their students to engage them in learning. They connect learning to students’ prior knowledge, backgrounds, life experiences, and interests. They connect subject matter to meaningful, real-life contexts. Teachers use a variety of instructional strategies, resources, and technologies to meet the diverse learning needs of students. They promote critical thinking through inquiry, problem solving, and reflection. They monitor student learning and adjust instruction while teaching.

1. Understanding Students as People and Learners
Example: A teacher may notice that a student named Maria is particularly interested in art. To engage Maria, the teacher incorporates more visual art activities in lessons and encourages Maria to illustrate her assignments. This personalization helps Maria feel valued and more interested in her studies. Resource: Edutopia: How to Build Relationships with Students
2. Understanding Reasons for Behavior
Example: When a student, Jamal, starts acting out in class, the teacher investigates and learns that Jamal is dealing with family issues at home. By understanding Jamal's situation, the teacher can offer support and adjust classroom expectations to accommodate his needs. Resource: American Psychological Association: Understanding Student Behavior
3. Recognizing Atypical Behavior in Students
Example: A teacher notices that a usually active student, Emma, has become withdrawn and is not participating in class. The teacher contacts the school counselor to discuss potential interventions and support for Emma. Resource: National Association of School Psychologists: Behavioral and Emotional Needs
4. Building Trust and Fostering Relationships
A teacher notices that a usually active student, Emma, has become withdrawn and is not participating in class. The teacher contacts the school counselor to discuss potential interventions and support for Emma. Resource: Edweek: Building Trust with Students
5. Adapting Teaching to Reflect Knowledge of Students
Example: A teacher learns that many students in her class come from agricultural backgrounds. She incorporates agricultural science into the curriculum, making the content more relevant and engaging for these students.
Resource: https://www.edutopia.org/article/connecting-lessons-students-lives
6. Differentiating Instruction
Example: In a math class, the teacher uses tiered assignments to cater to different learning levels. Students who excel are given more complex problems, while those who need extra help work on foundational skills with the teacher's support.
Resource: Reading Rockets: Differentiated Instruction
7. Getting to Know Parents and the Community
Example: Mrs. Lee hosts monthly parent-teacher meetings to discuss student progress and get feedback from parents. She also participates in community events to better understand the cultural context of her students.
Resource: Harvard Family Research Project: Building Family-School Partnerships

Authoritative Starting Points

Last reviewed and extended July 31, 2026. Product names are examples only and do not constitute endorsement.