After two years of research and revision informed by EL Education partners, staff, and leaders, we have released a new edition of the Core Practices. This edition, like the two previous editions (2003, 2011), provides a comprehensive overview of the EL Education model, which can be used as a planning and implementation guide for partners implementing all or part of the EL Education model (including literacy partners).

The revisions in this edition amplify and clarify the best practices in EL Education schools around the country, which are enabling more than 4,000 teachers and 50,000 students to achieve more than they thought possible. This revision retains from the previous edition the overall structure of five domains of school life, spanning 37 core practices. Each of those core practices has been updated to reflect new learning (e.g., about literacy) and new research grounded in our Dimensions of Student Achievement: mastery of knowledge and skills, character, and high-quality student work.

This book represents 25 years of collaboration with our school partners to describe the ideal school environment. It does not belong on a shelf. It belongs on your desk, marked up with ideas, questions, and aspirations. Copy pages and post them. Read excerpts aloud in meetings. Customize the structures here to fit your classroom and school. Use EL Education's Core Practices to create school-specific tools for observation, reflection, and learning.

There Is More in Us Than We Know: A Book of Readings

Readings have a long history at EL Education, rooted deeply in the organization's heritage with Outward Bound and its founder, Kurt Hahn. The readings in this book are a powerful source of inspiration and reflection, curated specifically with educators and students in mind.

What makes a book of readings such a powerful tool for educators?

As Scott Hartl states in the Preface, readings serve as a bridge between our unique personal experiences and the accumulated wisdom of our shared experience. In the Introduction, Cyndi Gueswel echoes his words: A well-chosen reading serves as a brief, yet powerful offering that provides a group with a touchstone, an inspiration, a provocation. Over time, readings become like a series of tiny webs that bind groups across time and space. Imagine each reading as a fine thread catching dew and light, stitching us together as we read them again and again, with fresh eyes each time.

The readings in this book fall into the following categories:

• Challenge
• Character
• Craftsmanship
• Crew
• Engagement
• Equity and Social Justice
• Leadership
• Nature and Adventure
• Service and Contribution
• Teaching and Learning