Learning styles, strengths, interests, personality, and experience affect each student differently. The educators in this issue of ASCD Express know that learning lives wherever students are—it just might look different for each learner. Connecting with students from the beginning helps these teachers better align students and content throughout the year.

Also, the February 2010 Educational Leadership discusses differentiating instruction for diverse learners, classroom management with challenging students, dropout-reducing interventions, high school students in their own words, and much more.

In the United States, the drumbeat for national education standards has grown perceptibly stronger in recent years, with leadership coming from state governors. This issue of ASCD Express looks at the complex debate on national standards and asks if creating such a set of standards is even a viable option for the U.S. education system.