The CORE work for this research was meant to investigate and assemble a set of ideas that may be useful to teachers, through examining the expressions of numerous institutions and authors who have participated in this conversation over time. Saturation evaluation techniques were employed and the summary results show below. For a technical report on the research, all citations, and the final version of the Framework of the CORE, see Scalise, Kathleen; Felde, Marie (2017). Why Neuroscience Matters in the Classroom (What's New in Ed Psych) (Pages 292-307 Technical Report; Pages 24-35 Framework of the CORE). Pearson Education.

Table 1.

Guiding Principle 1: Teachers play a large role in school experiences that literally shape the brain in the school-age years, through the biological properties of neural plasticity.

Idea	Description
1a	Neuroscience has advanced to the point where it is possible to think critically about how research information can be useful to educators. Educational neuroscience is an emerging area bringing together formal dialogue between neuroscience and education. This is a relatively new conversation to which both scientists and educators can contribute helpfully, to advance learning. One question being asked is whether it is ethical in reflecting about education not to take into consideration what is known about the learning brain.
1b	The brain has a central role in learning. Learning changes the physical structure of the brain. It does this by bringing about localized changes in the area of the brain appropriate to the task.
1c	These structural changes impose new patterns in the brain that organize and reorganize it, thereby encoding learning.
1d	Such changes occur throughout life and are not solely the unfolding of preprogrammed genetics. Rather, the brain is a dynamic organ shaped to a great extent by experience. Neuroscience research confirms the important role that experience plays in building the structure of the brain.
1e	Since biology is not destiny and genetic tendencies interact with experience to determine brain structure, every brain is unique. Stating whether nature or nurture are responsible for the process of brain development is overly simplistic, since it is a continuous interaction. For instance, most major diseases that have a genetic basis are strongly influenced by the environment, as studies show while an identical twin sibling has higher risk of getting the same disease, the probability is often not absolute and will often be only 30-60%.
1f	One of the most important findings of brain science for education in recent years is that of "brain plasticity," or that the brain modifies its neural structure substantially over time. Forces of plasticity are at work extensively during the school-age years. Plasticity allows the brain to change to better cope with new circumstances. New neurons are not generated in most parts of the brain, only in a few areas, but change comes about in ways such as reconfiguring pathways between brain cells that transmit signals in the brain, and adding and eliminating, or "pruning," connections in the brain. Intentional cell destruction also takes place, along with chemical change.
1g	At certain stages of life the neural structure grows extensively, but then it is pared back to create a more efficient system later. Brain connections that are active and generating electrical currents survive, while those with little or no activity are more likely to be lost. Thus the brain is crafted by sculpting away less used connections, leading to permanent changes in the brain based at least in part on use.