Despite the wide interest in and need for student-centered approaches to learning, educators have scant access to a comprehensive accounting of the key components of it. To build the knowledge base for the emerging field of student-centered learning, Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit based in Boston, commissioned papers from nine teams of noted researchers. Together, the syntheses of research in the "Students at the Center" papers tell a story that is both hopeful and challenging. On the one hand, it is a story of how teachers and leaders are beating the odds with traditionally underserved students using student-centered approaches backed by recent advances in brain, cognitive science, and motivation research. On the other hand, the papers identify significant gaps to be addressed in what educators know about student-centered approaches, particularly about how to spread such approaches beyond individual classrooms and schools. Looking at connections across the papers and the flow of ideas and challenges expressed in each, the series spans three overarching areas--learning theory; applying student-centered approaches; and scaling up student-centered approaches to learning--to make an argument about how students learn best. This publication contains these papers: (1) Mind, Brain, and Education (Christina Hinton, Kurt W. Fischer, and Catherine Glennon); (2) Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice (Eric Toshalis and Michael J. Nakkula); (3) Teachers at Work: Six Exemplars of Everyday Practice (Barbara Cervone and Kathleen Cushman); (4) Literacy Practices for African American Male Adolescents (Alfred W. Tatum); (5) Latino/a and Black Students and Mathematics (Rochelle Gutierrez and Sonya E. Irving); (6) Curricular Opportunities in the Digital Age (David H. Rose and Jenna W. Gravel); (7) Personalization in Schools (Susan Yonezawa, Larry McClure, and Makeba Jones); (8) Assessing Learning (Heidi Andrade, Kristen Huff, and Georgia Brooke); and (9) Changing School District Practices (Ben Levin, Amanda Datnow, and Nathalie Carrier). (Contains 1 table.)