Inspired by a visit from Dr. Mel Levine, teachers and administrators are making plans to improve learning opportunities at Lab at for students with learning differences.
A committee of faculty and administrators have scheduled a regular series of meetings to discuss learning differences. Learning consultants in Lower School, Middle School, and University High School are working on ideas of their own.
"We invited all the parents, tutors with whom we work, and other professionals to join us in listening to Dr. Levine's talks and I think everyone was excited by what he had to say," said Beverly Biggs, Principal of the Lower School and an organizer of the visit. "He helped us understand better how students learn and gave us all new tools to use in our work with all students."
Levine, a pediatrician and one of the nation's leading experts on learning differences, spoke to parents on April 23. On April 24, he spoke to teachers, administrators, and other school professionals in a daylong session in which he explained his observations about children and learning.
Among the materials he distributed was a "Table of Neurodevelopmental Constructs," a chart that identifies various aspects of learning and provides a guide to learning development by grade level.
"The advantage for us as a community is that Dr. Levine has given us a common language to use when we speak as teachers and parents about what we see in student learning," Biggs said.
Teachers already have taken advantage of what they've learned from Levine when speaking with parents, said Jennifer Gates, Lower School learning consultant.
"Levine's terms are very specific and help parents understand what is going on in the classroom in terms of learning. The terms also get us away from using labels, which often have different meanings to different people," she said.
Gates taught a course to Lower School teachers using one of Levine's books as a text during the 1999-2000 year. She said that the course was preparation for the talks and that many faculty members are eager to get additional training in Levine's approaches.
At the Middle School level, learning consultants Susan Eisenberg and Maureen Schmidt have begun using Levine's terms with parents in discussions about student progress and are suggesting his books to parents. "The vocabulary Dr. Levine has developed is excellent and helps us explain things we've noticed all along," Eisenberg said.
"We will also encourage teachers to teach students about learning, while they are learning," Eisenberg said. "If the students have a lesson that includes memorizing, for instance, teachers can explain the variety of ways in which people memorize and can help students become more successful."
Karen Gusick, learning consultant at U-High, said the sessions have helped teachers embrace the notion there are many roads to success.
"As teachers work with students, they often must tease out what is missing from the students' understanding," she said. Identifying where the breakdown occurs serves as a guide to direct instruction, according to Gusick.