mponents must include having the learner become active in the process, using the context in which information is useful, and using real problems for problem-solving.
Schools Attuned is a professional development and service program that provides educators with methods for recognizing, understanding, and managing students that have differences in learning. This program is based on the work of Levine and colleagues. The program is implemented in schools to enrich the education of all K-12 students. The program is designed to help teachers use neurodevelopmental content in classrooms to teach all students and help struggling students. Classroom lesson plans and assessment tools are modified to accommodate the different kinds of learners and help students with problems. Teachers have open communication (meetings) with other faculty to review and improve their skills and share experiences.
The program includes: 35 instructional hours; 10 hours of follow-up experiences; ongoing online learning support; and a yearlong commitment between the participant and the course site (Schools Attuned, 2005). Program content helps the teachers understand how the mind develops and introduces eight neurodevelopmental constructs that affect this learning. The constructs include: attention, language, memory, neuromotor function, spatial ordering, temporal-sequential ordering, higher order cognition, and social cognition. Educators learn processes related to: demystification, attuning processes, classroom accommodations, intervention at the breakdown points, and strengthening strengths and leverage affinities (Schools Attuned, 2005). While this program has goals of helping teachers deal with problem students, a study is needed to assess teacher views of the Schools Attuned program.
Evaluation of the Schools Attuned Program has been conducted by independent research studies. Findings show that this program results in the following posit...