Neuroscience Transforms Classrooms

Teachers say they will never look at students the same again

October 2005

“Eleven years ago I was searching for a way to prepare my staff at Lusher School for an increased emphasis on 504 accommodations and students with learning difficulties. I found a goldmine when I landed upon an opportunity to learn about neurodevelopmental research as it applies to teaching and learning through CDL [Center for Development and Learning]," states Kathy Riedlinger, principal of Lusher Charter School, a former-public school in New Orleans serving kindergarten - grade eight students.

“I was both mesmerized and pained the first day of the training – mesmerized by the new information I was being exposed to, and pained when I realized how little I knew and how many kids my teachers could have saved if we had just known this information before.

“About the third day of the training, my teachers asked why no one had ever told them this information before. If only we had known how to identify the neurodevelopmental breakdowns and then match them with specific strategies to address them, we knew we would have been much closer to our goal of ensuring that every Lusher child is given an equal opportunity to succeed.

“Since that time, I have never looked at kids the same again. That shift took place not only in me but also in my faculty. Now, instead of asking what’s wrong with the student, we ask what’s wrong with our approach - what we need to be doing to ensure the success of that student. So it's no longer a question of what the student is doing wrong, but what we need to do differently.

“Prior to Learning Profiles, Lusher had a strong curriculum and instructional strategies that were expected to increase student achievement. But, in spite of our best efforts, we still had some students who were being left behind. Learning Profiles provided the missing pieces to our bank of knowledge and strategies. When we decided to combine all we were learning into our current instructional strategies, best practices and curriculum, student achievement increased.

“Both then, and now, 11 years later, we enjoy a significant drop in our referrals to special education. That’s because Learning Profiles is fully integrated into our school philosophy and actions, how we do business at Lusher every day.

“But what surprised us was that student achievement not only increased for the struggling students - it increased for all students. The strategies we adopted from Learning Profiles made all students more comfortable in the classroom and helped to develop an emotionally safe environment for all kids. When all kids have access to advance organizers, graphic organizers, copies of class notes, extended time on tests and class work, study guides, multisensory teaching, and are free from having their grades lowered because of handwriting problems, learning for all students increases.

“What began as a quest to help the struggling student turned out to help every student achieve to higher levels.

“We also found a better way to communicate with parents and that in turn created strong partnerships, partnerships between the teacher, the parents and the child, a relationship that makes all the difference at Lusher.

“When students were diagnosed with dyslexia or ADHD, and when students who had been with us since kindergarten hit sixth and seventh grade, parents would often land in my office asking me what to do. Often they would describe their child as ‘lazy’ or ‘unmotivated.’ I could now respond with, ‘Wait a minute. I remember your child when he was in kindergarten. He wasn’t lazy or unmotivated then. Let’s see what the problem behind the problem really is.’

“My teachers and I now have the capacity to ask more probing questions and to filter parent and student responses through a bank of neurodevelopmental knowledge. Then, together, the parents, the student, the teachers and I sit down and develop a set of strategies specific to the student’s profile. Everyone is an equal member of the team and excuses are replaced with positive action plans. That makes all the difference.

“As a result of integrating Learning Profiles into our school, I am a better principal, our teachers are better teachers, parents are better supporting their child’s education in more specific ways, and all of our students are more successful.

“Without reservation, I credit the Learning Profiles professional development with making a major contribution to the high student scores our school now enjoys. Learning Profiles has had and continues to have a major impact on how we teach and learn at Lusher.”

Located in New Orleans, Lusher School serves children kindergarten through grade eight. Reopening as a charter school after Hurricane Katrina so greatly impacted New Orleans' public schools, Lusher has consistently ranked among the highest performing public schools in the state of Louisiana. For the 2004-05 school year, Lusher’s standardized test scores showed 92% of all Lusher students reading on grade level, and Lusher’s eighth graders landed the highest math scores of any public school in the state on Louisiana’s LEAP 21 (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program) tests.

Student ethnicity mirrored the average ethnicity of the state, with 50% African American, 40% White and 10% other. Approximately 30% of Lusher’s students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

Post Katrina, Lusher reopened in January 2006 as a charter school in partnership with Tulane University. Lusher is currently featured in Annenberg’s PBS series “What Works in the Arts.” Lusher received the National Creative Ticket Award through the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

About Learning Profiles

Learning Profiles is a professional development program that provides teachers and principals with scientific evidence-based knowledge and skills that increase student achievement and reduce the number of students referred to special education. The program is equally effective in private and public schools kindergarten through grade 12, and in suburban, urban and inner city schools. Find out more about the Learning Profiles program.

To learn how to bring Learning Profiles training to your school or district, or for information on Learning Profile Institutes, contact CDL or call us at 985-893-7777.