Discovery Program
The Discovery Program exists to provide help to students who have learning issues. A certified therapist from the NILD (National Institute of Learning Development) will pull a student out of class for 1 hour twice a week. This is not tutoring. The goal is to use the methods of NILD to help a student develop techniques to use both sides of their brains. The goal is to help the student to become an independent thinker.
NILD Practices
Interactive Language
Teacher's questions and student discussion are critical components of research-based instruction and "...effective teachers... ask students to explain the process they used to answer the questions, to explain how the answer was found."
-Rosenshine
Explicit & Intentional Intervention
"Students need cognitive support to help them learn to solve problems"
-Rosenshine
Support comes through explicit instruction of material.
Dynamic Intervention
Most NILD techniques use a variety of materials because research affirms "simple yet powerful nonlinguistic instructional techniques such as graphic organizers, pictures and pictographs, concrete representations, and creating mental images improve learning."
-Marzano
Development of Core Academic Skills & Thinking Abilities
Basic academic skills and cognitive functions are directly taught to establish the foundation for higher order thinking and reasoning.
Reasoning
This is a valuable skill as students "generate and test hypotheses". Moving from specific to general thinking is at the heart of critical thinking."
-Marzano
Questioning
"Questions help student identify missing information."
-Marzano
Guided Practice
"Students access prior experience and knowledge, and are active participants"
-Lyon, Fletcher, Fuchs, Chhabra
Also, "cumulative review guided by questions produces success."
-Rosenshine
Self-Regulation
Our intervention provides opportunities for students to self-regulate, a skill necessary for any successful learner.
Application
As students gain competence through systematic and intentional instruction, confidence grows and encourages the transfer of the skills learned to the classroom as well as life.
