1.

Determine the Barriers

To learn well, students must have the ability and motivation to learn and not be hampered too much by academic barriers that thwart their efforts. Before we develop an instructional program at Manus Academy, we determine each student’s: a) cognitive abilities; b) current levels in academic skills, such as language, reading, writing, spelling and math; c) interests; d) sources of motivation; and e) academic barriers.

Academic barriers can be classified into three categories: input, throughput and output barriers. Input barriers hinder a student’s ability to take in, or absorb, instruction. These barriers include attentional, emotional, behavioral, medical and environmental problems.

Throughput barriers hinder a student’s ability to process and/or remember information that he or she does absorb. These barriers include learning disabilities, sensory integration problems, memory problems and problems with planning and sequencing.

Output barriers, the result of input and throughput barriers, hinder a student’s ability to show what he or she knows. These barriers include delays in expressive language, vocabulary, reading, writing, spelling and/or math skills and weak background knowledge about the world in general.

2.

Treat the Biggest Barriers First

To help a student immediately improve his or her ability to learn, we target the biggest barriers first by removing them, if possible, or minimizing their impairing effects through various accommodations, teaching strategies and instructional programs. This strategy generates teacher and student confidence, helps foster resiliency and sets a positive momentum for the rest of the instructional interventions.

3.

Determine Whether to Accommodate and/or Remediate the Barriers

There are two main ways to solve or manage a problem: accommodate it and/or remediate it.

We accommodate academic barriers that we cannot remove or easily manage. These barriers include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, any of the pervasive developmental disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, tics, generalized anxiety, hearing impairment and difficulty with sensory regulation. Our teachers and other involved professionals minimize the barriers’ impairing effects by altering the learning environment and/or delivering medical interventions that treat the symptoms.

Accommodations may include: teaching in a small group or one-on-one in a separate room; adjusting the schedule; prompting and redirecting students as often as needed; giving students opportunities to speak privately with staff members about concerns; allowing students to use writing easels, study guides, audio books and fidget toys; having students wear noise-blocking headphones, eye glasses or hearing aids; and having students take medication to help them regulate attention, emotions and/or behavior.

In remediating learning barriers, or skill delays, we target them directly with the goal of building the skills. We accomplish this by using research-based strategies that facilitate learning and retention. Remediation includes: direct instruction in building language, handwriting, reading, spelling, comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, written expression and math skills; direct instruction in life skills; coaching in those study, organizational and time management strategies necessary to learn the content subjects, such as the sciences and social studies; and coaching in using self-relaxation strategies to help regulate attention, emotions and behavior. When remediating specific skills, we most often use the Manus Curriculums practice packs.

4.

Develop and Implement the Specific Instructional Program

Once we determine those barriers and skills we will target and how we will target them, we develop a detailed academic program customized for each student. This program lists the specific accommodations and learning materials we will use and the learning environment(s) in which we will deliver this instruction.

We teach to mastery. Before proceeding with the next skill in the hierarchy, we ensure that the student can perform the skill accurately and with little mental effort. We set mastery levels of at least 92% for basic skills that students use for higher-level learning, such as word recognition, spelling, handwriting, writing mechanics and math facts and at least 84% for higher-level skills, such as reading comprehension, math word problems, complex math computations and science concepts.

5.

Monitor the Program and Adjust It as Needed

We have found that, when we have a strong understanding of each student’s learning patterns, an instructional program and learning environment that are customized to the needs of the student and sufficient resources to deliver this program, most of our students respond well to our service. Sometimes, though, students have barriers that are stronger than we originally understood them to be or have undetected barriers that are hindering their ability to learn.

To enable us to always deliver the best instructional program possible, we monitor, record and report on each student’s progress daily, monthly and annually. We note those teaching strategies, accommodations, learning environments and other interventions that facilitate the student’s learning so we and future teachers know what to continue.

We also note those specific barriers that get in the way of the student’s ability to respond to our instructional program and adjust the program accordingly. For instance, we might change the accommodations and/or learning environment to ones we believe will improve the student’s ability to learn. We might also adjust specific parts of the instructional program, such as beginning instruction at an easier level, breaking down skills even further, adding more cumulative review, including more hands-on instruction or changing our goals to ones the student can more readily achieve.