Summer Orton-Gillingham Program
The Highlander Institute runs a three-week program each July that targets students who struggle with dyslexia. The Orton-Gillingham based program offers students individual and small group intensive instruction in reading, writing and spelling. Families may opt for a one hour or three hour daily program. Fees are offered on a sliding scale to promote accessibility for underserved students.
Special thanks to Bain Children’s Charities, The Wheeler School Philanthropy Board, and Bank of Rhode Island for their generous support of our summer program.
School-Based Tutoring Programs
Beginning in 2009, the Insitute has crafted tailored after-school intervention programs in partnership with local schools and districts. Students are identified for participation in the program by school teachers and administrators; content consists of evidence-based curriculum and instruction in critical areas of math and reading that have been identified as focus areas for participating students.
Students are clustered by skill focus in groups ranging in size from 1 – 4; excellent instructors with specialized training and expertise working with struggling students analyze assessment data, plan & deliver content, and monitor student progress. Tutor teams include teachers from the host school as well as Highlander Institute tutors.
Initial after-school content connects directly to Tier 2 – 3 programming at the school. Student response to the content is closely monitored, with new tools and strategies added as needed. Funds for new intervention resources are included in the project budget so that schools may enhance their intervention libraries with tools and programs that are successful at supporting students after school.
Progress monitoring data is shared between classroom teachers and after-school tutors, with the goal of establishing trajectory for “ambitious growth” for each student and bringing them to grade level benchmarks as quickly as possible.
Supplemental Education Services (SES) Programs
Funding from the federal Supplemental Education Services (SES) funding stream has supported the Institute after-school programs in Providence and Central Falls since 2007. Housed in qualifying schools, families may select the Highlander Institute from a list of providers to support their children after school. Our 11-week / 33 hour programs deliver tailored, intensive academic interventions to students, and results have been dramatic: overall, participating students average up to two full grade levels of growth in vocabulary, comprehension and total reading skills over the course of the program.
The Institute launched SES programs in Massachusetts in 2010, and our programs expanded to support students in Fall River, Springfield, Holyoke, Marlborough, Taunton, Webster, Dartmouth and Uxbridge on intensive literacy and math interventions. Participating Massachusetts students made similar gains to their Rhode Island counterparts, increasing the impact of the Highlander Institute to over 600 students in the region.
Referrals
The Highlander Institute retains a list of high quality professionals who support parents through various phases of understanding and supporting their child’s learning profile. Upon request, we refer parents to centers offering full neuro-pysch evaluations as well as advocates, tutors and specialists.
