Silver Strong & Associates

The Challenge We Face
Many educational institutions currently find themselves in a double bind. While on the one hand, states are implementing uniform standards to measure student success, on the other hand, student populations reflect a plurality of needs, skills, abilities, and talents. This situation leaves many schools wondering: How can we reconcile these seemingly conflicting notions of unity (as embodied by codified standards) and diversity (as represented by the students we teach)?

Responding to the Challenge
Thoughtful Education is an integrated approach to meeting both state standards and the unique needs and styles of students. It is informed by an understanding of how students learn and by research-based approaches that both accommodate and challenge students' styles of learning. The root word, thoughtful, implies the careful consideration of both of these elements simultaneously.

Thoughtful means full of thought or required thinking. We all wish to actively engage students in the kinds of deep, critical thinking that they will need to achieve in the new assessments, succeed in the world of work, and participate meaningfully as citizens in today's complex global society. To do this, we must develop and implement a repertoire of research-based teaching tools and strategies that will motivate students and cultivate their skills as learners.

Thoughtful also means respectful and responsive. We know that all students learn differently. By applying our knowledge of learning styles to the classroom, we can create a learning environment that celebrates and respects student diversity by encouraging students to nurture their unique styles and challenging them to develop their areas of weakness.

When applied, Thoughtful Education, with its dual emphasis on learning styles and teaching tools/strategies, provides educators with the tools needed to improve curriculum, instruction, assessment, and, most importantly, student achievement.

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Contact: Greg Tuclescu, Asst. Director of Publishing

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Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ, 07423
(201) 652-1155
Fax: (201) 652-1127
http://www.silverstrong.com/