BrewsterConnections - Brewster Academy

Creating Competent,
Lifelong
Learners
Brewster’s Instructional Support Program
Delivers Confidence and Independence
Dean of Academic
Support Programs Kim
Ross joined the Brewster
faculty in 1994. She
holds a master’s in
education from Grand
Canyon University and
a bachelor of science in
communication disorders
from the University
of New Hampshire.
By Kim Ross
“I have improved on working on assignments more
thoroughly with more detail. I have remained organized
throughout this trimester while showing I am
capable of excelling across the board. I have shown
I am capable of handling … freedom and responsibility,
and I have grown exponentially in my own
confidence and independence as a student. Some
examples of specific actions that demonstrate this
growth are how I have become more comfortable
self-advocating, reaching out for help from teachers
or speaking to teachers when I have late/missing
assignments. I have also [been more consistent]
turning in homework, doing my best and as a result
receiving good grades. My confidence has soared
with my grades being the best they have ever been
in my LIFE! I have learned that I am capable of being
a confident and independent student!” ~ Kate
“I made JBS (John Brewster Scholar status), and IS
has been transforming me into a more organized
and independent individual. … The areas that I have
improved in are brainstorming, making outlines, and
making sure my grades are above mastery. I have become
used to organizing my previous homework and
using them as ideas or outlines to help me maintain
a solid grade. I brainstorm before I write essays now.
Before I would just start to write, but I have found
out that it’s more effective to write down ideas and
plan out what you’re going to write. … I have maintained
a binder that is organized and updated daily.
I continue to use the application called Stickies. On
the Stickies I record the date, assignment and it’s
also a reminder for me to stay on task. IS so far has
been really helpful, and I have learned a lot of new
information on how I learn and how to advocate for
myself.” ~ Steve
“Our daughter has gained much self-confidence
this year. I believe the test-taking strategies she was
taught contributed greatly to this. Also, the help she
received when writing term papers was also a factor.
Mr. Martin understood our daughter’s strengths and
weaknesses and in a very supportive way knew how
high to raise the bar.” ~ parent of a junior
Program Evolution
More than 30 years ago, the original Instructional
Support Program established roots in room
5 on the first floor of the Academic Building.
Former faculty member Ed Hooper spearheaded
the initial program focused on the individual
student and specific learning skills. Hooper was
“always intensely interested in how kids learn,”
according to Bob Richardson, former faculty
member and Brewster historian.
The program marked the beginning of a new
chapter for Brewster, one that would challenge
all faculty to recognize individual learning
styles and appreciate that learning and life skills
were as important to student success as mastering
subject content. Moving toward a more
student-centered approach, we began looking
at how students learn and how to best design
and deliver subject content that matched the
student’s learning style. We also knew, however,
that although we were engineering a program of
instructional support, all students would be best
served by a customized approach to maximizing
their potential cognitively and emotionally.
In 1993 Alan Bain, Ed.D., a learning specialist,
was hired as director of the Instructional Support
Program. Part of the program’s evolution
was to change the emphasis from learning skills,
which was more of a finite focus, to instructional
support, which connotes ongoing action.
Brewster recognized that tutoring students in
specific core subjects was a Band-Aid approach,
a very short-term way of gaining success. We
were interested in teaching learning and life
skills that would lead to long-term success be-
yond Brewster. Realizing the critical importance
of having well-trained faculty versed in a common
philosophy and identified best practices,
Bain launched a two-week intensive training
program for IS faculty. The training program
was the predecessor to today’s Brewster Summer
Institute (BSI).
Best Practices for All Learners
A five-year plan was laid out providing organizational
systems and learning structures
designed to support a student-centered, collaborative
approach to meeting the unique and
diverse needs of all learners. Changes began
with identifying best practices that were wellestablished
approaches for all learners, building
a leveled curriculum, ensuring what was tested
was taught and mastered, and integrating technology
as a tool for accessing and communicating
knowledge. Academic teams were created
within grades to maintain a low student-teacher
ratio. As soon as plans were in place for how to
best educate the student, the physical space underwent
change to support the educational model.
The Wilson Center for Teaching and Learning
was designed to optimize the team approach
– clustering core and IS classrooms, faculty
team rooms, and labs within each of the seven
academic team areas. Instead of one classroom
for all students enrolled in instructional support,
students could attend IS classes in their academic
team area. Teachers now had a common
area where they could effectively collaborate in
support of students. With classrooms just steps
away, IS teachers could observe the student
implementing a newly learned skill in a core
subject. A student might practice notetaking
using Inspiration software during his history
class while his IS teacher observes. Shortly after,
the IS teacher and student would use their class
time to discuss the effectiveness of the tool and
its application.
By 1995 I became dean of Academic Support
Programs overseeing both the Instructional Support
and English as a Second Language (ESL)
programs. Each team included two IS teachers
whose role as learning specialists was to educate,
guide, and advocate for the student’s learning
strengths and needs, along with playing a
collaborative role in designing and modifying
curriculum to place the student in the best position
to master both skills and content.
4 BrewsterConnections – Spring 2010 www.brewsteracademy.org 5