A case study on the professional development of elementary teachers related to brain research and the strategies used to help struggling readers

This case study examined the impact of classroom interventions for struggling readers as changed/improved by teachers who participated in ongoing professional development on brain research studies. It investigated how teachers' knowledge of brain research impacted their instruction and the interventions they implemented in elementary classrooms. The professional development course provided teachers with a systematic look at how the brain learns; enabled them to become proficient with terminology related to the brain and reading; provided teachers with current research on the brain and its implications for education; enabled teachers to have a better understanding of reading and reading disabilities by identifying cognitive reading profiles; provided reading interventions that could be readily implemented in the classroom, and qualitatively measured the success of the interventions on student learning using the results of brain-based research.;Results of this case study showed that there was a positive relationship between the brain-based sessions and the teachers' subsequent implementation of reading strategies. Evidence for results was gathered through teacher-participant responses to surveys, interviews, e-journals as well as from observations in their classrooms and final evaluations. Students' responses were also taken into consideration.;The data further showed that teachers acknowledged that because of the brain-based sessions, they viewed their teaching differently and their attitudes toward brain-based education had changed and/or improved.