THE CARROLL SCHOOL APPROACH

The Carroll School Faculty frequently engages in professional development.  Often we engage outside experts to give us perspective.  At other times, we study essential questions on our own.  One of the topics most often discussed is "What is the Carroll School Approach” and “What does it mean to be an Orton-Gillingham based school?” At Carroll, all teachers adhere to the following principles, in all subject areas, in all classrooms, and in all instruction:

1. Cognitive Approach- We know that our smart children will be able to use their thinking skills to create, remember, and apply effective strategies. We do not rely solely on rote learning; we actively teach children how to become good learners.
2. Direct and Explicit- Carroll teachers are trained to state objectives clearly so that children understand. We make sure that every skill, concept, and lesson is understood by the student before we move forward.
3. Structured and Sequential- Teachers design lessons based on what students learned the day before. With that structure in mind, teachers move their students from the known to the unknown, from the concrete to the abstract, and from the simple to the complex.
4. Cumulative- Carroll’s curriculum and instruction build on top of what is solidly in the students’ skill set. We spiral back regularly to make sure that the students are maintaining their skills from previous lessons.
5. Multisensory- A good Carroll classroom has students talking, students up and out of their chairs, students with their hands on learning tools, students at the SMART Board, and students explaining what they know.
6. Alphabetic-Phonetic- In all areas of the curriculum, we teach the underlying structure of the English Language as it is written to the students at their appropriate level.

These Carroll School principles are:

1. embedded into our lesson plans daily;
2. for everyone- everywhere- every day;
3. the way our children need to learn;
4. the thread that holds us together;
5. the spine of our teaching approach;
6. automatically applied;
7. not just for the language program but for all disciplines.