Trinity’s approach to learning differences

Learning Specialist Billie Yarbrough enjoys an individualized lesson with one of her students.

By Billie Yarbrough, Learning Team Specialist

Trinity’s Learning Team is dedicated to partnering with parents and teachers to find the best way to approach our students’ learning differences, providing another layer of individualized support to help them become academically independent and confident learners. This means that our students with a learning difference, such as dyslexia (reading), dysgraphia (writing), dyscalculia (math), or processing challenges, are taught differently, oftentimes in a different learning environment, one-on-one or in small groups. We celebrate each student’s individual abilities and successes, utilize tried-and-true remediation techniques, and equip students with learning strategies that they can use for the rest of their lives. We continually evaluate our students who are in the Learning Team program and partner with parents and teachers to choose the best educational path for them. We are equipped to remediate students with mild to moderate learning differences and counsel parents and teachers on whether a student should remain at Trinity for the entirety of his or her elementary journey or matriculate to a school focused on a specific learning difference. Early detection and remediation are vital to a child’s future, which makes the work of the Learning Team so important. As far back as I can remember, and I joined the Trinity community in 1989, we had a Learning Team. Back when we had three learning divisions—Early Learning (age two–Kindergarten), Primary Learning (Pre-First–Third Grade), and Upper Learning (Fourth–Sixth Grade)—at our previous location on Northside Parkway, now the Atlanta Girls’ School, there was a Learning Team specialist for each one. Back then, the learning specialists would administer reading assessments, see students who required either academic or emotional support, recommend student evaluations and testing to teachers and parents, and would provide base classroom teachers with information on how best to support students with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and/or learning differences. I began my career at Trinity as a First Grade associate teacher, became a lead teacher my second year, and spent 15 years in the First-Grade classroom. It was during the construction of our current building, back in 2000 or 2001, that there was an effort to expand the learning specialist role as well as the number of specialists who would work with our students. During this time, the Board of Trustees as well as the then-head of school wanted to give our Kindergarten and First-Grade program an expanded purpose, providing more specialized environments to

support our students with learning differences. During that time, several Trinity Board members were instrumental in The Schenck School inviting three of us—me, Learning Specialist Pam Osborn, and Early Learning Division Head Cissie White—to participate in the yearlong OrtonGillingham training method of remediating dyslexia that Schenck provides for their teachers. This was quite the honor as we were the first non-Schenck teachers to be included in this program. This inclusion began an ongoing sharing process of coaching and dialogue with Schenck teachers and staff.

After completing the basic Orton-Gillingham training, I initiated the new learning strategies in small groups within my First-Grade class. Pam used the strategies while working with individual students in her role as a learning specialist. Thus began the deep collaboration between learning specialists and teachers at Trinity School. During this first year of implementation, we were able to track growth in the areas of decoding (breaking the words into syllables using specific Orton-Gillingham syllabication rules) and using specific Orton-Gillingham spelling rules. We also saw positive results in students’ reading skills, comprehension, and spelling. The purpose of this project was to keep students at Trinity who had a mild dyslexia diagnosis or were not accepted at a specialized school and to provide Orton-Gillingham strategies within a classroom that would benefit all of our students.

In 2004, I approached our head of school to see if it was possible for me to switch from classroom teacher to Learning Team specialist. I was ready for the challenge and wanted to devote my time to one-on-one remediation. At that time, we had a learning specialist in the recently renamed Early Elementary Division and two learning specialists in the also recently renamed Upper Elementary Division. In my first year as a learning specialist, I saw one First Grader, a Second Grader, and two Sixth Graders. I spent time in each class listening to the teachers and collaborating with them. This was a specific model that we developed so that the classroom teachers and the learning specialists were a team with common expectations, instructional verbiage, and assignments. Additionally, we began the model of seeing students during their World

Throwback to fall 2007, when the then-members of the Learning Team took a group photo.

The Learning Team today: Jennifer Tran, Samantha Steinberg, Laurel Martin, Michelle Perry, Billie Yarbrough, and Diane Dickey

Languages class time as part of our best practices. Based on dyslexia research and psycho-educational assessments, if a child has a language-based learning challenge, learning a different language can be very difficult. When the students we serve are ready, they are reintroduced to their World Language of choice. That original model has evolved over the years to include bi-weekly meetings with classroom teachers, regular progress updates to parents, and ongoing collaboration with classroom teachers to ensure we are providing remediation when needed and academic support when and where needed. Each Learning Team session is specifically set up to meet the needs of the student. For me, sessions include individualized drills of sounds, syllables, spelling rules, and dictation of words and sentences, then having the students utilize all these skills as they read or write. We work closely with teachers to ensure a smooth transference of skills from our students’ one-on-one sessions to their in-class participation and understanding. There is also appropriate curriculum support included with these activities as the students move through various grades. In addition, we provide our students’ parents with as much communication, support, and accessibility as we can. Our regular updates typically list and explain specific skills that are being worked on, how the student is progressing, what he or she needs to continue to review, and what parents can do at home to support learning. Today, the Learning Team consists of six specialists who have all had experience as classroom teachers in different grade levels at Trinity: me, Diane Dickey, Laurel Martin, Michelle Perry, Samantha Steinberg, and Jennifer Tran. We have all received specialized training through advanced academic degrees or higher ed programs and are all trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Michelle and Samantha have received advanced Orton-Gillingham training and have attained Associate level. Jennifer is currently working toward becoming an Associate. On average, we each work with 10 students each year. Jennifer focuses on Kindergarten and literacy challenges; Michelle focuses on First Grade and literacy challenges; and Diane, Laurel, Samantha, and I work with students in grades 2-6 who have been diagnosed with a learning difference of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and/or dyscalculia. One of the Learning Team’s passions is to support teachers and provide individualized instruction to students in all grades after they have received a psychological assessment and specific diagnosis that falls within the range of our expertise. As a team, the learning specialists meet weekly to discuss our students and seek feedback or suggestions from other members to enhance progress. We also play a role in the transition process of students who have been to a specialized school and are transferring, oftentimes returning to Trinity. We enjoy sharing our expertise and are always available to consult with parents or teachers. The Learning Team has led on-campus workshops, which show the faculty how OrtonGillingham reading, writing, and spelling strategies benefit our students. Through these workshops, and because of the professional development opportunities that Trinity provides its employees, many of our classroom teachers are now trained to recognize reading difficulties. This provides yet another layer of collaboration to give our students the opportunity to develop and flourish academically. It almost goes without saying, but one of the greatest benefits of being a Trinity educator is the School’s investment in our continual professional development. Along with Orton-Gillingham training, Trinity has provided teachers with the opportunity to attend Learning & the Brain conferences as well as dyslexia focused workshops. This commitment to giving our teachers and Learning Team members the tools we need for all our students to succeed and enjoy the hands-on education that Trinity is known for allows us to remain at the forefront of elementary education. Over the last two decades, the Learning Team’s collaboration with teachers, administrators, and parents has grown to best serve our students as well as to provide the latest educational information available to families. The absolute best part of my job is to see the expression on a child’s face who has been struggling academically when they realize that they are understanding and using strategies that are helpful to their academic growth. All of my best memories are when I see or hear about the achievements of our students who worked with a Learning Team member. Trinity is deeply invested in the success of all our students and that will never change.