All Learning Prep School (LPS) students have language-based learning disabilities as their primary challenge. Many also have tangential issues or diagnoses that interfere with their ability to learn, such as a lack of social communication skills; attention deficit disorder; and visual, perceptual, auditory processing, or motor deficits. Because of these challenges, most students who enter typically demonstrate a two-year delay compared to peers who possess age-appropriate academic skills, and they are unable to utilize reading as a functional learning tool. Direct teaching methods, language strategies, and coordinated adaptive and social services are employed consistently to help students become independent learners; in order that they may lead productive lives, students also master the skills necessary for independent living. On the average, 90 percent of Learning Prep’s graduating seniors progress to college, vocational training, or post–high school transition programs. Learning Prep provides services to 360 students in its elementary, middle, and high school programs.

Thinking Maps^® for improving writing processes.
These findings are congruent with a multitude of research studies and support the position that student performance can be increased with the implementation of visual tools. 

Thinking Maps is one of the most powerful tools that Learning Prep School uses to facilitate learning for students who have been unable to succeed in other educational environments. Previously, we felt we served our students well, but they
were not where we knew they could be in their daily performance and their abilities to perform on the Massachusetts exam, the MCAS. We now see the significant results of our students’ performance through the use of these visual tools integrated into our overall program, and students can see themselves differently, as independent learners capable of “getting it,” as one student declared:

Thinking Maps give me a chance to learn. I couldn’t get it when one of my old teachers talked to me all day and then wanted me to write a lot of words. At this new school, I can understand the teachers when they use the maps. And I can finally do the work because I get it!

This qualitative and quantitative view of our experiences shows how Learning Prep began by implementing Thinking Maps in our elementary through high school curricula and then fully integrated these tools consistently and flexibly across grade levels and content areas to give students with learning disabilities clear pathways to think on their own and process information independently.

Thesis Overview
Reading comprehension in learning disabled students can be increased with the classroom implementation of visual tools. Student performance was measured using M U S reading scores before and after the introduction of Thinking Maps, i.e., a set of visual tools which are centered on the development of eight thinking processes. By integrating this common visual language throughout the school's curriculum, it was projected that more effective and efficient learning would be achieved. Assessment results indicated that reading comprehension was increased. It was also observed by classroom teachers that levels of performance rose overall in the following areas: concept attainment, reflective thinking, recall, retention, writing (quantity and quality), creativity, motivation, and cooperative learning skills.

An interview with the Learning Prep Director of Curriculum Cynthia Manning. (7:14)

Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension
Reading is the foundation for life-long learning. One must be able to master this skill in order to facilitate the learning process. Yet reading is simply not enough; one must be able to understand what one has read and be able to apply the newly acquired knowledge for the benefits to be fully realized.

Since September 2002, student performance at this school has improved as demonstrated by an increase in vocabulary acquisition, concept attainment, an ability to make connections, and an ability to establish relationships. The students' overall learning process has been facilitated by the use of these visual tools. Using Thinking Maps, students have able to develop cognition and comprehension strategies in order that they may bridge the gap between current and projected abilities. As evidenced by the 2002 MACS Retest scores, Thinking Maps have proven to be an integral tool for students to retain and retrieve content, attain concepts, and forge connections. Teachers' fluency with Thinking Maps is tracked as well, to ensure that students are receiving the maximum benefit possible.

The past thirty years have yielded a significant amount of research supporting the use of graphic organizers with all student populations to assist with reading comprehension and decoding text structure. Research has demonstrated that visual tools are a viable instructional strategy that enables students to attain concepts and establish connections requisite for proficiency, and that they are an integral component of successful teachers' repertoires of instructional methodologies.

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