Description
Educational achievement data suggest that the United States is very much a nation-at-risk. Nationally, less than half of fourth-grade students read proficiently. Nevada ranks among the bottom performing states year after year and the vast majority of students graduate without achieving college readiness in both math and reading. The Scientist Educator Model offers a replicable framework, based on the logic of scientific case-study design, to inform ideal methods of academic skill acquisition at the level of the individual learner. Originating from the UNR department of Psychology circa 1998, the Scientist Educator Model has since been developed and deployed in dozens of learning laboratories around the world, including Fit Learning and Empower Youth in Reno. Outcomes generated by the model so far reveal how much room for improvement there is in our public education systems. When teaching practices are informed by the scientific method, student learning gains are orders of magnitude larger than standard instructional practices. Students receiving services from Fit Learning and Empower Youth have made years of academic progress with as few as 10 hours of instruction. These results represent both an exciting opportunity and an ethical mandate to bring more efficient and effective instruction to every learner.