We began working with Sarah before her first year of high school.  Her parents contacted us because she was struggling with basic skills, and they wanted to give her a head start in high school. They had taken her to a storefront tutoring center, and based upon a single assessment, the center had told them that Sarah needed 383 hours of tutoring and had pressured the family to sign a very expensive contract. Fortunately, Sarah’s parents knew an educational consultant they trusted, and they reached out to him for advice.  He sent the family to RTC, and we did a preliminary skills assessment with Sarah. What we saw was a student who needed help, and so we started working with Sarah on math, reading comprehension, and writing.

Sarah’s tutor continued working with her into her first year of high school, and she genuinely struggled with content in all of her classes. Sarah is such a sweet girl, and she was hardworking and sincere in her studies, but school was very difficult for her. One of the biggest issues was that her classes went too fast for her. Sarah needed a little more time to learn a concept before moving onto the next, and her classes didn’t allow her that time; essentially, she processed information more slowly than some students. This was so frustrating for her, because as soon as she was just grasping a concept, the class would move on to another.

In addition, Sarah struggled with other kinds of processing: in math, she regularly switched “less than” (<) and “greater than” (>) symbols in her head, which made working on inequalities so challenging for her! In her writing, Sarah sometimes wrote question marks backwards. Sarah also struggled with study skills and organizing herself, so her tutor got her on task with study aids and study plans to help her work effectively.  However, Sarah’s tutor worked with her only once a week, so the supports she could offer Sarah were limited.

It was clear to us that Sarah needed daily supports in school, and we recommended to the family that she be assessed. We explained to Sarah that every brain works differently, and that if we found out how her brain worked, we could help her to learn better. She was all for figuring out how to succeed in school!

The school’s assessment showed that Sarah had several learning differences, especially related to processing and working memory, and that she also had ADHD. Her school placed her in classes that moved at a speed that was comfortable for her, and she was given extra learning supports daily in school.  Most importantly, Sarah was given a case manager at school who made sure she kept herself organized and on-task in her studies, reinforcing good habits.  Almost immediately, Sarah started to succeed in school! In her sophomore year, she still needed some tutoring support, but she became a much more independent learner, and she rapidly began gaining ground in school. Sarah’s confidence grew by leaps and bounds, and by her junior year, she needed no tutoring support. We had achieved our goal with Sarah: she had become an independent, capable learner.

Sarah returned to us for test prep her junior year an entirely different learner than she had been two years earlier, when she had been worried about the idea of standardized tests. Now, she believed she could succeed at test prep. Together, she and her tutor took on the ACT in a virtual ACT tutoring program, and in the end she saw a six-point gain on the test! (Her score gain was equivalent to 200 points on SAT.) Sarah will be attending the College of Charleston in the fall of 2021, and she’s so excited about her next step. We’re excited for her!

Sarah chose to write her college application essay about her growth experience in high school, and she has been kind enough to share it here with us. We hope you enjoy it.

The pencil was gripped tightly in my hand, on the verge of breaking. Today was test day; the nerves hit as my pencil became coated in sweat from my palms. Freshman year of high school, this was every “test day” feeling, because it is difficult to do well taking a test you have not prepared for. On my Algebra I final, I had to perform strongly since my grade needed to be pulled up. “Pencils down,” yelled the teacher. I only got to question 30 of 50.

Since kindergarten, school was extremely difficult for me. I realized that I learned more slowly than the other students. For example, I took very long learning how to write my name. I knew how to spell and read my name, but my brain could not process how to write the “S” correctly. My mom and I sat struggling at the dining room table for hours until I got it. For the first time, I didn’t feel as smart as the other kids. During elementary school, I struggled to keep up, but my parents just told me I needed to apply myself more. During middle school, my grades were low, and adults told me I was not mature enough for the middle school schedule. The cycle of being behind in school for so long made me feel discouraged. 

In my freshman year of high school, the material was thrown at me too fast, and I struggled immensely. I had a defeatist attitude towards school because I thought school would always be too hard for me. I did not prioritize school, and my grades were very low. My parents hired a tutor to help me with my homework. Miss Claire helped me understand the material well, but she noticed my grades did not reflect my potential. She also noticed that in math equations, I mixed up the direction of “less than” and ”more than” signs. Furthermore, in English, she noticed I read words in incorrect order and comprehended literature slowly.  I know now these were processing issues. Miss Claire talked to my parents about my learning difficulties and told them I should be evaluated for an I.E.P. Miss Claire articulated what was going on in my mind to my parents. For the first time, I had a gut feeling the school might have resources to help me manage learning. 

The testing revealed I needed learning accommodations in my classes. I was diagnosed with ADHD, which made sense because I could not focus in class, had poor time management skills, and was very disorganized. Starting sophomore year, I had I.E.P. accommodations and was put on medication to help my ADHD symptoms. My learning during class started to become clearer. I began to enjoy learning for the first time I could remember, and my grades started to show that I was intrigued with the content in my classes. 

The most helpful thing an I.E.P provided me was a case manager who would help me to stay on track with my classes and manage time to complete work. Before my case manager taught me how to study, I did not study effectively at all. She taught me many different specific study strategies to use for tests. The tools that my IEP gave me have helped me prosper to my full potential in school.

Being aware that my brain makes learning harder for me was the start of conquering this obstacle. My I.E.P made my last three years of school rewarding for me. Knowing the ways my brain processes and learns helped me develop skills that I will use throughout my entire life. My prolonged struggle with school has made me a stronger person, because my growth proved to me how I can overcome any hardship. The lessons I learned about organizational skills, time management, and studying will help me to flourish as a college student and in life.