Arrowsmith To Be Restored in Toronto’s Catholic Schools
The controversy over the Arrowsmith Program in the Toronto Catholic District School Board is pretty well over. Richard Allway, the newly appointed supervisor of the board is overturning the decision to cut the Arrowsmith program from schools ending a lawsuit brought by parents against the board and Ontario’s Education Minister.
In a letter to parents Mr.Allway stated that after careful review and in consultation with the board’s director of education, the program would be continued for students already enrolled until 2012. He also stated that he was sure that the rationale to cut it in the first place was at the time in keeping with the best of human and fiscal resources.
Arrowsmith was one of the first programs designed to improve performance in children with learning disorders that exploited the concept of neuroplasticity. The program arose from techniques developed by Barbara Arrowsmith Young to address her own learning problems. Her aim was not to compensate for her weaknesses but to strengthen the cognitive capacities underlying them.