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The Arrowsmith School, also known as The Arrowsmith Program, is a school in Toronto that focuses on children with learning disabilities (also referred to as specific learning difficulties). Founded in 1980, the original Arrowsmith School is inToronto, Ontario and a second location was opened in May 2005 in Peterborough, Ontario. The school's philosophy and methods, called the Arrowsmith Program, have been incorporated in other public and private schools in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Founded by Barbara Arrowsmith Young in 1978, the Arrowsmith Program helps students with learning disabilities by claims of using research in neuroplasticity, which suggests that the brain is dynamic and constantly rewiring itself. It is also founded on Ms. Arrowsmith Young’s personal experience of living with learning disabilities. In her late 20s, she had logical and verbal impairments that were so severe she couldn’t tell time by reading a clock – a struggle detailed in her recent book The Woman Who Changed Her Brain.

To help herself, Ms. Arrowsmith Young developed cognitive exercises that she claims help in stimulating the growth of neural pathways. She now has her students – who are not only children, but include adults into their 80s – follow a similar approach.

Barbara Arrowsmith Young

Barbara Arrowsmith Young is the Founder and Director of the Arrowsmith Program, and author of The Woman Who Changed Her Brain.

Diagnosed in grade one as having a mental block, which today would have been identified as multiple learning disabilities, she read and wrote everything backwards, had trouble processing concepts in language, continuously got lost and was physically uncoordinated. Barbara eventually learnt to read and write from left to right and claims to have mask a number of the symptoms of her learning disabilities through heroic effort; however she continued throughout her educational career to have difficulty with specific aspects of learning.

Barbara Arrowsmith Young holds both a B.A.Sc. in Child Studies from the University of Guelph, and a Master’s degree in School Psychology from the University of Toronto O.I.S.E. (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education).

In graduate school she came across two lines of research that intrigued her. Alexander Luria’s description of specific brain function lead her to a clearer understanding of her own learning problems and the work of Mark Rosenzweig suggested the possibility of improving brain function through specific stimulation, at least in animals. This lead to the creation of her first cognitive exercise designed to improve the learning capacity involved in logical reasoning. The results were positive with gains in verbal reasoning, mathematical reasoning and conceptual understanding. This lead to a further exploration of the nature of specific learning capacities and to creating exercises to strengthen them.

The Arrowsmith Program

Arrowsmith Program refers to the Arrowsmith Program methodology that is made available to students in public and private schools in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Founded by Barbara Arrowsmith Young in 1978, the Arrowsmith Program helps students with learning disabilities by using the research in neuroplasticity, which suggests that the brain is dynamic, and constantly rewiring itself. It is also founded on Ms. Arrowsmith Young’s personal experience in living with learning disabilities.

The Arrowsmith Program is founded on two lines of research, one of which established that different areas of the brain working together are responsible for complex mental activities, such as reading or writing, and that a weakness in one area can affect a number of different learning processes.

The other line of research investigated the principle of neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to physically change in response to stimulus and activity, to develop new neuronal/synaptic interconnections and thereby develop and adapt new functions and roles believed to be the physical mechanism of learning. Neuroplasticity refers to structural and functional changes in the brain that are brought about by training and experience.

Skepticism and criticism

A lot of doubt and criticism has emerged, including from psychologists, neurologists and learning experts, on the credibility of the Arrowsmith program; especially given the lack of evidence of change in learning skills as well as the extremely high costs.

In 2003 the Vancouver School Board (VSB) received an 8 month Arrowsmith Program Evaluation Report from Linda Siegel, a Professor at the University of British Columbia in Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education. Two programs for elementary students with learning disabilities were to be compared over a three year period.

The Arrowsmith Program and an Extended Learning Assistance Class (ELAC) (which focused on reading and writing) were to be compared on measures of students’ cognitive ability and academic achievement. The Arrowsmith Program was to be piloted for three years (the average length of time it takes to complete the program) and the VSB received funding through the Vancouver Foundation.

After the first eight months of the pilot, tests of cognitive ability and academic achievement were given to all students involved in the study and an evaluation was written by Siegel (only achievement measures were reported). Siegel stated in her conclusion of her 8 month evaluation that, “On all but the comprehension and spelling measures, ELAC performed at higher levels than Arrowsmith, often by a relatively large amount.”  However, results from a review of Siegel’s data indicate her statements regarding the ELAC group are incorrect and do a disservice to those who could benefit from the Arrowsmith Program.

In his paper, Siegel’s Study: Points For Comment,  Howard Eaton argues that there are a variety of serious methodological, calculation, and statistical problems associated with the Siegel evaluation, and even with those problems there was no statistical support for the above conclusion. Analysis by two independent statisticians, one at the University of Toronto and one at the University of British Columbia, shows that the only statistically significant findings supported by the test scores presented in Siegel’s evaluation are that the Arrowsmith students showed greater gains in Comprehension and Spelling subtest measures as compared to the ELAC group. No subtests showed statistical significance in favor of the ELAC group.

The Arrowsmith Program was discontinued at the VSB and Siegel’s eight month evaluation was noted as being influential in this decision. Additionally, Eaton claims that Siegel’s study has been cited by Siegel herself, media and professionals involved in education as evidence against the effectiveness of the Arrowsmith Program. 

Professor Anne Castles is deputy director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders at Macquarie University, Australia. Castles has stated in an article in the Learning Difficulties Australia Bulletin, an organization she is a council member of, that there is "a clear lack of independent research to support the program's claims", and no study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal on the Arrowsmith program.

According to the Department of Special Needs Education at the University of Oslo in Norway, research and studies reveal that 'brain training' programs do not show effectiveness in memory and other cognitive difficulties.

See also

• Lumosity
• Dore Programme
• Brain Gym
• Conductive education

References

1. http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about-dyslexia/schools-colleges-and-universities/what-are-specific-learning-difficulties.html
2. "Schools That Offer the Arrowsmith Program". Arrowsmith School. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
3. http://www.barbaraarrowsmithyoung.com/book/
4. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/brain/can-a-controversial-learning-program-transform-brains/article7871918/
5. http://www.barbaraarrowsmithyoung.com/book/
6. http://www.barbaraarrowsmithyoung.com/profile/
7. http://www.arrowsmithschool.org/arrowsmithprogram/participating-schools.html
8. http://ecps.educ.ubc.ca/person/linda-siegel/
9. http://www.eatonarrowsmithschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Eaton-Review-of-Siegel-2003-Arrowsmith-Program-Evaluation.pdf
10. http://www.ldaustralia.org/lda-council-2013-2014.html
11. https://theconversation.com/brain-training-or-learning-as-we-like-to-call-it-9951
12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22612437

External links

• Official website
• Arrowsmith School Profile By OurKids.net: Canada's Private School Guide
• 'Brain training'...or learning as we like to call it
• Is Working Memory Training Effective? A Meta-Analytic Review

• Private schools in Toronto
• Special schools in Canada