The Washington Mutual Teaching for Success Project, funded with a $100,000 gift from the bank, will provide an opportunity for a total of 40 teachers to learn more about the neural developmental functions of learning, how to assess every child's learning needs and how to apply that knowledge to their teaching.

"We are grateful to Washington Mutual for their corporate leadership in our shared commitment to strengthen teaching and learning in our region's schools," said Philip Rusche, dean of CSUN's Michael D. Eisner College of Education. "Strengthening the teaching skills of teachers in our urban schools and providing them with cutting-edge knowledge and better teaching tools is key to improving student achievement and breaking the cycle of poverty in our urban, low-income neighborhoods."

The teachers will take part in an orientation session on Wednesday, May 25, following a 5 p.m. reception with Washington Mutual and university officials in the University Club on the southeast corner of the campus at Nordhoff Street and Zelzah Avenue.

The elementary schools taking part in the project are Hart Street in Canoga Park, Lorne Street in Northridge, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in San Fernando, Pacoima Charter in Pacoima, Haskell in Granada Hills, Winnetka Avenue in Canoga Park and Fernangeles in Sun Valley.

The teachers will take part in a weeklong workshop in June focusing on new research on brain wiring and the neurodevelopmental functions of learning.

Rusche said CSUN faculty feel that this program has great implications for the future of teaching and learning. Specifically, the teachers will receive Schools Attuned professional development, a systematic approach to understanding and managing differences in learning. The program was developed the All Kinds of Minds Institute and by Dr. Mel Levine, a nationally recognized learning expert and author who wrote the best selling book, A Mind at a Time.

"This new neurodevelopmental approach to teaching and learning is giving new hope to teachers for helping children who are having learning problems," Rusche said. "Teachers who go through this training are shown to have the tools to better support the learning needs of all children in their classrooms. Preliminary research from our faculty indicates a 70 percent drop in referrals to special education by teachers who have previously attended this training."

In addition to the workshop and related materials, the teachers will receive monthly coaching sessions from mentors provided by the Etta Israel Center Schools Attuned Professional Development Provider. They will also participate in a research study conducted by Northridge education faculty designed to measure the effectiveness of this program on the quality of teaching and the level of student achievement, and to quantify the number of referrals made to special education before and after involvement in the program.