When Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sandy Garrett and Oklahoma First Lady Cathy Keating first learned about the work of All Kinds of Minds, they had a feeling it could make a difference in the state’s public schools. So, in 1999, they invited Dr. Mel Levine to the Governor’s Mansion to share the All Kinds of Minds philosophy and approach with a group of the state’s top teachers. By day’s end, inspired by the teachers’ reactions, Garrett and Keating knew they had to find a way to bring the Schools Attuned Program to Oklahoma schools.

The two women met with state legislators to introduce them to All Kinds of Minds and show them the impact that the professional development program for educators could make. By 2000, they convinced Oklahoma lawmakers to allocate funds to establish a statewide initiative. Since 2001, the legislature has provided around $1 million each year to the Department of Education to train public school teachers across the state.

“This program serves a wide range of students, not just special education students, who have barriers to learning efficiently,” Superintendent Garrett says. “What I love about this approach is that it provides a logical way for the student to learn how they learn. And, once they know that, the student becomes his own advocate for learning by identifying his strengths and leveraging those strengths to strengthen his weaknesses.”

More than 2,400 Oklahoma educators from 50 of the state’s 70 counties have completed the Schools Attuned Program and are applying what they learned to help students in their classrooms. The Schools Attuned Program in Oklahoma now has a state director and four regional coordinators with offices in the Oklahoma Department of Education, and participating educators receive college credit at the University of Oklahoma.

As a result of implementing this statewide initiative, Garrett says, “we see a lot of enthusiasm and a lot less frustration among our teachers, because they now have the knowledge, techniques, and support to identify barriers to learning in individual students and to overcome them. This work has been a wonderful asset to us in regard to No Child Left Behind, because it gives us the tools to help each student become a more successful learner.”

Looking forward, Garrett says, “the plan is for the Department of Education to continue to work closely with All Kinds of Minds in everything we do. The interest in this work around the state is tremendous, and with the continuing support of the state legislature, we want to bring this approach into every public school in our state to improve educational opportunities for all of Oklahoma’s kids.”