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Do you want to enhance student-teacher relationships?

Do you want to help students increase academic achievement?

Do you want to support students to become self-directed learners?

before study smart

43% of students
reported having a caring, trusting relationship with their teacher

after study smart

84% of STUDENTS
believed their learning plan could help their teachers understand them better as a person

before study smart

41% of students said school is difficult
65% of students have challenges in math, reading or listening comprehension

after study smart

81% of STUDENTS
stated they understand better how they learn

before study smart

25% of students reported having a voice and choice in what and how they learn at school

after study smart

84% of STUDENTS
stated it was important to express their views and choose strategies that worked for them

What is MINDSpeak?

MINDSpeak is Study Smart’s student-initiated assessment for learning tool that was developed to help teachers efficiently identify and effectively support the diverse needs of all students in the classroom.

The need for Mindspeak was confirmed through evidenced-based research with 100 consultations with educators, students and parents across Canada.

What is in the Assessment?

Mindspeak includes three levels of activities. Each level includes a series of short quizzes and activities covering six academic skills (reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing, math operations, oral expression and listening comprehension), and 5 affective and cognitive areas (learning skills, learning preferences, multiple intelligences, motivational tendencies and executive functioning skills).
The estimated time to complete each activity is approximately 5-10 minutes with an estimated total time for all activities of 70 minutes depending on the student’s grade and ability level.


CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FOR A GLIMPSE OF THE STUDENT’S EXPERIENCE IN THE ASSESSMENT.

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What is the Outcome?

The outcome from the assessment generates a holistic learning plan from the voice of the student. It enables each student to understand how they learn and become accountable for their learning. It also helps educators learn more about the student’s interests, academic and learning strengths and needs, learning preferences, motivational type, goals and strategies that may work best for them.

View a sample learning plan

What is a Class Profile?

A class profile is a one page snapshot of profiles for all students that the teacher, tutor or educator supports. It provides them with a holistic glance of each student’s strengths, needs, interests, learning preferences and motivational tendencies to help BUILD STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS.

How are Students Engaged?

Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation
MINDSpeak engages students with a gamified experience of short quizzes, videos, puzzles and other activities. Students are initially extrinsically rewarded for their efforts then instrinsic motivation triggers as students learn more about themselves throughout their journey.
Students earn coins for each activity completed, then select rewards from the SMART shop with these coins.  Some rewards may help make learning easier in the classroom but the redemption of these rewards require teacher approval.

How does the assessment align with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

UDL considers the needs of all learners by embedding lessons with multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation and multiple means of action and expression (Cast, 2018).  Engagement impacts a student’s motivation to learn by enabling learners to engage with the material in a variety of ways. Representation refers to the way learners perceive and understand material using different means of representation to align with different learning preferences. Action and expression enables learners to express what they know in alternative ways that work best for them. In short, UDL provides a way to consider the needs of all learners by providing students with a choice of how and what they learn.

The outcomes from the assessments provides educators access to hundreds of UDL strategies that can be used for individual learners or the entire class.

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frequently Asked Questions

The holistic assessment was designed to help students understand how they learn and give students a voice and choice of strategies that work best for them. Students want to learn when they know how they learn. The learning plan can also be shared with educators who support the students inside and outside the classroom so educators can better understand the student’s strengths, needs, interests and learning preferences and build positive holistic relationships with them.

It is sometimes difficult for educators to identify the diverse strengths and needs of students, and build holistic relationships with limited tools and resources. Study Smart’s class profile enables educators to receive a one page snapshot of the learning plan summaries of all their students. Since the assessments are initiated and completed by the students, the educators save time in efficiently identifying and effectively supporting the needs of all their students.

No. Our holistic assessment is a screening that can be completed within 70 minutes by each student instead of waiting for an IEP which could take months or years to identify the student’s needs, and develop and implement strategies. All students in a class or educational setting have access to a holistic assessment instead of only those with diagnosed needs that qualify for an IEP. This ensures no student falls through the cracks and minimizes the stigma of being one of the few students in the class to have an IEP.
Finally, the holistic assessment is initiated by the students instead of the teacher. After the student completes the assessment, a learning plan and customized instructional strategies are generated aligned to each student’s strengths and needs. The most effective strategies are then selected by the student and can be used by an individual student with a tutor or with the entire class by a classroom teacher. The individual plans are then consolidated into a class profile so the tutor or teacher can easily access a one summary snapshot of the profiles of each individual student. 

No. Our holistic assessment is an affordable  condensed version of a psychological assessment that is accessible to all students regardless of their socioeconomic status. The holistic assessment includes a screening of students’ academic and cognitive skills as well as their interests, learning preferences and motivational tendencies. The strategies recommended by the holistic assessment are practical and can be used by the student as well as the entire class.

The total time to complete the assessment is approximately 70 minutes but the assessment is broken down into 3 modules with a series of 5-10 minute activities, so students can complete the assessment at their own pace.  We do not recommend the assessment to be completed in one sitting as the assessment contains a lot of information for students to absorb and reflect on. Students will be more engaged and motivated if they complete the assessment within 3-5 sittings. 

Educators are not obligated to follow the strategies in the holistic assessment; however educators may appreciate having a better understanding of each student’s strengths, needs, interests and learning preference as well as strategies to support the students. Unlike the strategies within an IEP or psychological assessment which may be difficult to implement with a large class size, the strategies in our holistic assessment are based on the principles of universal design for learning. This means the strategies can be used by all students in the class which makes them easier and faster to implement.

Absolutely.  In fact, the strategies were designed to be used by individual students independently or with the support of an educator within or outside the classroom. One of our goals is to help students learn how they learn so they can become confident, self-directed learners who want to learn regardless of the support available to them.  We make it easy for students to implement the strategies with step-by-step instructions which illustrate the strategies and guide students to apply and reflect on the effectiveness of each strategy. 

Although each student can complete the assessment independently, an educator or parent should be in the room while students complete the assessment to help students stay on track and minimize distractions of phones and other computer activities. The assessment can also be completed in a small or large group setting where each student is separated and guided to complete it independently. More supervision is required by the educator in a group setting to keep students on track and offer support as needed. 

Students can complete the assessment on a computer, laptop, tablet or phone. Since there are videos and audio recordings embedded in the assessment, it is recommended that students in the group settings use headphones to minimize distractions by others.

We offer affordable solutions to ensure all students are able to access the support they need. Our solutions are personalized based on the needs of each organization. Please contact us to discuss your needs.

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