ESE Student Success with BrainWare SAFARI

ESE Student Success with BrainWare SAFARI

In a recent conversation with an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) Teacher, we got to hear about the benefits of BrainWare SAFARI cognitive training software for her students.

During the 2016-1027 school year, 22 sixth-grade students used BrainWare SAFARI cognitive training software at Wadsworth Elementary in Bunnell, FL (Flagler County Schools). Their teacher, Lora Lee Craton, also serves as the school’s Sixth Grade Dean. The students were all ESE students, with a variety of learning disabilities, including two who had experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI).

These students completed an average of 53 BrainWare SAFARI sessions over the course of the year, with most using the program at least 2 to 3 times per week (other than holidays and vacations). The frequency and duration of use are vital to the kind of cognitive growth demonstrated in research studies with the program. The students passed an average of 97 of the 168 levels in BrainWare. It is important to note that the number of levels completed is less important than frequency and intensity of using the program.

Ms. Craton reports that 100% of the students improved their reading scores, and 89% improved their math scores, all making at least a year’s growth in those subjects.

Of particular note were the two students with TBI. One experienced the most growth of any sixth grader on the Scholastic Reading Inventory. The other had started with extremely poor memory at the beginning of the year and ended the year being able to remember information such as her lunch number and computer login information.

One student with an Autism Spectrum Diagnosis completed 153 levels in the program (the most of any student in the cohort). He experienced substantial growth in reading and succeeded in passing the Florida State Assessment (FSA). Several other students in the group also passed the FSA for the first time.

BrainWare SAFARI incorporates multidisciplinary clinical therapy techniques, refined over more than forty years, with the best practices of engaging video-game technology. Ms. Craton commented that the students really liked using BrainWare SAFARI. They did experience some frustration, as expected, when the program became challenging for them, but their persistence was excellent and most were “very committed” to doing well in the program.

Ms. Craton describes herself as “very happy” with the results and the improvements she saw in student performance. During our conversation, she turned to her paraprofessional assistant and asked her if she thought BrainWare SAFARI worked for the students. The answer was an immediate and enthusiastic “Absolutely!”

Ms. Craton is currently working on getting a new group of students on BrainWare SAFARI for the 2017-2018 School Year.