The Davis Learning Strategies program was developed to give Kindergarten through Third Grade classroom teachers unique strategies for providing more effective reading instruction and for giving their students life long skills in “how to learn.” It is intended to be a supplement to the regular curriculum, to provide additional preparation and support that will help children naturally develop strong reading fluency and comprehension skills.
Davis Learning Strategies were created by Ronald D. Davis, author of The Gift of Dyslexia. Sharon Pfeiffer, a teacher with more than 20 years of classroom experience, supervised research and development. She conducted pilot programs in several local San Francisco Bay Area classrooms from 1994-1999. At first, the goal was to reach children with dyslexia and related learning disabilities before they fell behind by adapting the Davis Dyslexia Correction® methods for school children under the age of eight.
During the five years of pilot studies, we discovered that the Davis methods helped all children enhance and improve their reading and language arts skills. Followup showed that the Davis Learning Strategies not only prevented special education placement in later school years, but also increased the number of students qualifying for gifted education placement. Implementation of the methods benefited all students no matter what their learning styles or reading level. Teachers found that strong readers become stronger in language and grammar skills and weaker readers begin to read effortlessly.