Universities and the Scientific Community

The Plaza Academy began as a seed research site at the University of Kansas's Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities. Under the auspices of a federally funded research grant we developed a number of learning strategies that would teach teenagers to manage their own academic behaviors rather than rely on external management systems mediated by others.

Our research results were published and disseminated in a number of federal and university research reports.   The central component of our self management learning strategy was disseminated to a national audience when we were awarded the Certificate of Merit at the annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapists, New York City, 1981. An update and continuation of our research appeared in The Journal of Behavioral Education, Vol. 4, No.1, pp.109-133 in 1994.

Other components of our research at The Center for Research on Learning are incorporated in numerous additional learning strategies which have become permanent curriculum components in public special education curricula across the nation. Our staff continues to present our work at local and national scientific conferences.