The AIM Connection

When AIM founders Pat Roberts and Nancy Blair founded AIM with 24 families in 2006, they did not imagine the school would grow to more than 360 students in just 13 years, but they did envision a vibrant hub where educators, researchers, and families would learn together and make an impact on the field of education.

Today, AIM partners with top researchers and practitioners worldwide to develop educational solutions for children with language-based learning differences as well as struggling readers in other schools. This vision has resulted in AIM students outperforming expected growth in reading fluency norms compared to national norms across all children. We were honored to have Georgia State University researcher Dr. Lee Branum-Martin analyze our data for this report.

AIM's commitment to the research has led to a strategic partnership with the Haskins Global Literacy Hub as the first educational organization asked to join this initiative. In addition, the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) actively engages AIM faculty in research designed to develop curriculum and methodologies that will accelerate learning for our students. AIM's cutting-edge lab school provides a model for working with all struggling readers. And our AIM Leadership for the Future program attracts entrepreneurial educators and researchers interested in addressing the global crisis of literacy by collaborating to create unique solutions.

AIM is like a teaching hospital or, more appropriately, a "teaching school" where top AIM practitioners work side by side with experts and researchers to advance and accelerate the rate of growth of the students they serve. These practitioners become experts who train the next generation of practitioners. The impact of this reciprocal model for learning, and research is evident as AIM Academy and AIM Institute for Learning & Research faculty collaborate on initiatives designed to transform classroom practice for all AIM students.

Now imagine this same focus and dedication to the research can be brought to schools around the world through the power of technology where AIM faculty and staff can grow in their profession by training other teachers, conducting research studies, writing curriculum and presenting parent workshops. This is the power of AIM Pathways, an interactive teacher training digital platform, that will be released in 2019.  Aligned to the IDA Knowledge and Practice Standards, AIM Pathways will incorporate six courses as part of its initial series.

Read below for answers to many more FAQs Regarding AIM and the AIM Institute