Good planning is important to all DISCOVER services.  The guidelines below have proven very effective.

     1) The Learning Environment: DISCOVER services work best when customized to the place where they are being used.  When working with schools, we often ask for information on school demographics, classroom scheduling and organization, teaching strategies, and general school operations…as well as the level of community and parental involvement, and interest.  This information is important because DISCOVER services are adaptable to virtually any linguistic, cultural, or demographic situation.  The same is true for non School-Based DISCOVER services.

     2) Building Support and Awareness:  DISCOVER methodologies represent a considerable paradigm shift away from traditional educational practices, many of which originated in the 19^th century.  Because this is the case, it is not uncommon for some teachers and parents to view the new procedures with a certain wariness, and sometime resistance.  Helping people understand the reasons behind DISCOVER’s effectiveness is an important part of the process—including explaining why there is a need for change and how DISCOVER principles work.  Teamwork and reinforcement of DISCOVER principles at all levels is essential, so much so that paying attention to this one detail can mean the difference between mediocre and phenomenal success.  To help build community and school support, we strongly recommend that you host a community forum, featuring Dr. Maker or a DISCOVER staff member, to explain the past twenty years of research and case studies that have lead to the current instruments.  Such forums are highly effective as an awareness builder because they use state-of-the-art presentation techniques, dynamic stories and examples, and hands-on exercises that allow the audience to participate in exactly how DISCOVER works, providing an understanding of why changing our educational system is so important.  For parents who are planning on having their child assessed, but do not have the option of participating in a DISCOVER school-based program, we recommend setting up a meeting with the child’s teacher(s).  This meeting can be used to explain the Assessment results and demonstrate how those results are used, both at home and in the classroom, to better develop and use the child’s strengths.