Addressing Specific Learning Differences Through Learner-Centered Education: Evidence from Practice and Literature

Addressing Specific Learning Differences Through Learner-Centered Education: Evidence from Practice and Literature explores how learner-centered environments are meeting the needs of young people with specific learning differences—including dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia—through inclusive, research-informed approaches. Drawing on both a literature review and findings from a study of three diverse learning environments, this brief highlights how learner-centered education embeds flexibility, belonging, and holistic development at its core. The findings point to six integral dimensions—safety, community, advocacy, adaptability, relevance, and choice—that together create conditions where every learner can thrive.

This brief is part of Education Reimagined’s Learning Differences Research Series, conducted with funding provided in part by Oak Foundation. While this brief focuses on policy navigation and regulatory frameworks, the research methodology and site profiles can be found in our Research Study Overview. For the complete series and additional resources, visit our Learning Differences page.

Khara Schonfeld-Karan, Ph.D.

Director of Field Research, Education Reimagined

Khara is Director of Field Research for Education Reimagined. She has taught K–12 students for over a decade in the US and internationally, taught teacher education courses and led programs at the university level, and researched alternative learning approaches, including unschooling. She holds a PhD in Teacher Education & Professional Development and an MEd in Art Education.

Dr. Caleb Collier

Director, The Institute for Self-Directed Learning

Caleb leads the research, networking, and consulting efforts of The Institute for Self-Directed Learning. Caleb has a PhD in Teaching and Learning from Georgia State University with a research focus on self-directed learning. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. He has authored many articles on learner-led education and his book, Theoretical and Historical Evolutions of Self-Directed Learning, is a foundational text in the field. Caleb’s greatest passion (and greatest adventure) is his family, and he gladly spends most of his time with his wife and three children at their home in Atlanta.