UConn-Forman Partnership Creates Model for Supporting Students Who Learn Differently
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If you’ve watched your child come home from school convinced they’re “not smart” despite their creative problem-solving and quick wit, you know the frustration of systems that don’t see the whole picture. You’re not imagining the disconnect between what you see in your child and what traditional assessments measure. That instinct driving you to look beyond labels and find approaches that recognize your child’s potential is exactly what’s motivating a groundbreaking partnership between UConn and Connecticut’s Forman School.
TL;DR
UConn and Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut have formed a partnership to support students who learn differently and generate research on effective approaches.
Kristin Simmers, a UConn Ph.D. candidate, joined Forman as its first director of cognition and learning, bridging research with practical student support.
UConn Waterbury's Neurovariability Initiative emphasizes cognitive strengths over deficit labels, using Universal Design for Learning principles.
The residential school setting creates unique research opportunities by allowing observation of students across classroom, athletic, and social contexts.
Both institutions are preparing students for rapidly changing educational landscapes, including the integration of AI tools in learning.
University and School Forge Research Alliance
Fifth-year Ph.D. candidate Kristin Simmers has stepped into what she calls her “dream job” as Forman School’s inaugural director of cognition and learning. The newly created position bridges UConn’s research capabilities with the nearly 100-year-old Litchfield boarding and day school’s mission to serve approximately 200 students developing reading, focus, and executive function skills.
The partnership developed alongside UConn Waterbury’s Neurovariability Initiative, launched in spring 2025 by campus dean Fumiko Hoeft and engineering professor Arash Zaghi. Both Hoeft and Zaghi identify as individuals who developed different learning patterns—and both are parents navigating similar experiences with their own children.
“Forman is a school that serves students with learning differences, but also explicitly teaches them how their brains actually work and learn,” Simmers explains. “That’s been a passion of mine for over 20 years now.”
“Our goal is to cultivate an environment where every student’s potential can be maximized—regardless of how they process information,” Hoeft states. “This is about unlocking talent that’s often overlooked—not by lowering the bar, but by rethinking how success is defined, supported, and scaled,” adds Zaghi.
Many Forman students arrive having experienced negative educational encounters and were sometimes discouraged from pursuing higher education. The school works to rebuild both academic skills and confidence through approaches that recognize each student’s unique learning profile.
Author Quote"
When people would ask me what I wanted to do after my Ph.D., I would describe this job and then quickly say, ‘But those jobs don’t exist.’|Kristin Simmers, Director of Cognition and Learning at Forman School
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Research Opportunities Benefit Both Institutions
The partnership creates unique advantages for researchers studying how brains develop learning skills. Forman’s residential population allows observation across multiple settings—classrooms, athletics, evening study groups, and social activities—generating behavioral data currently unavailable in academic literature. This understanding of how the brain changes through targeted intervention can inform both research and practical classroom strategies.
Both Hoeft and Zaghi now serve on Forman’s inaugural Research Advisory Board. The collaboration includes student exchanges: Forman students attend UConn Waterbury’s annual WISHfest and participated in Dyslexia Awareness Month events in October. Early College Experience courses provide Forman students with dual UConn credit opportunities.
Forman also maintains partnerships with Stanford University’s ROAR (Rapid Online Assessment of Reading) project and Harvard Innovation Labs on educational instruction applications, placing the school at the intersection of cutting-edge learning science.
Key Takeaways:
1
New director bridges research and practice: UConn Ph.D. candidate Kristin Simmers became Forman School's first director of cognition and learning, connecting university research with practical support for students developing reading and focus skills.
2
Initiative focuses on strengths over labels: The Neurovariability Initiative designs educational systems that amplify cognitive strengths rather than emphasizing diagnostic categories, creating environments where all students can succeed.
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Partnership creates unique research opportunities: Forman's residential setting allows researchers to observe students across multiple daily contexts, generating behavioral insights unavailable in typical academic studies.
Preparing Students for Rapidly Changing Futures
Simmers emphasizes that the partnership keeps pace with emerging educational realities. “Our job is to get our students ready for college, while keeping a finger on the pulse of what college is going to look like for these students, which is changing quickly with AI,” she notes. The school opened a new cognition and learning building in 2025 with a diagnostic center designed to identify individual learning patterns and strengths.
For families seeking approaches that build on their child’s capabilities rather than focusing solely on challenges, this partnership demonstrates what becomes possible when institutions prioritize understanding how individual brains learn. The collaboration models a future where educational systems adapt to learners rather than expecting all learners to adapt to rigid systems.
Head of School Amy Clemons describes the institutional shift: “We have to be out in the world participating with what’s going on as much as we’re doing what’s right for our students here.”
Author Quote"
Our goal is to cultivate an environment where every student’s potential can be maximized—regardless of how they process information.|Fumiko Hoeft, UConn Waterbury Campus Dean
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Every child deserves an educational system that sees their potential, not just their struggles. This partnership demonstrates what becomes possible when institutions stop trying to fit different learners into rigid boxes and instead build environments that recognize cognitive diversity as an asset. For too long, the system has labeled children rather than developed them—managing differences rather than building on strengths. If you’re ready to stop waiting for schools to change and start building your child’s capabilities now, the Learning Success All Access Program offers a free trial that includes a personalized Action Plan—and you keep that plan even if you decide it’s not the right fit.
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