| History
Originally known as the Integrated Thematic Instruction (ITI) Model, this brain-compatible model is grounded in the Biology of Learning, effective Instructional Strategies, and the development of Conceptual Curriculum. Now known as Highly Effective Teaching, the HET Model has been successfully replicated nationally in educational institutions serving urban, suburban, and rural communities. It includes proven strategies and methods for student learning, effective teaching, and administrative management. Independent research has provided evidence of significant gains in student achievement using this innovative education model. Click to open an informative Question & Answer sheet about the Model or the HET brochure in pdf formats.
The Founder
Born and raised on the West Coast in California and third generation San Franciscan, Susan Kovalik has spent the past 30 years developing a model for curriculum and instruction based on current brain research. She is the creator of the Highly Effective Teaching (HET) Model and dynamically shares and models practical strategies while inspiring educators to grow beyond perceived personal limits and encouraging others to expand their capacity. To have learned from Susan Kovalik is to have learned from one of the first and foremost leaders in bodybrain-compatible education.
 Susan first started teaching in 1961. From the begining, she worked her intuition overtime to come up with the best practices for engaging her sixth grade students incorporating plenty of enthusiasm, exuberant gestures, whole-body activities, laughs, hugs, and food. As a second-generation Italian-Greek-Irish-American, Susan would design the instruction so students would be able to use what they were learning in their personal lives. This resulted in classrooms full of children who loved learning!
"I began to refine my curriculum development and instructional strategies to better align with brain research. The Integrated Thematic Instruction (ITI) Model was born."
The work of Susan Kovalik is grounded in research, offers innovative strategies, and reflects her passion for improving education for teachers and students. Susan is committed to providing the best information from current research and offering practical strategies to increase human capacity and performance at work, at home, and at school. Susan Kovalik is a pioneer in creating the original brain-compatible classroom experience, collaboratively authoring and publishing more than 25 books, audio recordings, and award-winning videos which serve as on-going "coaches" for teachers and administrators, documenting Highly Effective Teaching in action.
In 1984, Susan Kovalik formed a company, providing professional development to help educators apply brain research findings using her ITI model. Since that time, Susan Kovalik & Associates, Inc. (now The Center for Effective Learning) has grown to include many year-round trainers and over 100 other available trainers who provide the signature Model Teaching Week events, workshops, institutes, and seminars throughout the United States and around the world. The company’s motto “Growing Responsible Citizens” is a testament to Susan Kovalik’s own childhood, immersed in the political activism of her parents, as she now passes on the knowledge to students and educators that each person can make a difference in the world.
Susan and her Master HET Associates have worked around the world teaching and coaching educators in bodybrain-compatible education. They share the power of working with a proven education model that can be replicated for all students in all situations. Susan is especially proud of a project that she personally sponsored in Slovakia, a new democracy previously under communist authority. She and her associates made numerous trips to assist the educators in Eastern Europe. After seven years, the project reached sustainability. There are now Highly Effective Teaching schools throughout the country. Susan was privileged to receive the Medal of Honor from the Slovak Minister of Education.
Many districts in over thirty states are currently involved in the implementation of the HET Model. Professional Development Trainings continue as awareness of the significance in the brain research findings are brought into the education arena. To date, educators and support staff in over 300 school districts have participated in learning about Highly Effective Teaching and learning.
The HET Model has two main goals:
- To create participating citizens, willing and able to engage in our democratic processes to improve life now and for future generations
- To help educators translate current brain research into practical strategies for the classroom and school population.
One goal without the other is an empty pursuit. The world has urgent problems to solve and we have children waiting to learn and grow and have meaningful work to do. Our aim is to grow “bigger thinkers.” Conceptual and critical thinking, once reserved for the gifted and talented programs, must come into the mainstream for all students.
The Five Learning Principles of the HET Model based on brain research:
- Intelligence is a function of experience
- Learning is an inseparable partnership between the brain and the body
- Emotions are the gatekeeper to performance and learning
- Movement enhances learning
- There are multiple ways of solving problems/producing products. (Gardner's Multiple Intelligences)
- Learning is a two-step process
- Step one: Make meaning through pattern-seeking
- Step two: Develop a mental program to use what is understood & hard-wire for long-term memory
- Personality/Temperament impacts learning and performance
Few will be surprised by these core concepts; much of the brain biology summarized here rings true with the educator's intuitions. Schools of the 21st century must use brain research to select best practices for curriculum development and instructional strategies (informed by brain research rather than education tradition and habit, which often linger on past their usefulness).
Once educators are aware of the Five HET Learning Principles, they can begin to look at what is currently practiced and recognize where important learning strategies can be improved. The principle most frequently absent from traditional teaching programs is the fourth: the process of detecting patterns and developing programs. Seeking patterns and building programs are the primary ways the brain learns (whether in school settings or elsewhere) and stores meaningful content. Understanding this principle alone opens the understanding that any teacher can instruct a major skill concept in a single day. NOT understanding this process perpetuates the same rhetorical content taught in traditional ways year after year, often hindering the attainment of mastery.
We invite to view more about the HET Model. including the Nine Bodybrain-Compatible Elements, Lifelong Guidelines, LIFESKILLS, and the Five Curriculum Components.
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