Cultivando mentes brillantes: supporting families with learning differences
This programme for families of school-aged children helps increase understanding of learning differences and the mental health challenges that often accompany them.
“We envision a world where all learning – whether in school, work, or life – is designed to elevate strengths and eliminate barriers. This gives everyone the opportunity to grow and thrive,” says Lindsay Jones, CAST CEO.
From Afghanistan to South Africa, our partners are rethinking how learning is happening around the world. Learn more about their efforts to create inclusive school environments.
Cultivating empathy among peers, parents, and teachers has been shown to increase the emotional wellbeing of students with learning differences. Learn more about Understood.org’s unique approach.
Our funding is guided by a vision of a world in which every young person can unlock their potential. Through our grants, we support not‑for‑profit organisations that help schools become places where students who learn differently — particularly those furthest from opportunity — feel confident, supported, and able to thrive.
Our definition of learning differences Oak Foundation understands learning differences as a range of specific learning disabilities—such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia—as well as other neurological processing challenges, including differences related to attention, sensory processing, or executive function. This definition recognises students whose learning needs may or may not have been formally identified and centres on how differences in learning interact with the design of classrooms, instruction, and school environments.
What we fund
We support efforts that build knowledge and understanding of what works best for students with learning differences. We support organisations that: conduct research; analyse data to improve learning environments; and share research findings to improve teaching and learning for students with learning differences, ensuring they have access to the resources and support they need to succeed.
We support initiatives that translate knowledge into educator practice to help students with learning differences thrive. This includes connecting research with the needs of these students, training educators, and engaging young people in developing social, emotional, and cognitive skills, focusing on relationships, youth leadership, and supportive environments. Additionally, we support the development and sharing of tools and resources of evidence-based strategies with stakeholders.
We support efforts that create the enabling conditions for schools to adopt supportive practices that help students with learning differences. We support organisations that build movements to advance the needs of students with learning differences, develop and adopt broader measures of student success, and elevate the voices of students with learning differences and their families.
Discover our partner stories
Learning Differences Programme/Partner story
Cultivando mentes brillantes: supporting families with learning differences
This programme for families of school-aged children helps increase understanding of learning differences and the mental health challenges that often accompany them….
“We envision a world where all learning – whether in school, work, or life – is designed to elevate strengths and eliminate barriers. This gives everyone the opportunity to grow and thrive,”…
From Afghanistan to South Africa, our partners are rethinking how learning is happening around the world. Learn more about their efforts to create inclusive school environments….
Cultivating empathy among peers, parents, and teachers has been shown to increase the emotional wellbeing of students with learning differences. Learn more about Understood.org’s unique approach….
In 2017, journalist Emily Hanford began investigating how children are taught to read. The stories that followed would spark a movement that is bringing the science of reading to schools across the US…
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