If the goals are not achieved as planned, new ways of learning the information or skill are explored. In this center, the primary classes are ungraded, making it possible for children to succeed in learning at their own pace without experiencing failure if they do not learn to read or master their math facts by a predetermined time. It has been found that most children will be able to succeed in these tasks by the end of grade three, if they have opportunities to learn through their strengths while they are developing their other abilities. Students are grouped in three or four-year age spans, taking into consideration cognitive research related to human development and brain growth patterns. Because of the flexible configurations of learning groups, it is possible to place students with special needs in small groups, without adding to the number of staff members.
All students have opportunities to learn in both large and small groupings.
Students are often grouped in larger units for some classes that span several periods. In these classes, students are often clustered in learning teams, in which everyone is responsible for each other's success in learning. Many of these students reinforce their own learning by teaching what they have learned to younger students. Older students are able to take advanced courses at the community college or university near the center. Some specialized or advanced courses, for which too few students have registered to make it possible to staff a teacher with that expertise, are offered through interactive, distance-learning technology.