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ABSTRACT
As part of the accountability movement, schools are increasingly called upon to provide interventions that are based on sound scientific research and that provide measurable outcomes for children. Brain Gym® is a popular commercial program claiming that adherence to its regimen will result in more efficient learning in an almost miraculous manner. However, a review of the theoretical foundations of Brain Gym® and the associated peer-reviewed research studies failed to support the contentions of the promoters of Brain Gym®. Educators are encouraged to become informed consumers of research and to avoid implementing programming for which there is neither a credible theoretical nor a sound research basis.
SINCE AT LEAST THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENtury, American schools have been called upon to provide a wide range of educational programming that should result in significant benefits for society (Bracey, 2002). In October 1957, the successful launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union resulted in immediate demands for reform in American schools in order to address Soviet technological advances. A similar call for increased standards was promulgated by the National Commission on Excellence in Education's (1983) report, A Nation at Risk, in which public education was described as mediocre. Although some scholars have argued that American schools are performing much better than suggested by the bleak accounts commonly found in the media and in government sources (Berliner & Biddle, 1995; Bracey, 2002), there is no question that schools are being held to higher levels of accountability. Both the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 have required that whenever possible, schools must provide students with academic instruction using scientific, research-based methods. Although an exact definition of scientific, research-based methodology is not contained in either law, Browder and Cooper-Duffy (2003) stressed the importance of using and building upon instructional methodologies that have sound empirical support from high-quality research studies.
Brain Gym® is one popular commercial program marketed in more than 80 countries ("Official Brain Gym® Web Site," 2005, About §) that has received a considerable amount of attention in the press, with many individuals claiming that it provided the necessary stimulation needed for effective learning (Chaker, 2005; Hannaford, 1996; Ratliff, 2005). According to a...