Letter From Our Founder and Executive Director
Welcome to The Southport CoLAB
The Southport CoLAB was founded on the conviction that every learner deserves access to teaching informed by the best available research. Too often, what we know from neuroscience, cognitive science, and educational research does not reach classrooms in practical, sustainable, or accessible ways. The Southport CoLAB was created to help close that gap.
Helping Education Evolve from the Inside Out
At its core, The Southport CoLAB exists to make the science of learning practical, accessible, and transformative. Our work begins within The Southport School, where research-informed teaching is implemented, tested, refined, and strengthened through daily classroom practice.
Embedded in the life of the School, The Southport CoLAB takes what works in real classrooms and helps schools and systems apply it in meaningful, lasting ways. Through professional learning, instructional frameworks, and implementation support, we strengthen instruction, improve student outcomes, and extend knowledge that should never be limited by geography, circumstance, or access.
This work is grounded in our belief in the potential of every learner and the essential role educators play in shaping lives. Teachers deserve access to current, research-informed practices. When research and practice inform one another, education becomes more effective and accessible.
As a cognitive science researcher, educator, and parent, I have seen the profound impact that evidence-based, expertly delivered instruction can have on a child’s life. When educators, researchers, and families work together to improve student outcomes, education becomes more than instruction. It becomes a source of possibility, confidence, and lasting change.
Our vision - to make classroom-tested learning science the foundation of education everywhere - is ambitious, but achievable through the steady, disciplined work of turning knowledge into practice and helping what works reach more classrooms, educators, and communities.
Thank you for being part of this work.
Sincerely,
Dr. Benjamin N. Powers
Executive Director, The Southport School
Founder & Executive Director, The Southport CoLAB
President, The Dyslexia Foundation
Senior Scientist, Haskins Laboratories
Director, Yale and UCONN Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Lecturer, Yale School of Medicine
Associate Research Professor Psychology and Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut
Founder & Executive Director, The Southport CoLAB
President, The Dyslexia Foundation
Senior Scientist, Haskins Laboratories
Director, Yale and UCONN Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Lecturer, Yale School of Medicine
Associate Research Professor Psychology and Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut