Articles

Students across the state of Virginia will be introduced to “Kansas strategies” thanks to a new collaboration between the state and KU’s Center for Research on Learning.

This article, adapted from a paper prepared for a Congressional conference on the Challenges of High School Reform (February 2006), argues that late-elementary and middle schools must establish strong literacy foundations to enable students to excel in high school. The points made throughout have significant ties to the philosophy and research of the Center [...]

Along the shores of the Stanislaus River in California’s Central Valley, a remarkable success story unfolds in Riverbank. In this semi-rural town of 22,000, a team comprising high school teachers, school and district administrators, and SIM Professional Developers has put in place an extensive literacy improvement program based on the Strategic Instruction Model and [...]

In developing the Strategic Instruction Model and, more recently, the Content Literacy Continuum, we have found our most successful work involves partnerships with strong administrative leaders within the school. When building administrators attend professional development sessions with teachers, regularly visit classrooms and encourage use of SIM interventions, and create a shared vision for school improvement, [...]

The problems that at-risk adolescents face when trying to succeed within the rigorous general education curriculum are great. Unless they have the necessary skills and strategies in place to respond to the heavy curriculum demands, they will encounter failure and significant frustration.

In recent years, one of the messages we’ve received from the network is that members are struggling with a number of issues in regard to implementing the Strategic Instruction Model or Content Literacy Continuum. Just getting started in a new school or district presents an initial challenge, and keeping them going is an even bigger [...]

During the 2006 International SIM Conference, we organized a series of sessions related to the Content Literacy Continuum, our framework for evaluating and developing schoolwide literacy programs. The sessions themselves presented a continuum of information. At one end of the spectrum, we provided information to allow SIM Professional Developers who were novices or unfamiliar with [...]

Changing the way schools work is a complex business, requiring flexibility, collaboration, and effective instructional programs. As KU-CRL tackles more projects with the goal of school-wide improvement in mind, we are learning much about what school wide improvement is and one thing it is not: A one-size-fits-all approach to school improvement will not meet the [...]