SIM News

• New SIM Canvas Course! - Word Mapping Strategy

• Registration is up for the 2026 Fall SIM Virtual Update Conference - October 2026: This will be both a synchronous and asynchronous virtual event, occurring over several evenings throughout the month. 

• Project iSTAR is recruiting secondary writing teachers to partner with us in shaping the future of writing instruction for adolescents with disabilities. Fill out this form if you're interested. Participating teachers will receive an honorarium for their time and expertise.

     Who We’re Looking For:

• 3 or more schools willing to participate

• 3–5 teachers per school

• Teachers in grades 6–9 who teach writing

• Each teacher must have at least 3 students with IEPs

     The iSTAR platform is a teacher-led program that includes:

• Supports for Multiple SIM Writing Interventions: Sentence Writing Strategy, Paragraph Writing Strategy, Writing with a Purpose Routine (new)

• A Student Interest Inventory that generates personalized writing prompts

• Automated writing feedback and scoring

• Teacher, Student, and Family dashboards for progress monitoring and communications

• Opportunities for teachers to test features and offer feedback to improve the user experience

     Projected Impact:

     By participating, teachers contribute to a long‑term effort to:

• Improve ASWD performance on local writing assessments

• Strengthen family–school engagement in writing development

• Expand access to high‑quality, adaptive writing instruction nationwide

• Support sustainability through SIM professional development and micro‑credentialing. 

Recent Publications by KU CRL Staff and SIM Network Members - Our Network has been BUSY! :

• Smith, Sean & Carreon, Adam. (2025). Special education teachers' use of AI to support students with disabilities in writing. Frontiers in Education. 
• Therrien, William & Wong, Vivian & Chen, Ling…& Faggella-Luby, Michael ... (2026). Science Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities: A National Survey of Elementary Special Education Teachers. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice. 
• Boudah, Daniel & Sasscer, Michael. (2025). Building Community Resilience and School Readiness Post-Covid. International Journal of Arts , Humanities & Social Science. 
• Charles, Shea & Gelbar, Nicholas & Madaus, Joseph & Lyman, Dukes & Faggella-Luby, Michael. (2026). Global perspectives on educating blind and visually impaired students in higher education: a review of the literature. Frontiers in Education.
• McClain, Suzanne & Dahl-Leonard, Katlynn & Cook, Bryan & Gonçalves, Bruna & Tatel, Stephanie & Kennedy, Michael & Therrien, William. (2026). Reading interventions with school-aged learners with autism: A systematic literature review and quality assessment. Research in Autism. 
• Mosher Ph.D., Maggie & Schmaltz, Katie & Carreon, Adam & Rowland, Amber. (2026). AI in Education: From Research on Safeguards to Practical Classroom Implementation and Progress Monitoring Agenda. 
• Lopuch, Jeremy & Chris, O'Brien. (2026). Authentic Assessment Using Concept Mapping in Multiple Modes of Instruction for a Special Education Teacher Education Course.

More Resources and Media Picks:

• Check out all of the Featured News from our Parent Organization, KU Life Span Institute. There is some great research happening to improve lives!

   

SIM in the Field

• iSTAR Research - Suzy Myers and Bonnie Palasak traveled to Montana in March, and Jocelyn Washburn and Bonnie were in Virginia in April to work side‑by‑side with teachers and students as they tried out the iSTAR adaptive-writing program. Thanks to all for their time and feedback! 

  

   

• The UCA Mashburn Center for Learning was thrilled to welcome 36 ELSE students for an intensive professional learning opportunity focusing on the SIM Fundamentals of Sentence Writing Strategy in March.

  

• KU CRL Researchers have been busy presenting research and learning at Conferences in March and April.

  

Reminders and Support:

• Are you planning ahead for a 2026-27 Reading Intervention? Let us know how we can support you with Xtreme Reading. - Together we can help students thrive!

• Don't forget to report your PD Work - we don't care if it isn't recent!

Events for SIM Professional Developers and Specialists:

• 2026 Content Literacy Leadership Institute (CLLI) for potential professional developers 

  

• 2026 Fall SIM Virtual Update Conference - October 2026: This will be both a a synchronous and asynchronous virtual event. 

FREE SIM Resources:

• SLANT (2nd Edition) Manual 

• Teaching Content to All Manual 

• Professional Learning Micro-credentials for teachers

• SIM CROSSWALKS

• 2025 SIM One-Page Flyer

• Handout with quick links to SIM resources (crosswalks and websites)

SIM Courses for Educators:

Course First! - Learn 4 SIM Content Enhancement Routines with this new online class designed to strategically integrate CERs across an entire course to support the full learning journey.

Supporting Adolescent Literacy for Successful School Change - A Six-Part Course Designed to Support School Teams in Implementing a Systematic Approach to Adolescent Literacy to Dramatically Impact Teacher and Student Performance

SIM Online Classes for Educators:

• Content Enhancement Routines:
  • Concept Comparison Routine
  • Concept Mastery Routine
  • Cross-Curricular Argumentation Routine
  • Framing Routine
  • Unit Organizer Routine
• Learning Strategies
  • Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing Strategy
  • The Inference Strategy
  • The Paragraph Writing Strategy
  • Possible Selves Strategy (1st or 2nd edition)
  • Sentence Writing Strategies (Fundamentals and Proficiency)
  • Understanding Academic Language
  • NEW Apr 2026 - Word Mapping Strategy