Current StrateNotes Newsletter

SN Vol. 33, No. 5 | May/June 2025

Featured Article: Making Learning Visible with SIM, Mary Black & Jocelyn Washburn

John Hattie, Director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia, presented his groundbreaking meta-analyses study in his first book Visible Learning for Teachers (2009). The Visible Learning research synthesizes findings from 1,500 meta-analyses of 90,000 studies involving 300 million students into what works best in education. The meta-analyses found that of the six groups of factors influencing successful learning in schools – the student, home, school, teacher, curricula and teaching – teachers seemed to have the strongest in-school effect. In 2023, Dr. Hattie published Visible Learning: The Sequel informed by more than 2,100 new meta-analyses about achievement drawn from more than 130,000 studies and conducted with the participation of more than 400 million students aged three to twenty-five, mainly from developed countries. It confirmed that certain high impact factors are still the most important when it comes to student learning. The factors (or influences on learning) also indicate the positive effect of teachers who focus on the impacts of their teaching and work together with other educators to critique their ideas about impact – about what was taught well, who was taught well and the size of the improvement. Click here to read the full article

SIM News

You can now order the Content Enhancement Routines through the KU CRL Online Store.

SIM manuals are getting new covers! The first release of the new cover is on the new SLANT Strategy, Second Edition, available for free download in the KU CRL Online Store.

Join us for a FREE virtual SIM Learning Together talk!
Upcoming dates:
- June 4, 2025 - 1:00 pm EST
  - For our next Learning Together session, we plan to cover the following topics: MTSS, generalization support ideas, HOTR, or anything else you would like to talk about.
    
    Sign up for the June 4 session today and/or suggest other discussion ideas at: https://forms.gle/74JvCmmQtfMsFueT9
- July 15, 2025 - 3:00 pm EST
- Oct. 16, 2025 - 4: 00 pm EST

SIM in the Field

The 2025 Spring Virtual SIM Conference wrapped up on April 30^th and May 1^st with a fun group of educators. So great to see so many of you online from all over the nation!

KU researchers are conducting statewide assessment to inform literacy improvement among Kansas students. About 1 in 3 Kansas students aren't meeting basic reading benchmarks. KU researchers are traveling the state to find out why—partnering with educators and families to better understand what students need. Their findings could shape future solutions.

Publications by KU CRL Staff and SIM Network Members:
- Myers, S., Washburn, J., Rowland, A., & Smith, S. (2025). Developing an adaptive professional learning model: Educator insights on their infrastructure. Teacher Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2025.2511739

We know many of you attend and present at educational conferences around the U.S. We monitor this list of conferences that KU CRL Researchers or SIM PDers might attend or submit presentation proposals to in order to spread the word about SIM. Please feel free to check it out and let us know if there are conferences that we should consider adding. Additionally, we'd love to know if you're presenting anywhere. We are always happy to keep up with what is happening for our network members!

Have an idea for a SIM StoryCorps to highlight your story with SIM? please feel free to share it simpd@ku.edu

SIM Resources & Reminders

Reminders:

Update your StrateDirectory information so that others in the network can find you. That is also where you let us know if you are interested in being contacted with referrals for PD in your area.
Report your SIM PD work - We use this information to help us apply for grants and to share the impact SIM is having around the world. This is especially important right now with everything that is happening in the broader landscape of US education.

Resources:

2025 SIM One-Page Flyer

Handout from the April 24, SIM Lunch & Learn - with quick links to SIM resources (crosswalks and websites)

Upcoming SIM Events:

SIM Update Conferences for PDers and Specialists
- June-Oct. - CLLI for potential professional developers
- October, 2025 - Fall Virtual SIM Conference
New Course: Supporting Adolescent Literacy for Successful School Change
- Is your school team looking for a course in adolescent literacy to dramatically impact teacher and student performance? We have a course for that!
  
  Our online learning course, Supporting Adolescent Literacy for Successful School Change, is a six-part course designed to support school teams in implementing a systematic approach to adolescent literacy using evidence-based learning tools. Follow the link above for more information and to register today!

SIM Online PD Classes for educators (self-paced courses on Canvas, with follow-up coaching time)
- Content Enhancement Routines:
- Learning Strategies:

Follow SIM® on: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

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