Strategic Instruction Model (SIM™)

Comprehensive, evidence-based instructional tools and programs that empower teachers and enable students to better succeed in school and beyond.

SIM Overview

SIM What, Why, & How

SIM Circle to Improved Adolescent Literacy

What: Instructional Tools and interventions

Why: Impact

Why: Impact

SIM has been improving the lives of teachers and learners since 1978. Find out some of the ways in which our work has changed lives for the better.
How: Access SIM

How: Access SIM

We're happy you're here. Whether you're a parent, teacher, or administrator, we can help you find the SIM solution that best fits your needs.

Get SIM Learning

SIM Credentials Logos

SIM Credentials

SIM micro-credentials put your knowledge on display. Micro-credentials, commonly known as badges, recognize your investment in professional learning and your dedication to giving your students the evidence-based interventions and tools that can make a difference in their lives.
2019 SIMposium

SIM Events

Visit the SIM Events page for news on all upcoming events, conferences, webinars, online professional development, and more.
SIM Professional Developer Resources

SIM Professional Developer Resources

Resources and Links for SIM Professional Developers

SIM Overview



Purchase Educational Materials

Center for Research on Learning Online Store
KUCRL Store

Check out the SIM Forum

For brief SIM articles and ideas

What's Happening with SIM

News

January 2024 - SIM Educator Newsletter is online at: https://sim.ku.edu/sim-forum

November 2023 - New SIM StoryCorps: Becoming a Better Teacher with SIM - https://sim.ku.edu/sim-storycorps

September 2023 - Check out the Fall SIM Educator Newsletter at: https://sim.ku.edu/sim-forum

July 2023 - New article from CRL Researchers Jocelyn Washburn and Suzanne Myers. Adolescents’ perspectives about their connective and digital literacies skills. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. http://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1300

June 2023 - SIM Strategies are featured in a new book from Susanne Croasdaile and Samantha Layne. Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach

May 2023 - New SIM Forum article: Using the Decision-Making Routine for IEP and Post-Secondary Goal Development, Darren Minarik - https://sim.ku.edu/sim-forum

April 2023 - Florida Project Makes a Big Impact in School Participation and Adolescent Reading (from OSEP's April 2023 Update) - Florida SPDG supports the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM). In schools at the initial or full implementation stages of SIM, 90% of students who participated in the reading intervention showed progress or met the grade-level reading target. This was 20% greater than the target set.

April 2023 - New SIM Forum article: Higher Order Thinking and Reasoning (HOTR) Routines Support Rigor, Craig Wisniewski - https://sim.ku.edu/sim-forum

Events

SIM Online Class: The Framing Routine
SIM Online Class: Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing Strategy
SIM Online Class: The Paragraph Writing Strategy
SIM Online Class: Possible Selves
SIM Online Class: Sentence Writing Strategies (Fundamentals and Proficiency)
SIM Online Class: Unit Organizer Routine

Jan - Feb, 2024 Winter Virtual SIM Update Conference

Feb.-Mar., 2024 - Adolescent Literacy Leadership Online Course - (registration deadline Feb. 2)

June - Oct. 2024 - Content Literacy Leadership Institute (CLLI) - for Prospective SIM Professional Developers (application due March 1)

Why SIM

-SIM provides students with tools to solve problems independently.
-SIM emphasizes teaching routines that allow teachers to organize and present curriculum content in straightforward, easy-to-learn ways.

Our research confirms that quality teaching materials greatly enhance teachers’ ability to provide quality instruction in their classrooms. Our long-standing commitment to and investment in developing these instructional supports—teacher manuals, student learning sheets, scoring rubrics, and technology supports—underscore the importance we place on this aspect of our work. For more than 40 years, we have worked directly with classroom teachers to develop materials that improve the learning experience for students and the teaching experience for teachers. As a result, we have the research, success stories, and the proven track record to help school succeed in meeting the needs of their students.