[Simtrainer-l] Test Scores Decline!

[Deshler, Donald D.]

Hi Everyone,

The article that Jean sent out last Friday is a sobering reminder of the tremendous toll that "disrupted instruction” has had on students (both academically and socially) during the pandemic. As you know, since its inception, the CRL has had a laser-focused mission of designing and validating interventions that could close the “achievement gaps” that struggling learners face. In hindsight, the magnitude of the problem that we were trying to address during much of our history, pales in comparison to the challenges that students and their teachers face today. Not only are the large learning losses we’re witnessing today magnifying the size of the “gap,” but the number of students in need of specialized instruction has risen dramatically.

To address the multitude and unique nature of the challenges before us, will require, at a minimum, that we: (1) look for new ways to think about and address the learning losses students are facing; and (2) turn to the best of what has already been proven to work in very powerful ways. I’ll briefly address each of these below.

First, an example of some “new ways to think about” student success has been demonstrated in Design Principles for Schools initiative. This project has brought together professionals from education, psychology, technology, development, neuroscience, systems design, etc. The intent of this effort has been to find ways to break from the traditional model of schooling (grounded in many 19th century practices) and redesign schools in light of the most recent science and the dramatically different worlds students will be facing in their futures. Here’s a link to their website: k-12 Design Principles playbook<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk12.designprinciples.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cddeshler%40ku.edu%7C5ddebae10ae641a34fa908d98e67ed2d%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C637697399989464268%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=YpydC338FUkkJ186O8A3euGl3WlU9Tf7GSxt7c5TQyk%3D&reserved=0> I served as a member of their Science Advisory Board and advocated that SIM Interventions be included in their listing of resources to be used in newly designed schools. They enthusiastically embraced SIM because of the solid research base that backed its interventions and the dramatic changes they produced in student achievement.

Second, when IDEA became federal law in the mid-1970s, significant federal investments to support R&D were made that would develop interventions that were powerful enough to make inclusion of students with disabilities a reality. Out of that work came an array of interventions that fell under the rubric of direct instruction. The kind of instruction that was both explicit and intensive with a clear focus on generalization and transfer. The CRL was one of the most heavily funded research entities in the country that conducted much of this work. The impacts of SIM interventions (and others grounded on the same core principles [e.g., Harris & Graham’s SRSD Model]) with struggling learners was dramatic. The need to apply these interventions in schools today is greater than it has ever been. The large gaps to be closed require interventions that have been proven to do so. The quality of life of millions of students now and in the future is at stake.

In light of that, I support Jean’s call for all of us to take advantage of the wonderful professional development offerings that Jocelyn Washburn and her colleagues are offering through the CRL:
• The Test-taking Strategy (Feb 16 & 17) https://sim.ku.edu/2022-virtual-pl-test-taking-strategy
• The Scientific Argumentation Routine (Feb 28) https://sim.ku.edu/2022-sim-pl-sci-arg-routine
• Extreme Reading (XR) Institute (June 27-29) https://sim.ku.edu/2022
 • Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing Strategy (available anytime on Canvas) https://sim.ku.edu/sim-canvas-course-fund-para-sum
• Possible Selves Strategy (available anytime on Canvas) https://sim.ku.edu/sim-canvas-course-possible-selves

Finally, I continue to admire the wonderful work that you are doing…especially during this very challenging season in our profession. Through your consummate professionalism, the lives of many students and their families are being enriched and positioned for a bright future. Thank you for all of the good that you do.

Most warmly,
Don




On Jan 31, 2022, at 12:04 PM, Schumaker, Jean via Simtrainer-l <simtrainer-l at lists.ku.edu<mailto:simtrainer-l at lists.ku.edu>> wrote:

Hi All! I hope your new year is going well. As they say, “’Tis the season,” and our season is upon us. We all need to work together to help schools in any way that we can to prepare for the coming school year. The schools have millions of dollars available to them (if their states have made them available) to provide services to students who have fallen behind. Those dollars need to be spent before 2024. We know that thousands of students have fallen behind during the pandemic, and many were already behind their age-peers. SIM offers many programs that the schools can use to “close the gap.”
    Xtreme Reading (XR) is one of them. To learn more about XR, the CRL is hosting an XR Informational Webinar on Feb. 16 from 3:30-4:30 pm CST. The purpose of the informational webinar is to provide an overview of Xtreme Reading and discuss critical preparations for effective implementation (e.g., teacher selection, student selection, master schedule, PD needed). The link to register for the XR Overview webinar is: https://tinyurl.com/XRinfowebinar<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2FXRinfowebinar&data=04%7C01%7Cddeshler%40ku.edu%7C53371bb4a8e745554dee08d9e5c1bd5c%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C637793443275810821%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=rfHodhPnSzl5PJrzoixv3yjL2a7GuAxpPDak%2Bss4en0%3D&reserved=0>. Please consider attending the XR Overview webinar, and invite your colleagues to join you!
    All of this preparation work for XR takes months, and the teachers will need to participate in PD this spring or summer. Here is a link to the Virtual XR Institute for Teachers, to be held June 27-29, 2022 with coaching throughout next academic year: https://sim.ku.edu/2022
(Of course, districts can subsidize their own PD for the teachers if they have a large group of teachers.)
    If you aren’t interested in Xtreme Reading as an offering, please consider providing workshops, courses, and online offerings. Numerous PDers have created online offerings that they are willing to share. Just send out an inquiry on this listserv to see if someone has an online module you can use or to offer one you have created.
   As you are thinking about supporting the vitality of small businesses in your area during the pandemic, please consider supporting Edge Enterprises, too. By giving workshops and teaching courses about SIM, you are enabling our SIM distribution arm to stay healthy. We have been fortunate to get two loans from the federal government that have kept us in business the last two years. However, no more loans of this type are available this year. Your support by providing workshops and courses is vital in keeping our distribution process going.
    We know that teachers and administrators are really struggling with the basics, and they are not necessarily thinking about providing new instruction to students. That’s where you come in! They need you to remind them that they have access to monies for that very purpose and that you can help them. Thanks for all you are doing to keep our SIM work in the minds of people around you!  I’m VERY grateful for all that you are doing to help students learn. Jean
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