1978
  • Edward Meyen and Richard Schiefelbusch organize the Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, one of five organizations to win a five-year, $2 million grant to study learning disabilities. Don Deshler serves as research coordinator and Jean Schumaker as associate coordinator. "The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities is supported by a contract (#300-77-0494) with the Bureau of Education and Welfare, U.S. Office of Education through Title VI-G of Public Law 91-230."

1980
  • The first research monograph issued: "Studying the Learning Disabled Adolescent Through Epidemiological and Intervention Research Tactics" by Reuben Altman, University of Missouri, Columbia.
  • Learning strategies pioneered in Arkansas with Focus, Inc.

1983
  • International Training Network founded in New Orleans.

1983-1984
  • IRLD launches significant efforts in New York City, Iowa, and California.

1985
  • Fran Clark joins staff as coordinator of training. "If we had only relied on the staff at the center to do the training and to spread the word, there's no way we could have had the impact that the trainers in the field have had. The development of the model itself couldn't have happened without those people because they have contributed ideas, they have asked the tough questions that drove the research and the building of the network" (Strategram, September 1998)

1986
  • First International Training Network Conference held
  • Six state education departments (California, Iowa, Nebraska, Vermont, Florida, and Arkansas) contract for SIM.
  • First workshops offered for SIM Professional Developers

1987
  • Keith Lenz, research scientist, joins CRL staff.
  • "You may be interested to note, however, that our learning strategy packets and intervention model have been used with hundreds of minority and ethnic students throughout our country. For example, the interventions are currently being used in innercity districts in the following metropolitan areas: Miami, Los Angeles, Denver, Minneapolis, Raleigh, NC, and San Francisco." (Letter from Don Deshler to representative of the Board of Education for the City of North York, Ontario, Canada)

1988
  • SIM Professional Developers Ann Hoffman and Conn Thomas launch SIM abroad by conducting a two-week training session in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, Australia.
  • The University of Kansas executive vice-chancellor requests CRL staff to improve academic performance of at-risk student athletes so they can retain eligibility. Using SIM strategies, the student-athletes' grades rose steadily, and the number of students declared academically ineligible was reduced to nearly zero. By 1991, the GPA of KU athletes was the highest recorded in the Big 8 conference.

1989
  • Strategram begins publication.
  • Arizona and North Carolina make a total of eight states that have adopted SIM for statewide training since 1984.
  • 300 SIM Professional Developers have completed SIM certification.

1992
  • Stratenotes, a newsletter expressly for members of the International Training Network, begins publication.
  • Strategic Math Series launched.
  • 700 SIM Professional Developers have completed SIM certification.
  • Jan Roth agrees to "answer a few questions," eventually becoming CRL's director of professional development.

1993
  • STRATELINE, an online electronic network and bulletin board service introduced.
  • First volume in Cooperative Strategies series is published--SCORE Skills for teachers to teach students the basic social skills needed in cooperative groups.
  • SIM validated in juvenile offenders at correctional facilities. "Compared to traditional instructional approaches, the SIM appears to be a viable alternative for the correctional population because: (a) it is designed to meet academic, social, and motivational needs of individuals at risk for failure; (b) it promotes independent functioning and problem solving, and (c) it emphasizes maintenance and generalization of skills and strategies," said Jennifer Platt, University of Central Florida. "The pretests, practice tests, advanced practice tests, and posttests showed students at mastery or very close." (Strategram, July 1993)
  • 850 SIM Professional Developers have completed SIM certification.

1994
  • National Center for Learning Disabilities helps fund five regional SIM trainer meetings to share ideas and learn from each other.
  • Elementary students now included in strategies audience. "The elementary teachers were pleased to hear that the strategies were now considered appropriate for the younger students," wrote Candace Bixler, Prescott Unified School District No. 1, Prescott, Arizona, in an April 1995 letter. "As a result, I offered a Reading Strategy inservice and had 100% of our district's elementary resource teachers! This was not mandatory!"

1995
  • StrateNet is up and running.
  • 27 strategic instruction study groups formed.
  • Two-way interactive video sessions held. A group of Nebraska trainers interacted with the CRL staff in an hour-long meeting on Content Enhancement and definition of "concept." Nebraska educators taking part were Ann Millea, JoAnn Graham, Marci Jansenn, Cindy Krause, Alice Senseney, Rosemary Manges, Don Kasparek, and Mary Beth Rathe.
  • First Far West Regional Conference held in Las Vegas. One participant won sizeable jackpot! Also held was the first Southeastern SIM regional conference and the first North Central Regional meeting.
  • 900 SIM Professional Developers have completed SIM certification.

1996
  • Strategies Intervention Model gets new name: Strategic Instruction Model. "Strategic" is broader than strategies, and "intervention" has medical connotations and is more one-way than the interactivity of "instruction."
  • Fond farewells to Mary Lee, editor of Strategram and conference coordinator, and hello! to Julie Tollefson, new director of communications.
  • More than 250 publications related to SIM have been published.

1997
  • Dr. Gordon Alley passed away on February 16. Alley helped establish CRL in 1978 and contributed to the foundation for the Strategic Instruction Model.
  • Stratechats begin and transcripts of these focused, typed electronic discussions are archived on Stratenet. Stratenet, Stratechats, and Strateline have all been replaced with easier-to-use, easier-to-access technology, including kucrl.org, SIMville, e-mail, and several CD-ROMs.
  • 959 SIM Professional Developers have completed SIM certification throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Pacific Rim. SIM used by 150,000 teachers and 3,500 school districts.

1998
  • SIM goes Caribbean with a 4-day SIM update meeting at Maho Bay in the Virgin Islands. Guests stayed in tent-cottages and shared communal bathrooms. (Conference held again the next several years!)
  • Traditional poster session at SIM conference included a kaleidoscope of three-minute mini-sessions to allow more people to trade ideas, tips, and successes.

1999
  • SIM developer Charlie Hughes, Pennsylvania State University, receives a five-year grant to provide Strategies and Content Enhancement training in Pennsylvania.
  • CRL receives funding to study high schools that have a history of implementing several Learning Strategies and Content Enhancement Routines.

2000
  • SIM goes statewide in Louisiana, with Barbara Duchardt and Anne Clouatre leading the charge.

2001
  • SIM developer Barbara Carruthers, Garner, North Carolina, appeared on National Public Radio in an interview about preparing students for the writing portion of statewide tests.

2002
  • 44 strategies and routines developed to date.
  • 1,365 SIM Professional Developers have completed SIM certification.

2003
  • 25th Anniversary Celebration!

2004
  • Don Deshler visits with First Lady Laura Bush at Discovery Middle School in Orlando, FL.
  • Don Deshler meets with President Bush in Washington, D.C. as part of a discussion on his Reading First initiative.
Copyright © 2004 The University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning