No Child Left Behind—No Really!

SIM Principals Guide Professional Development at Mecosta-Osceola ISD

While many educators talk about “leaving no child behind,” a group of teachers in the Mecosta-Osceola Intermediate School District (ISD) is working to improve learning for ALL students. Using the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM), 12 general education teachers and 3 special education teachers are involved in a three-year Michigan Special Education Personnel Development Mini-Grant that involves transforming their classrooms into “strategically-enhanced instructional environments.”

Traci Pippin, a seventh-grade mathematics and language arts teacher at Big Rapids Middle School, talked about using SIM’s Concept Mastery Routine with a class of diverse (special education, at-risk, and average) learners when teaching a specific math concept. It was the first time her at-risk students really understood the concept without “watering down” the material or lowering her expectations of what the students could learn. Pippin also reported being surprised that her average students, who generally take few class notes, were eager to use the “new format” to record the meaning of the concept. Sharon Bongard, sixth-grade language arts and social studies teacher at Morley-Stanwood Middle School, was thrilled because SIM’s Unit Organizers organized her textbook lessons into understandable, organized units of instruction for all students. They also enabled her to complete her January lesson plans for social studies at the same time!

Each month during the grant’s first year, a learning community of 14 teachers from three different school districts met for three hours after school to either learn or develop a new SIM Content Enhancement Routine. The teachers also met for additional planning and development periods in their own school buildings throughout the month.

Each teacher transformed a selected content class by completing unit organizers that reflect the Michigan Curriculum Framework and the teacher’s content material. Next, teachers added concept mastery routines for difficult but essential concepts within the units. Finally, they packaged it all in a course organizer.

During the second program year, teachers learned and used a variety of SIM routines: Concept Mastery, Unit Organizer, Framing, LINCing, and Course Organizer. Each teacher launched her/his own “strategically enhanced course” and then monitored and “reflActed” (reflection + action) on its use within the classroom. In addition, the Crossroads Charter Academy in Big Rapids began using the Course and Unit Organizers as part of the school’s curriculum documents in all 7th- through 12th-grade classes.

SIM includes a total of 13 concept mastery routines, which the teachers will learn, use, and evaluate during the ISD’s three-year grant project (see Figure 2). Depending on the needs indicated by the teachers, the ISD will offer additional supports such as cooperative learning strategies, behavioral strategies, or content literacy strategies.

As teachers and administrators throughout Michigan work to meet the demands presented by NCLB, they may find the time is right to ask questions and investigate the possibility of their schools becoming SIM Schools. Proponents—including educators at Mecosta-Osceola ISD—believe SIM allows ALL students to benefit from learning for a lifetime.

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