3. Frequently Asked Questions Assignment

Frequently Asked Questions Assignment
1.   Why should I teach learning strategies when my students are failing content area courses? After a review of your student data, likely you will find the reason students are failing the content courses is that they have deficits in one or several of the following areas:decoding, word attack/identification skills, vocabulary, reading comprehension, fluency, sentence writing, identification of main idea and details, fundamentals of math, and test-taking. The SIM strategies to address these deficits are *evidence-based and meet the highest standards required by IDEIA and ESSA for intervention because they have been proven effective through 45 years of rigorous research. See the tools chart research elaborating on specific reasons to select these 14 SIM Strategies located at  https://intensiveintervention.org/  ;. Additionally, review John Hattie’s work on Visible Learning and the effect size achieved using the SIM Strategies at https://visible-learning.org ;.
2.   How do I change from a tutorial (assignment/homework-based) model to a strategies model? Administrators, teachers, students, and parents expect me to continue providing time for completing assignments & homework. Frame the change for administrators, teachers, students, and parents to explain that, by teaching LS and CER, teachers are equipping students to be independent, self-reliant, and self-directed learners. The students will also be equipped to be *metacognitively aware* regarding learning how to learn. These skills will follow them through life when the current model won't because it is neither sustainable nor generalizable to their future learning.
3.   How can strategy instruction support students’ success in the general education curriculum? {Where do I begin?!} Once a strategy or routine is learned and generalized into the content classrooms (and beyond), that student has the skills and tools to succeed in general education. By becoming cognizant of what is required and how to tackle the requirement, the student applies the strategy or routine (e.g., test-taking strategy, sentence writing, word mapping strategy, paraphrasing strategy) in the content area curriculum.
4.   How can I teach strategies to my students who are included full-time in general education classes? Use the time you have with them to strategically focus their attention (and the instruction) on specific strategies that the student data indicates they need to learn to improve their skills. Empower them with strategies that, once mastered, can be used in and across many settings and carried forward in their career and college. Enlist the support of the general education teachers to support the students’ use of strategies to enhance generalization. Share the data, evidence, and efficacy of the use of the strategy provided in the academic tools chart at www.intensiveintervention.org .
5.   Will learning strategies work for all low achievers? Should I teach all my students learning strategies? Learning strategies are needed by all learners regardless of achievement level and have a significant impact on students who are at risk or are already behind several grade levels. The strategies improve executive function and help disorganized thinkers become more efficient in approaching their learning. “A rising tide lifts all boats'' (quote attributed to JFK) is an idea worth noting. All of us, teachers and students alike, can improve. Therefore, consideration is given to the sound structure and evidence/data behind SIM LS and CER over 45 years. Evidence shows these strategies and content enhancement routines have a significant impact on students' ability to learn (again, see the “tools chart'' with the research regarding demographics, populations, etc., which is located at www.intensiveintervention.org).
6.   What factors should I consider in choosing which learning strategies to teach, how many, and how long it will take to meet mastery?Decisions about which learning strategies to teach are based on student data preferably in a team environment conducive to focusing on literacy (or math) improvement (e.g., professional learning communities or PLCs). These decisions should be data-driven at both group and individual levels.How many strategies to select is an organizational and management issue within the classroom (see the structure and content of the Xtreme Reading program if more than one strategy is being considered). Additionally, when selecting strategies, consideration is given to the categories or strands within the Learning Strategies Curriculum: Acquisition, Storage, Expression, and Demonstration of Competence. Understanding this categorization helps focus and build upon appropriate strategies.
7.   Why do strategies take so long to teach?The programming and implementation of strategies have been extensively tested with various populations of students in controlled trials. As a result, they pass the rigors and meet the gold standards (Institution of Education Sciences or IES, What Works Clearinghouse or WWC) evidence-based instructional practices that increase student academic success. Implementation of strategy instruction with fidelity is important to achieve the same results through the demonstrated and proven process and methods that work for students and teachers. Committing to teaching a selected strategy overall takes an understanding of what is involved regarding specific professional development, data gathering, student selection and grouping,  administrative support (e.g., scheduling), and *very importantly follow-up coaching support to achieve results. 
8.   I know all about teaching strategies, but what’s different about the Strategic Instruction Model™? Significantly, these Strategic Instruction Model™(SIM) strategies have been rigorously teacher and student field ‘tested’ on a variety of populations in schools and validated across varied demographics to show improved student performance. The SIM strategies are organized into strands within the Learning Strategies Curriculum: Acquisition, Storage, Expression, and Demonstration of Competence. Understanding this categorization system also can help focus on and select which strategies are appropriate to teach and in what order.The Strategic Instruction Model™ equips teachers with tools that improve executive functioning, are comprehensive and evidence-based to prepare students to succeed not only in school but beyond. Once learned by students, these strategic skills are generalizable to college and/or careers.
9.   How can I ensure that students generalize the learned strategies? What kind of hurdles can I expect? Ensuring programming for students to generalize the learned strategies falls upon the teacher of the strategy engaging with the teachers in other classrooms observing the strategy to be used and documenting the use. Generalization practice is programmed in the strategy (e.g., for The Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing, reference lesson 14 pages 75-78 and the Learn-by-Watching, Learn-by-Sharing, and Learn-by-Practicing activities). Generalization also depends on the administrator's understanding to support strategy use and the student to demonstrate proficiency. Parental support consists of being aware, reinforcing the use of the strategy, and celebrating student success of use overall is also important.
10. What do I do if a student refuses to participate in learning strategies instruction no matter what I do? When a student refuses to participate, consider using the Possible Selves program (Hock, et al., 2006) for support and to improve student motivation. Directly ask “Why?” as a start and then go from there. Use evidence and data to demonstrate the value of participation. Explain that mastery is a Return on Investment (ROI) for the student: in other words, the investment of time to see a significant return. Depending upon the age and intellect of the student and the strategy selected to teach, the NCII Tools Chart information about evidence of effectiveness could be shared. With permission, share data from successful students and enlist successful students’ testimony.
11. How important is it to follow the teaching procedures in the manual? I know my students; I know how to teach them. It is very important to follow the teaching procedures in the manual as the significant task analysis of their implementation with fidelity is what is shown to be effective through the evidence-based research collected on the strategies. Analogous to this is a doctor prescribing medication for an illness. There is a reason that a specific medication is necessary for an illness in the correct dose for the determined length of time. The procedures are the essence of the effectiveness of the strategies. Direct, explicit, systematic instruction is effective and efficient. The necessary elements are already determined. The teacher learns the processes and procedures and then plans and prepares to deliver as prescribed.
12. Under what conditions can I make adaptations in the teaching procedures and maybe even in the strategies? Adaptations in teaching procedure decisions are made with teaching expertise. The recommendation for first-year teachers would be to explicitly follow the directions. As more tenured teachers become aware of the important areas (based on responses through student performance data) that are not to be compromised, other areas may be shown to have more flexibility. 13. Are there ways I can help students learn content that supports the strategies I am teaching? 
14. We are wasting time teaching learning strategies. Why aren't we teaching basic skills to these students? That's what they need. Learning strategy instruction is teaching the basic skills explicitly that students may have missed as they progressed through school. At-risk and special education students often have “splinter” skills, that is they have picked up some parts of skills, but not sufficiently to have mastered them with automaticity for successful use upon demand in their academics. Teaching strategies to mastery reduces the cognitive load, organizes thought processes, and improves executive functioning that students with such challenges as ADHD, ADD, SLD, TBI, and/or impaired cognition might often experience.
15. What do you do with all those students who don't have enough basic skills for learning strategies? About one-fourth of my students read at the third-grade level or below. 
16. How do I get administrative support to implement the learning strategies curriculum within my department, school, and/or district?Most schools have as part of their mission and goals to improve access to success for all students. Access to literacy mastery is an equity issue. To acquire administrative support, impress upon administrators the success history that has been documented from other similar demographic groups' use of the curriculum. This information can be found on the NCII Tools Chart for 14 of the strategies. The KU-CRL website has additional information regarding other strategies. Enlist administrators and teachers at other schools who have experienced successful student use of the strategies to tell/share their stories. KU-CRL has videos from implementing schools that can be requested. If the school has a literacy leadership team, it could be a starting point to garner the support of others to approach the administration. 
17. What is the potential effect the Strategic Instruction Model™ has on student outcomes and quality of life? 
18. Okay, I am ready to conquer the world. I want to implement these learning strategies! What are the essential steps I need to put in place to begin? Begin by familiarizing yourself with the strategies and matching a strategy to your students’ needs. Start small to acquire the professional learning, resources, and materials needed to implement the strategy. Once you have learned the strategy, consider your planning time and scheduling of the selected student population you will teach. Be certain to collect data from pre and post-strategy instruction.  Enlist the participation of other teachers to prepare for generalization programming. Enlist the support of parents to support and celebrate their student’s success. Share your data with the appropriate professional learning community or literacy leadership team and administration.
19. I know there are many strategies to support literacy; what other strategies are available to support teachers and students in math, social interaction, and motivation?
20. How does SIM™ professional development relate to my department, school, and/or district initiatives? 
21. How do the curriculum standards developed by the state or the Common Core State Standards align with the Strategic Instruction Model™? 
22. How do I progress monitor when teaching Learning Strategies?
23. How are Learning Strategies and Content Enhancement routines related? 
24. How can I embed Content Enhancement Routines into Learning Strategies instruction and vice versa? 
25. In what sequence should I teach the Learning Strategies? 
26. How can I embed learning strategy instruction into the general education curriculum? What adjustments can be made? 
27. How does learning strategy instruction fit within a tiered model of intervention such as the Content Literacy Continuum™ or Response to Intervention? 
28. If students receive learning strategy instruction, what results can be expected on district formative assessments as well as summative standardized state assessments? 
29. What strategies can be combined to create a literacy intervention course? What would a school need to know before creating such a course? 
30. What components of corrective feedback are necessary for successful strategy instruction? 

While researching and creating my slides presentation on the FAQs, I developed a better understanding of SIM as well as the many benefits for our students. This activity required me to dig deeper to increase my knowledge as well as enhance my resources for when I am asked one of these questions. I believe my new knowledge will better help me when supporting my teachers, explaining information to my directors, and improving my skills upon obtaining my Professional Developer badge.

Researching and reporting on the FAQ activity allowed me to have a better understanding of the Strategic Instructional Model and its impact on student learning and student achievement.  The information I researched provided a great deal of information and evidence that I can now use when promoting SIM as a change agent as well as when providing professional development.  

Reading the research and compiling answers for the FAQs has better prepared me to support teachers as a coach and a professional developer. As a result of this activity, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of Learning Strategies and the Strategic Instruction Model.

Emailed responses to 15 questions.