Educational Leaders Visit Miller Middle School to Observe Special Program

“Students are showing evidence of deep conceptual knowledge and critical thinking skills. Teachers are more consistently making instructional decisions based on student data,” SIM Coach Greer Del Rio said.

Submitted by: Iris Campbell, Public Information Officer

A group of administrators from the Region 20 Education Service Center, and some Region 20 campus administrators from San Antonio and from the Texas Education Agency—including the Deputy Commissioner of Educator Support—visited classrooms at Miller Middle School on Thursday, January 12, 2017.

They were invited as prospective participants in the “Raise Up Texas” fellowship, a program of the Central Texas E3 Alliance (Education Equals Economics).

“Raise Up Texas” targets improvement of the whole school, not just certain segments, and middle school is its focus. Studies have shown that the middle school grades, typically 6-8, are particularly problematic in student development and progress.

One representative said, “Grades go down, and behavior issues go up.”

Addressing this critical gap is the objective, i.e. teaching all students how to think critically and “how to learn” effectively. Students develop habits that, hopefully, follow them throughout their lives.

An E3 Alliance spokesperson defined literacy as being able to read, write, and speak in any class, even if it’s choir, science or P.E.

The program uses the Strategic Instruction Model®, or SIM, developed by the University of Kansas after 30 years of research. In 2011, SIM pilot programs were launched in six Central Texas middle schools—one of which was San Marcos CISD’s Goodnight Middle School.

By 2014, three schools were recognized at the national level by receiving the SIM Impact Award and being designated a “national model school.” One of the recipients was Goodnight.

Miller Middle School Principal, Richard Duvall, was formerly an Assistant Principal at Goodnight, and he told the Region 20 guests that he saw the benefits of the program at the Goodnight campus.

Duvall’s inspired to make the same progress with students at Miller Middle School. Teachers in every classroom, even electives, undergo special training and commitment to the model is required.

“In a short five months of the implementation of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM), we have already seen a transformation at Miller Middle School,” SIM Coach Greer Del Rio said. “Students are showing evidence of deep conceptual knowledge and critical thinking skills. Teachers are more consistently making instructional decisions based on student data.”