Goodnight Principal Reports On School’s SIM Impact Award

Owen Goodnight Middle School Principal Steve Dow gave a report on the SIM Impact Award to the San Marcos CISD school board on January 26, 2015.  Principal Dow told the trustees that Goodnight was one of three Central Texas schools using the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) that was awarded the 2014 SIM Impact Award and recognized by the 2014 International SIM Conference at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.

Susan Dawson of the E3 Alliance led a coalition of educators who applied for a grant a few years ago to adapt the University of Kansas’ SIM for implementation at middle schools across the region. Upon receipt of grant funds, the pilot project was launched in early 2011 in six schools in six Texas districts.

Dow explained that the implementation process was challenging. Every teacher in every classroom (even electives) had to undergo special training that required commitment to the project. He gave special recognition, and credit for the project’s success, to the teachers in the trenches, under the guidance of Coaches Greer Del Rio and Judy Uzzell who headed up the training, data collection, walk-throughs, and observations.  When new teachers joined Goodnight, they were trained to fit in with the project.

According to Dawson, the results of the pilot have been compelling. Struggling students across the region have shown amazing improvement in the pilot schools. At the top were the three Central Texas schools: Goodnight Middle School of San Marcos, Simon Middle School in Kyle, and Know Wiley Middle School in Leander.

In a letter to Superintendent Mark Eads, Dawson said that the University of Kansas only occasionally designates “national model schools” for success in implementing the SIM model.  Four schools across the nation were recognized this year, and three of those were the Central Texas schools – including Goodnight in San Marcos.