SIM Reading Programs

The University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning has developed reading programs that promote adolescent literacy, student motivation to read, and student engagement in learning. The reading programs are comprehensive in nature, intensive, and include explicit instruction methods. Our evidence-based adolescent reading programs, Fusion Reading and Xtreme Reading, are designed to help students acquire the reading and thinking skills that are necessary for success in today’s challenging core classes and post-secondary settings. In short, the overarching goal of the reading programs is to ensure that all students have the literacy skills to be successful in school and life.

~All students are able to achieve success when given the tools to become confident learners ~ Amy M., Reading Teacher, TN

Each reading program was developed separately with federal funding: one project aimed to design a new reading program based on KUCRL’s existing research base on effective instructional practices and the science of reading (Fusion Reading), and the other project aimed to design a reading program comprising several previously published Learning Strategies (Xtreme Reading). Both programs were designed for adolescents with limited reading proficiency, which led to numerous similarities and only nuanced differences revealed through a consideration of contextual factors (e.g., student population, implementation options). Thus, the intent of the tables below is to assist in the selection of a KUCRL reading program that best fits the unique needs of a given school or classroom.

Additional and multiple factors should be considered when adopting any instructional program. These factors include the academic profile and needs of students, whether students have specific IEP goals and objectives, and the availability of structural supports for program implementation. Most importantly, input from teaching and administrative staff regarding the potential of the intervention and/or program to address problems of practice and the overall sense of program “fit” with staff and students is essential.