ISTE 2026: Inside the iSTAR Writing Tool

Recorded live at a conference session, Suzanne "Suzie" Myers, Jocelyn Washburn, and Bonnie Palysak from the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning introduce I-STAR — a new adaptive, web-based platform built on the research-backed Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) writing strategies. The team walks through why they built it (teachers lack time to explicitly teach and grade writing), how it works (teacher-led instruction paired with auto-scoring, adaptive practice, and progress tracking), and shares a moving case study of a student's growth from disjointed to sophisticated writing. They also pull back the curtain on the challenges of translating decades-old paper-based strategies into technology with a non-education-focused development team, including AI-generated practice sentences. The session closes with interactive audience brainstorming for future dashboard features and a call for schools to join their pilot study.

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