In 1981, the U.S. Department of Education designated it as an Exemplary Educational Program and provided funds for its dissemination to hundreds of institutions across the nation. A high-risk course is defined only relative to the percentage of students who complete the course successfully. SI has no prescreening of participants. Students volunteer for the supplemental instruction, which is available for three or more hours each week. Leaders, who are students or learning center staff.
SI leaders attend course lectures, take notes, read all assigned materials, and conduct classes.
What was done SI focuses on process and content. Students collaborate in their learning in study groups. SI sessions are structured to maximize active student involvement with the course material. The effect of the program is studied by comparing performance of the SI participants with that of non-SI participants. Additional analyses compare the two groups in terms of their motivation to participate, their prior academic achievement, and their ethnicity.