Welcome to the fall 2012 edition ofthe DI News. This issue brings somechanges, as Don Crawford is no longerthe co-editor of the News. RandiSaulter remains as editor, and Don willstill turn up in these pages to offer hiswisdom as a contributor.

In fact, he has an article in this issue.“The Top Nine Problems GettingChoral Reponses” doesn’t just examinethe main reasons that teachers aren’tgetting choral responses the way they’dlike, however. It looks at the ways inwhich teachers may think they are get-ting good choral responses when theyaren’t and strategies a teacher can useto diagnose and fix those problems.

Another article that presents somehelpful strategies is Barack Rosen-shine’s “Principles of Instruction:Research Strategies that All TeachersShould Know.” A reprint from theSpring 2012 edition of American Educa-tor, this article integrates a list of tenprinciples drawn from solid researchfindings with strategies teachers canuse to implement those principles inthe classroom.

Speaking of research, we also havesome information about research doneon researchers and their research!“Results of the National Institute forDirect Instruction’s Researcher Sur-vey” reports on that very thing, havingasked those interested and/or partici-pating in DI research about their back-ground, interests, and availability tocontinue building a robust DI researchcommunity.

Our community is a thriving oneindeed, as was evidenced by the suc-cess of yet another summer conferenceand another round of awards pre-sented. This is covered in Amy John-ston’s article “Excellence in EducationAwards at the National DI Confer-ence.” The stories of the recipientsreceiving the Siegfried EngelmannAward Excellence in Education Award,the Wesley Becker Excellent SchoolAward, the Hall of Fame Award, theWayne Carnine Student ImprovementAwards, and the first-ever CarnineSustained Student AchievementAward are always inspiring and thisyears’ are no exception.

Of course, none of this would be possi-ble without the groundbreaking work

Effective School Practices

Direct InstructionRANDI SAULTER, Editor

newsNew Strategies and Changes for Fall

FALL 2012, Volume 12 Number 3

In this issue

4 Excellence in Education Awardsat the National DI Conference

7 The Top Nine Problems GettingGood Choral Responses

11 Result of the NIFDI Researcher Survey

11Principles of Instruction:Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know

20 Zig Engelmann: More Than a Teacher’s Guide

20 Martin’s Musings

of Zig Engelmann, and from NIFDIwe learn of a video biography aboutZig that was released this summer. Besure to check it out.

Finally, we have another reliably excel-lent piece from Dr. Martin Kozloff. Inthis issue, Dr. Kozloff takes anunflinching look at the repeated fail-ure of public education over the pastfew decades. Then, he examines theways in which teachers can becomemore effective based on real researchabout how humans acquire knowledgeand how we can apply that to curricu-lum development and to differentteaching activities.

The new school year’s been underwayfor a couple of months in most placesby now, and we hope that as you settleinto it, you find this issue of the DINews both motivating and packed withinformation you can use!

Most educators spend at least a por-tion of their summer (often a signifi-cant portion) planning for the nextschool year. Summers at ADI aremarked by our annual National Con-ference, but this summer the Associa-tion also spent a great deal of time

planning. Since joining ADI last year, Ihave made a point of examining thewhat, how, and why of our operations.As a result, much of the spring andsummer was spent analyzing the innerworkings of ADI and then planninghow we can do things better.

AMY JOHNSTON, Executive Director, Association for Direct Instruction

ADI News

2 Fall 2012

DI News provides practitioners, ADI members, the DI community, and those newto DI with stories of successful implementations of DI, reports of ADI awards,tips regarding the effective delivery of DI, articles focused on particular types ofinstruction, reprints of articles on timely topics, and position papers that addresscurrent issues. The News’ focus is to provide newsworthy events that help usreach the goals of teaching children more effectively and efficiently and commu-nicating that a powerful technology for teaching exists but is not being utilizedin most American schools. Readers are invited to contribute personal accounts ofsuccess as well as relevant topics deemed useful to the DI community. Generalareas of submission follow:

From the field: Submit letters describing your thrills and frustrations, prob-lems and successes, and so on. A number of experts are available who may beable to offer helpful solutions and recommendations to persons seeking advice.

News: Report news of interest to ADI’s members.

Success stories: Send your stories about successful instruction. These can beshort, anecdotal pieces.

Perspectives: Submit critiques and perspective essays about a theme of currentinterest, such as: school restructuring, the ungraded classroom, cooperativelearning, site-based management, learning styles, heterogeneous grouping, Regu-lar Ed Initiative and the law, and so on.

Book notes: Review a book of interest to members.

New products: Descriptions of new products that are available are welcome.Send the description with a sample of the product or a research report validatingits effectiveness. Space will be given only to products that have been field-tested and empirically validated.

Tips for teachers: Practical, short products that a teacher can copy and useimmediately. This might be advice for solving a specific but pervasive problem, adata-keeping form, a single format that would successfully teach somethingmeaningful and impress teachers with the effectiveness and cleverness of DirectInstruction.

Submission Format: Send an electronic copy with a hard copy of the manu-script. Indicate the name of the word-processing program you use. Save drawingsand figures in separate files. Include an address and email address for eachauthor.

Illustrations and Figures: Please send drawings or figures in a camera-readyform, even though you may also include them in electronic form.

Completed manuscripts should be sent to:ADI PublicationsP.O. Box 10252

Eugene, OR 97440

Acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript will be sent by email. Articles areinitially screened by the editors for placement in the correct ADI publication. Ifappropriate, the article will be sent out for review by peers in the field. Thesereviewers may recommend acceptance as is, revision without further review, revi-sion with a subsequent review, or rejection. The author is usually notified aboutthe status of the article within a 6- to 8-week period. If the article is published,the author will receive five complimentary copies of the issue in which his or herarticle appears.

Direct Instruction NewsEditorRandi Saulter

Educational Consultant

Editorial BoardKerry Hempenstall

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Victoria, Australia

Martin KozloffUniversity of North Carolina, Wilmington

Vicki SniderUniversity of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

ADI Board of DirectorsAnne Berchtold

Lee County School DistrictCape Coral, Florida

Timothy SlocumUtah State UniversityLogan, Utah

Karen SorrentinoColumbus, Ohio

Don SteelyiLearnEugene, Oregon

Rose WankenChico Unified School DistrictChico, California

Cathy WatkinsCalifornia State University, StanislausTurlock, California

The DI News is published in the fall, spring,summer, and winter by the Association forDirect Instruction. The Association forDirect Instruction is a professional organi-zation dedicated to the development anddissemination of information and trainingfor users of Direct Instruction.

The Association for Direct Instruction wasincorporated in 1981 in the state of Oregonfor educational purposes. ADI is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation under Sec-tion 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Codeand is a publicly supported organization asdefined in Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and509(a)(1). Donations are tax-deductible.

A copy or summary of the current financialstatement, or annual report, and registra-tion filed by ADI may be obtained by con-tacting: ADI, P.O. BOX 10252, Eugene, OR97440 (541-485-1293). ADI is registeredwith the state of Oregon, Department ofJustice, #79-16751. Copyright © 2011Association for Direct Instruction.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $25U. S.; $30 (U. S. currency) Canada; $40Europe; $60 airmail to Europe.

(ISSN 1540-0026).

Managing Editor: Lynda Rucker

Publisher: The Association for DirectInstruction

http://www.adihome.org

Layout and Design: Beneda Design, Eugene, Oregon

Contribute to DI News:

In June, ADI members were asked tovote on a ballot to convert ADI’s mem-bership from “voting” to “nonvoting”.At the time of the mailing, there werejust under 500 members eligible tovote on this issue. We received 104responses voting in favor of the meas-ure, and 3 votes against the measure.Due to the overwhelming positiveresponse, the ADI Board of Directorswas able to vote unanimously toaccept an amended version of ourbylaws making the change official. TheADI Board now has the ability to makedecisions affecting the future of theorganization rather than putting everyissue before the membership for a voteat the Annual National Direct Instruc-tion Conference. This is significantbecause it will allow ADI to be moreresponsive and more flexible now andin the future.

Another change that was made thissummer was the decision to make the2012 issue of the Journal of DirectInstruction (JODI) our last. Over thelast few years the number of submis-sions we received for each issuesteadily decreased. In addition,researchers who were able to publishin a journal with a broader readershipoften did so. Finally, it is expensive forany organization, particularly one thesize of ADI, to publish a peer-reviewed journal. Rather than struggleto publish a few articles each year, weare repurposing our resources to fre-quently publicize timely research thatis important to our members.

To that end, I am very excited toannounce our first new research initia-tive, our brand new research blog (cur-rently titled “Educational Research &Direct Instruction”). The purpose ofthe blog is to “push” timely, relevantinformation on educational research toour members that will help addresscurrent issues in schools and class-rooms here in the US and around theworld. Over time, we plan to invite awide range of researchers to be guestcontributors to our research blog. Ourfirst two regular contributors will beDr. Kerry Hempenstall, of RMIT inMelbourne Australia, and Dr. CristyCoughlin of Eugene, Oregon. Be sure

to visit our website atwww.adihome.org for more informa-tion.

In addition to all of the exciting activi-ties above, we also held our annualNational Direct Instruction Confer-ence and Institutes here in Eugene,Oregon this July. Our National Confer-ence always attracts a very diversegroup of attendees with this yearbeing no exception. This year, we wel-comed attendees from 6 countries(other than the US), 38 states, and126 schools or districts!

Siegfried “Zig” Engelmann openedthe conference with a rousing keynoteon the psychology of teaching thatwas, in my opinion, one of his best.Zig’s keynote is a must watch, and isnow available on our website (seebelow). Our invited keynote this yearwas Eric Mahmoud, Founder and CEOof four charter schools in Minneapolis,Minnesota. He shared with an audi-ence of more than 500 educators fromaround the world his “Five-Gap Analy-sis” and “Gap-Closing Framework” aswell as the results from each of hisfour schools. The impact he is havingon lives of young people in Minneapo-lis is profound. It was evident that Iwasn’t the only one moved by hiswords when I looked around at theclose of this address and saw tears ofhope and inspiration flowing from theeyes of nearly all in attendance. Thisis one that you’ll definitely want toshare with your colleagues, friendsand family.

Other notable mentions from thisyear’s National Conference include afirst-ever “Bonus Session” presentedby Dr. John Stone, founder and presi-dent of the Education ConsumersFoundation (ECF) as well as a presen-tation and book signing by Clear

Direct Instruction News 3

Teaching author, Shep Barbash. Bothpresentations, as well as the openingkeynotes, are available for online view-ing at www.adihome.org. The DVDsare also available for purchase from ouronline store or by calling us at 800-995-2464.

I’d like to leave you with the closingwords from Mr. Mahmoud’s keynote:“Our children are in the race of life. Not onlydo we have to give them the skills, we have togive them the confidence to compete. Not onlydo we have to give them the confidence tocompete, we have to give them the grit so thateach and every time they fall, they get backup. And then most importantly, when ourchildren fall, who’s going to be there to pickthem up and get them back in the race?That’s the work of educators.”

Thank you all for the work that you doand thank you for your support of ADI.I wish you all a wonderful school yearfull of hope and success.

ADI News... continued from page 1

Help us out!Contribute your story of suc-cess with DI! We want to hearfrom you!

You all have stories and it istime to share them. This isyour journal—let it reflectyour stories!

See the directions on page 2on how to make a contribu-tion. You’ll be glad you did.

Apology from RandiIn the previous issue of the DI News, the article “The SingaporeImplementation” was mistakenly credited to Doug Blancero withthe affiliation Educational Resources, Inc. Doug Blancero’s affilia-tion is JP Associates, Inc. Randi apologizes profusely for the error!

4 Fall 2012

ing staff and were defunded. Dejolie,an experienced DI teacher in his mid-twenties, was undaunted. With energyand enthusiasm, he organized his fel-low new staff members and trainedthem in implementing Reading Mastery.Dejolie called Dr. Linda Carnine, whohad been the DI consultant at his for-mer school, to share his excitement

For more than thirty years the Associa-tion for Direct Instruction has beenhonoring educators, researchers andstudents who have achieved excep-tional success through their use ofDirect Instruction with our annualExcellence in Education Awards. Therecipients are nominated by theirpeers and recognized each July at theADI National Direct Instruction Con-ference in Eugene, Oregon. Awardsgiven this year include the SiegfriedEngelmann Excellence in Educationaward, the Wesley Becker ExcellentSchool Award, five Wayne CarnineStudent Improvement Awards, and afirst-ever Carnine Sustained StudentAchievement Award.

Siegfried EngelmannExcellence in Education Award

Jason DejolieThe 2012 Siegfried Engelmann Excel-lence in Education award was made toJason Dejolie, the fifth grade teacherat Hunter’s Point Boarding School inWindow Rock, Arizona. Hunter’s Pointis a Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)school that has approximately 20 stu-dents per grade level. Although theschool previously participated in theBIE Reads program, used Reading Mas-tery, and even made AYP their first twoyears using RM, the year Dejoliejoined them (SY 2011-2012) they losttheir principal and their entire teach-

AMY JOHNSTON, Executive Director, Association for Direct Instruction

Excellence in Education Awards at the National DI Conference

The schools and organizations listedbelow are institutional members ofthe Association for Direct Instruction.We appreciate their continued sup-port of quality education for students.

Ahfachkee SchoolClewlaton, FL

American Preparatory AcademyDraper, UT

Awsaj Institute for EducationQatar

Baltimore Curriculum Project Inc.Baltimore, MD

Bear River Charter SchoolLogan, UT

Cape York Aboriginal AustralianAcademyCairns, Australia

Centennial Public SchoolUtica, NE

City Springs SchoolBaltimore, MD

CUSD300Carpentersville, IL

David Douglas Arthur AcademyPortland, OR

Educational Resources Inc.Ocala, FL

Foundations for the Future CharterAcademyCalgary, AB

Gresham Arthur AcademyGresham, OR

KRESAPortage, MI

Legacy Academy of ExcellenceRockford, IL

Leigh Brougher, McGraw-Hill SchoolEducation GroupDewitt, MI

Lucklamute Valley Charter SchoolDallas, OR

Mille Lacs Band of OjibweCloquet, MN

Morningside AcademySeattle, WA

Mystic Valley Regional CharterMaiden, MA

Nay Ah Shing AbinoojiyagOnamia, MN

Portland Arthur AcademyPortland, OR

Ramah Navajo School BoardPine Hill, NM

Reynolds Arthur AcademyTroutdale, OR

Rogue River School DistrictRogue River, OR

St. Helens Arthur AcademySt. Helens, OR

Standing Rock Community SchoolFort Yates, ND

Standing Rock Elementary SchoolBismark, ND

USD #428Great Bend, KS

Woodburn Arthur AcademyWoodburn, OR

Linda Carnine and Jason Dejolie

Direct Instruction News 5

Wesley Becker Excellent School Award

Avoyelles Public Charter School,Mansura, LouisianaAvoyelles Public Charter School(APCS) was selected as the recipientof the 2012 Wesley Becker ExcellentSchool Award because for ten yearsthey have shown continuous improve-ment. APCS began in 2000 with 250students in grades K-4 in the smallfarming town of Mansura, Louisiana.Today they serve 700 students ingrades K-12. APCS, led by founder andexecutive director Julie Roy, has the“highest expectations for students andteachers” according to their DI con-sultant from Educational Resources,Inc. (ERI), Mary Detscher. “All stu-dents are there to learn, and all teach-ers are there to teach. Julie believesthat student learning is a direct func-tion of instruction and she insists onstellar instruction.”

APCS was recently recognized as thenumber one charter school in the stateof Louisiana in student achievement

data (LEAP, GEE, attendance). 99% oftheir students passed the LouisianaEducational Assessment Program(LEAP), 100% passed the GraduationExit Examination (GEE) and End ofCourse (EOC) tests, and they had a95% attendance rate. Louisiana givesschools a letter grade of A+ to F basedon test scores on state testing ingrades 3 through high school. In 2011,APCS earned an A+ rating for the sec-ond year in a row.

The pride that the students take intheir own accomplishments and intheir school is evidenced by thenumerous letters of support wereceived from APCS students sup-porting their school’s nomination forthe 2012 Wesley Becker ExcellentSchool Award.

No one made a more convincing case,however, than long-time APCS BoardMember Julia Boston. Julia writes:“This school has been a beacon to thisparish and an example to other schoolsacross the state. APCS has proven thatdedication, accountability, and deter-mination made a difference for all chil-dren, regardless of race, socioeconomicbackground, or family unit construc-tion. The school represents theparish’s minorities, poor, wealthy, mid-dle-class, single-family households, andracially mixed families, all of whichfind success at APCS.” She sums upher praise of APCS saying “…everyonefrom top to bottom is in the businessof educating children. It is their goalthat all students learn and their beliefthat all students can learn thatimpresses me the most.”

Hall of Fame

Dr. Cathy Watkins This year, the ADI Board of Directorsnominated their own Cathy Watkins,ADI Board President, to the Hall ofFame. Cathy recently retired as a Pro-fessor of Special Education from Cali-fornia State University, Stanislaus,where she served on the faculty for 23years and was the Director of the Cen-ter for Direct Instruction. In additionto her academic duties, Dr. Watkins isan extraordinary practitioner, demon-strating a passionate commitment to

implementing effective instruction inthe schools.

Karen Sorrentino, who emceed thisyear’s Awards Celebration, said, “I’veknown Cathy a long time and I canhonestly say Cathy has never taughtwithout profound understanding, a lotof emotion, a great sense of humor, andmost importantly, passion.” Ms. Sor-rentino then turned the podium overto Cathy’s longtime friend, colleague,and fellow Hall of Fame member MillySchrader, who presented the award.

Milly recounted her earliest memoriesof working with Cathy: “After workingin Project Follow Through for a num-ber of years, I decided I wanted tobecome a principal. I was excitedwhen I got to be the principal of thelowest performing Title I school in thedistrict. I was excited about it, but Ialso knew that you can have all theknowledge in the world … but youneed somebody to come in ... andhelp. And that’s when Cathy came in.Cathy came in as a consultant to workwith teachers and bring in the knowl-edge that needed to happen. Shealways knew what needed to be said.She got my teachers to the pointwhere they really understood. After 12years, my school became the highestperforming Title I school in the dis-trict and outperformed half of the reg-ular schools. Cathy’s indomitable spiritwas infectious and helped me greatly.”

Milly asked her fellow Hall of FamersLinda Youngmayr and Tim Slocum forquotes to share with Cathy during heraward presentation. Linda Youngmayrsaid that, “Cathy is the task master of

with her over the gains he was seeingin his new school using Reading Mas-tery. After hearing his story and review-ing his school’s NWEA and DIBELSdata, Dr. Carnine nominated him forthe 2012 Siegfried Engelmann Excel-lence in Education Award. In nominat-ing him, Dr. Carnine wrote: “It takesconsiderable leadership to bring anentire faculty on board, provide thetraining they need to implement theReading Mastery program and get thekind of student achievement results inone year.”

Wesley Becker Award, Kim Gagnard (left)and Mary Detscher (right)

Hall of Fame, Cathy Watkins (left) andMilly Schrader (right)

good instruction.Students know it,and those whounderstand wor-ship her for it.Others fear her,for she is unre-lenting in com-munication ofstandards andgood instruction.”Tim Slocum, eloquent as always, con-tributed the following: “Cathy’s visionand leadership have been absolutelycritical in keeping ADI healthy. Cathyhas a rare understanding of DirectInstruction, an ability to communicateand inspire, and an absolute dedicationto effective instruction. Collaboratingwith Cathy on the ADI Board and onwriting projects have been among thehighlights of my career.”

Upon accepting her award, Cathy said“I’ve seen the names of the peoplewho are on that (Hall of Fame) plaque,so I can tell you that I am deeply hum-bled and tremendously honored toreceive this award.”

Wayne Carnine StudentImprovement Awards

Tayevawn “Taye” FeltonTaye is seven years old and is in thesecond grade. He was nominated byretired DI educator Betsy Primm, whohas worked with Taye’s teacher, DonnaHouse. Taye’s nomination was sent toADI in the form of a scrapbook thatwas simply too wonderful not to share.A complete version can be found onour website at www.adihome.org bytyping “Taye” in the search box in theupper right hand corner of the homepage. Here is a condensed version ofTaye’s story as written by Betsy Primm.

According to Taye’s mother, hiskindergarten experience was “horri-ble”. At the end of kindergarten, Tayeonly knew a few letter names andsounds. In first grade, he made littleprogress. Then Taye had the good for-tune to land in Mrs. Donna House’sclass. Mrs. House is one of those dedi-cated, capable, and caring teachersthat every parent wants for their child.

Mrs. House noted that Taye was agifted singer, had a good oral vocabu-

lary, was able to communicate histhoughts and ideas well, and had astrong working memory—especially fordetails. Mrs. House realized that hehad good potential, but she was con-cerned that she did not have the mate-rials or the time to be able to giveTaye the individualized instruction inreading that she thought he needed.

Mrs. House mentioned her concernabout finding the right reading pro-gram to a colleague who suggestedTeach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Les-sons. That conversation caused Mrs.House to remember that she had usedDISTAR as part of her student teach-ing many years earlier in Appleton,Wisconsin. In Mrs. House’s words, “Iremember it (DISTAR) being the bestpart of my student teaching experi-ence because the children were suc-cessful and so was the teacher.”

She bought a copy of the book, studiedit, and decided to give it a try. Thatdecision proved to be a turning pointfor Taye and also for Mrs. House. Afterfour months of reading instructionwith Teach Your Child to Read in 100 EasyLessons, Taye’s score on the DistrictBenchmark Assessment went from 40%to 74.29%! As of this writing, Taye isalmost finished with the book. Hismotivation to learn to read well isinfectious. Mrs. House states, “I haveno doubt that Tayevawn can read aswell or better than the majority of chil-dren in second grade. Taye’s persever-ance, motivation and solid acquisitionof reading skills this year has been andwill continue to be examples to histeachers, his family, and his classmates.He is truly lighting the way!”

Ana MorenoAna is a fifth-grade student atHutchinson Magnet School at Allen inHutchinson, Kansas and was nomi-nated by her teacher, Ms. BarbaraVieyra. Ana began using Reading Mas-tery (RM) in third grade, and wasalready well behind her peers testinginto RM I. Ana made considerableprogress during third grade, however,and scored in the “Exceeds Standards”category on the Kansas Assessment ofModified Measures for reading withaccommodations. In fourth grade,

Vieyra says, “I saw what every teacherwants to see in a student; Ana wasbecoming a child who loved to read!”Ana again scored in the “Exceeds Stan-dards” category.

In fifth grade Ana was working in Cor-rective Reading Decoding B2. In thespring of this year, Ana achieved ascore of 96%, the highest score in theentire fifth grade, on the KansasAssessment of Modified Measures forreading with accommodations placingher into the “Exemplary” category.

As a result of herhard work, perse-verance, and suc-cess in DirectInstruction, Anawill take the reg-ular state assess-ment in readingin the Spring of2013.

Breck BeaverBreck is a third-grade student atAvoyelles Public Charter School(APCS) in Mansura, Louisiana and wasnominated by his reading teacher, Ms.Dana Dauzat. Breck has attendedAPCS since kindergarten and hasreceived his reading instructionthrough Reading Mastery that entiretime. Although Breck consistentlymade forward progress, his progresswas hard won through many repeatedlessons to ensure mastery. According toMs. Dauzat, “He never complained,and he continued to work hard nevergiving up.”

Breck began this year in RM III, butwas tested and moved to the HorizonsC/D group because of his outstandingprogress. Throughout his academiccareer, Breck has always tested intothe “intensive” category on DIBELS.This spring, for the first time ever,Breck scored at the “strategic” level.He is not in the highest reading group,but this spring he was the top per-former in his group and, according tohis teacher, “loves reading!” Breck isnow reading on grade level and willbegin fourth grade in RM V!

Guillermo Ortega VillaGuillermo is a fifth grade student at

6 Fall 2012

John Stone

Zig Engelmann

eight, Amandawas diagnosedwith infantileautism, thisreplacing an ear-lier diagnosis.

Not willing togive up on herdaughter, Marthadecided tohomeschool Amanda and traveled thecountry in search of programs thatcould help. Enter Direct Instruction.Throughout the remainder of her aca-demic career, Amanda was taughtusing Direct Instruction and, in fact,Amanda would eventually finish all ofthe DI programs. Her mother, inspiredby the progress she saw in Amanda,went on to complete a master’sdegree in Special Education and even-tually her doctorate.

Amanda eventually did catch up withher peers. At the age of 15, Amandadually enrolled in the Florida VirtualSchool (an online high school), and inFlorida Keys Community College. Thisspring, Amanda not only graduatedfrom high school (in three years!) witha 4.0 GPA, but also graduated fromFlorida Keys Community College with115 credit hours and a 3.94 GPA (sheonly needed 60 hours to graduate)!

This July, Amanda began the nextchapter of her life as a student atMiami International University of Artand Design expecting to graduate witha bachelor’s degree in 2-3 years.

Direct Instruction News 7

Harvard Elementary in Tacoma, Wash-ington and was nominated by his prin-cipal Mr. Paul Elery. According to Mr.Elery, “In the last year and a half,Guillermo has moved up almost threegrade levels in reading achievementand is now reading 80 words perminute! After spending kindergartenthrough half of third grade not read-ing, our instructional program andfocus on providing enough repetitionshas started to pay off.” He goes on tosay, “One of the side effects ofGuillermo’s academic success is thedevelopment of a great sense ofhumor and a glowing personality. Hecontinues to work hard and seeing agreat big smile on his face means he’slearned something new. During thefirst few years at Harvard, we neversaw that smile. Now, we seeGuillermo smiling everyday!”

Michael (Mikey) PolednaMikey is a fourth grade student atGresham Arthur Academy in Gresham,Oregon and was nominated by theschool’s Intervention Specialist, AmberSparks (Amber is now the Principal.)

Ms. Sparks began working with Mikeyduring the 2011-2012 school yearwhen he first entered her school.Mikey was very excited about takingthe math placement test, but strug-gled when he got to the word prob-lems, telling Ms. Sparks “I don’t readso good.” After completing his mathplacement, Ms. Sparks administeredthe fourth grade reading placement

test. Mikey did not pass. Ms. Sparkspromised Mikey that she would teachhim how to read.

On his first check-out in CorrectiveReading Decoding B1 on January, Mikeyread 21 words per minute. On his lastcheck-out on May, he read 79 wordsper minute!

In addition to the incredible progressMikey made in reading, his behaviorhas also made a complete transforma-tion. Ms. Sparks writes, “He is nowhappy and engaged. He feels so proudof himself….His parents have said thathe is a whole new kid even at home.”

Carnine Sustained StudentAchievement Award

Amanda Bhirdo The first-ever Carnine Sustained Stu-dent Achievement Award was made toAmanda Bhirdo. Amanda was a recipi-ent of the Wayne Carnine StudentAchievement Award in 2001. Whenher nomination for the same awardwas received again this year, Dr. DougCarnine and Dr. Linda Carninedecided to create a new award cate-gory more befitting of Amanda’s manyaccomplishments.

When Amanda was in first grade, herIQ was estimated to be 63. Hermother, Martha, was told that Amandawould “peak” mentally as a thirdgrader, that she would spend her lifefolding envelopes, and that she wouldlive in a group home. At the age of

Eric Mahmoud

Having all students in a class thinkabout a question and generate theirown answer to it increases activeengagement and opportunities torespond, thereby increasing learningdramatically. That’s why we use choralor unison responses so much in theDirect Instruction curricula. However,it is vitally important that the teacher

know if all students are generating thecorrect answer. Done properly, a uni-son response allows the teacher to hearif some students are generating a dif-ferent and therefore incorrectresponse. Unfortunately, it takes afairly high level of skill to get a class togive the kind of choral response thatenables the teacher to hear that some

students are mistaken. Or, to say itanother way, it is easy for choralresponding to obscure errors and allowstudents who do not know the mate-rial to go uncorrected. Here are thetop nine problems teachers have get-ting good choral responses.

1. Not having a good signal over-all. A good signal has five parts: afocus cue, think time, a voice cue, abrief and consistent pause, and theauditory (snap, clap or tap) or visual(hand-drop) signal. If the students

DON CRAWFORD, Director, Arthur Academies, Portland, Oregon

The Top Nine Problems Getting Good Choral Responses

others will try to chime in as theleader is answering. This is pretty bla-tantly a problem of inadequate thinktime. But if the teacher doesn’t realizewhy the students didn’t answer on sig-nal, she may simply repeat the itemimmediately. The second time around,the students don’t need much in theway of think time because they alreadyknow the answer. So the second time,everyone can answer on signal. In thecase where a teacher gives some thinktime, but not enough for all of the stu-dents to generate their own answer,the answer will come on signal, butwill sound weak because only thequickest thinking students answeredon signal. In that case, the “I need tohear everybody” before repeating thesame question over again will solve thechoral response problem, but will notreveal the underlying problem of inad-equate think time.

***Immediate solution: Say “I didn’t heareveryone answering on signal. I’m not sureeveryone knows that item. I’m going to ask itagain in a minute.” Confirm the correctanswer and go on and do two or three moreitems giving them more think time. If theproblems stop, that’s a good clue that inade-quate think time was the cause. Now comeback and give the missed item again (adelayed test), but this time give a good bitmore think time, and see if the students reallycan answer on signal. If they all do answerand they answer on signal, you’re good to go.

are looking at their books you use theauditory signal. If they should belooking at you, be sure to use a silentvisual signal—so they have to keeptheir eyes on you. The focus cue isthe question or item to answer. Thethink time must be long enough toensure all the students have time tocome up with the answer. Studentsare taking a breath during the briefpause and getting ready to answer.The brief pause has to be of consis-tent length so students know whenyou will snap or drop your hand. Theyare to answer exactly with the snap orthe hand drop. The signal has to haveall those pieces so you can controlthink time and so students knowexactly when to answer.

Solution: Have a good signal with all fiveparts: a focus cue, think time, a voice cue, abrief and consistent pause, and the auditory(snap, clap or tap) or visual (hand-drop)signal. Video yourself or have someoneobserve you to see if all the parts are there.

2. Not giving students enough thinktime. One of the most common rea-sons students do not answer on signalis that they haven’t been given enoughthink time. If a teacher gives so littlethink time that no one can answer onsignal, it becomes fairly obvious. Therewill be a couple of seconds of silenceand then the quickest student in thebunch will generate an answer and the

8 Fall 2012

If not, you have some more teaching to do. Ineither case you now have clear information,which is the point of the choral responding.

3. Missing the voice cue. Where thescripts in DI programs say (Signal) it isassumed that teachers know that thesignal will include the voice cue andthe final snap or hand drop. So thevoice cue, such as “Get ready,” or“Everybody,” is usually not stated inthe script. In some instances, such as“What word?”, there is something thatcan be used as a voice cue in thescript, but not always. If a teacherreads the question in the script, suchas “What’s the title of the story?”, seesthe script with the word (Signal) andthen simply snaps, students will notbe able to answer in unison—becausethe voice cue is missing. Students donot know when the signal is comingwithout the voice cue and the consis-tent but brief pause after it. With thevoice cue and the consistent pausestudents know when the final snap orhand drop is coming. So if the teacherasks the question, “What’s the title ofthe story?” gives think time, thengives a voice cue such as “Get ready!”and then snaps—students will be ableto answer on signal.

Solution: Be sure you have a voice cue suchas “Get ready!” or “Everybody!” and a con-sistent but brief pause before every signal.

4. Fixing all problems of choralresponses only by immediatelyrepeating the item again. Whensome of the students do not answeron signal, any number of problemsarises. This could be a complianceproblem, but sometimes it is not.Students often want to answer onsignal but need more think time, orlost track of the lesson, or don’t reallyknow the answer. The programs sayto repeat the item to get everyoneresponding on signal. But immedi-ately after a choral response all stu-dents can simply parrot the answerand usually in unison—even if theydidn’t understand the question.Imagine a student who had no idea ofthe answer and hears a few of theother students answer “Fifty-six.”Then the teacher says, “I need tohear everyone together. What’s eight

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Direct Instruction News 9

times seven?” And now the student(and everyone else) can say, “Fifty-six!” The students could correctlygive the answer even if they didn’thear the question because all theyhave to do is repeat “Fifty-six.” Theydon’t need think time, because theyknow what they are supposed to saywithout processing the question.Even though the problem of “answer-ing on signal” is fixed, the underlyingproblems may still be there. Theteacher doesn’t know who knows theanswer and who is just parroting theanswer.1 The teacher also doesn’tknow if the students need morethink time than she has been giving.If this happens more than a fewtimes during a lesson, where theteacher gets a poor response and thensimply repeats the item immediately,the teacher really doesn’t know if thestudents are at mastery.

***Immediate solution: Same as above in #2—but especially important to extend thethink time when you do the delayed test.That’s the most frequent reason students can’tanswer a question on signal.

Long term solution: Fix your signal, givemore think time, and always use a voice cuebefore the signal.

5. Allowing some students to get bywithout answering the first time.Sometimes a number of students donot answer a question. Again, it is amistake to treat this as a complianceproblem (unless you know it is a com-pliance problem because the only stu-dent who didn’t answer was lookingout the window). Saying “I need tohear everybody!” and immediatelyrepeating the question will ensure thechoral response sounds good, but youwon’t know why it didn’t sound goodin the first place. You don’t know if thestudents weren’t at mastery, weren’tpaying attention, needed more thinktime, etc. Your main job as a teacher isto know if your students are “getting”the lesson, so it is not OK to fix theproblem and not know the underlyingcause. Making the choral responses

“sound” good is not the goal. The goalis for all the students to be able togenerate their own answers to thequestions and therefore be able toanswer on signal the first time you askthe question.

***Immediate solution: Same as above in #2. Make your students accountable foranswering by making eye contact, looking atthem and their mouths to see they areanswering, and acting like you are interestedin whether or not they all know the answer.Bend down and turn your head to “listen”obviously.

students to yell out their answers isnot good. One, shouting answersmakes it hard to tell when some stu-dents have dropped out and couldn’tanswer the question. Two, shouting,especially among the leaders, alsodrowns out incorrect responses forwhich the teacher should be listening.In classrooms where students routinelyshout out their answers, individualturns, if given to a random sample ofthe students, will reveal a number ofstudents who are not at masterybecause their lack of participation orincorrect answers could not be heardover the shouting.

Solution: Tell students you want them toanswer in “normal” voices, or “inside”voices, or “college” voices. Call on one or twoor three students to model answering in a“normal” voice. Then have a row do thesame thing. Then have the whole class answerin a “normal” voice. Praise this and insist onit. Repeat any item where the students shout.(This is a compliance problem, so this is thecorrect response). Be consistent and you canfix this problem quickly. It is importantbecause you are losing valuable informationabout the level of mastery in your class byletting your leaders shout out their answers.When you do tell students that you needeveryone to answer, you can calmly add, “Idon’t need anyone to shout, I just need every-one to answer.”

7. Allowing students to answer ina slow, drony fashion. It is easierfor students to answer in unison ifthey answer in a slow, drony way—especially for answers of more thanone word. So it is not surprising thatwhen teachers tell students theywant them all to answer together,students slow down so everyone cansay it all together. But we do not wantanswers that are droned out slowly.Why? Not just because it is annoyingand boring. There is another muchmore important reason that allowingstudents to give slow, drawn outanswers is not good. It becomesmuch easier for students who did notknow the answer to chime in andanswer along with the group if the

Long term solution: Find other ways to makeall students accountable for answering. Watchstudent mouths, look them in the eyes, andpraise individuals or parts of the class whoare answering on signal. You can give indi-vidual turns to students or to parts of thegroup you know didn’t answer. When you say“I need to hear everybody answer!”, makeeye contact with the students who aren’tanswering.

6. Allowing students to shoutanswers. When you say, “I need tohear everybody answer!” your studentswill usually answer with louder voices.That’s what crowds do when speakerssay the same thing—everyone roars. Soif teachers say that often, “I need tohear everybody!” it is not surprising tohear classes shouting out their answersin DI classrooms. But we do not wantanswers that are shouted out loudly.Why? Not just because it is annoyingand hurts one’s ears. There are twomuch more important reasons allowing

Your main job as ateacher is to know if your

students are “getting” the lesson, so it is not OK to fix the problem

and not know the underlying cause.

1 Occasionally teachers will say, “I need everyone to answer together!” and then go on to a new item, “What’s eight times three?” instead of repeating theprevious item (8 x 7). Often, one of those students, who is used to parroting the answer everyone else just said, will chime in (nice and loudly too) withthe answer “Fifty-six!” to the previous question. That tells you that your immediately repeated questions are just getting parroted answers.

answer is coming out slowly. Teacherscan then be led to believe that alltheir students know the answer whenin fact a large number do not. Werecently proved this in a professionaldevelopment day. We demonstratedthat the half of the room that couldnot see the name of the month beingindicated was able to answer alongwith the half who could see it whenwe allowed drony responses. Afterthe first part of the name of themonth came out the other half of theroom joined in and it sounded likeeveryone knew the name of themonth to which we were pointing.

Solution: Tell students you want them toanswer “normally,” or “quickly,” or “like wetalk.” Call on one or two or three students tomodel answering “like we talk.” Then have arow do the same thing. Then have the wholeclass answer “like we talk.” Praise this andinsist on it. Set a brisk pace by clapping foreach word in a sentence answer. Repeat anyitem where the students begin to drone. (Thisis a compliance problem, so this is the correctresponse). Be consistent and you can fix thisproblem quickly. It is important because youare losing valuable information about thelevel of mastery in your class by letting yourstudents give slow and drony answers.

8. Allowing students to answerbefore the signal or “signal jump.”Some students answer before the sig-nal. If the teacher has a clear signal,uses a voice cue, and has a consistentpause before the snap or hand drop,then there is only one reason studentsanswer before the signal. The reason isthat they want attention or recognitionfor being smarter than the other stu-dents. They are hoping that byanswering ahead of the signal, theteacher will see that they are smarterthan the other students. So the worstthing a teacher can say in this circum-stance is, “You’re so smart. Youanswered before everyone else. But Iwant you to wait for my signal.”

Solution: Give absolutely no attention to asignal jumper. Don’t even look their way.Praise, give eye contact and attention to stu-dents who answered appropriately by saying,“Samantha, you answered exactly on my sig-nal. You are so-o-o-o smart to be able toanswer on signal!” Then wait for the signal

jumper to answer on signal and give him orher praise for answering on signal. Anotheruseful technique is to say, “I’m going to try totrick you!” give unpredictably more thinktime on an item, then praise students whoweren’t tricked and answered on signal. Aslong as you give the voice cue and the consis-tent pause before the snap or hand drop, stu-dents can hold an answer a long time. Besure to treat waiting for the signal to answeras the smartest behavior possible.

9. Failing to catch and stop “coat-tailing.” The term coat-tailing indi-cates that students are answering onthe coattails of another student or stu-dents. When students are coat-tailingthey are not generating their ownanswers. You don’t know if they knowthe material—but most likely theydon’t know it, or they need more thinktime. If you have been allowing signaljumping, drony responses, or shoutingof answers it will be difficult to catchcoat-tailing. Those problems have tobe fixed so you can tell if some stu-dents are coat-tailing. If no studentsare shouting, none are jumping the sig-nal, and all the students are givingcrisp, quick answers, you may then beable to hear if some students are coat-tailing. There is one sure-fire way toknow that you have coat-tailing in agroup. If you ever have even oneinstance where all of the studentsmake the same mistake, you knowbeyond the shadow of a doubt thatyour group has been coat-tailing one

student. That is really bad. Your stu-dents haven’t been learning; theyhaven’t been thinking and generatingtheir own answers. They’ve just beencopying your leader.

***Immediate Solution: Take your leaderor leaders out of the group for the day, askthem to not answer for a few items or movethem to a different group. Then give a lotmore think time (perhaps even use “Thumbsup when you know”) before you signal foranswers. Give tons of very enthusiasticpraise to the ones who answer on signal. Youhave to change some habits. You need to getthose coat-tailers to generate their ownanswers and then motivate them to continueto do so.

Long term solution: You are going to have tomake sure all parts of your signal are inplace and that you are giving enough thinktime. Err on the side of too much think timeuntil you get everyone to answer on signal.Fix problems of signal jumping, shouting, ordrony responses if you have them. Use thetechniques for when students aren’t answeringat all—make them accountable to answerand answer on signal. Fix poor choralresponses by having the students do it again,but in a delayed test, so they have to be think-ing. In short, you’ll need to implement every-thing in this article to fix problems ofcoat-tailing!

10 Fall 2012

Dear friends in the DI community,

What do you remembermost about your firstexperience seeing orusing DI?You no doubt have plenty of stories toshare about your first time with DirectInstruction, whether it was 30 years ago or last month.We hope to hear these stories—and learn from them—in upcoming issues of the DI News.

Send us your responses—short answers are fine—to Randi Saulter,itsrandi@aol.com. Let us know your name and your affiliation (school,organization, synagogue, rifle club, political party, etc.). Have a good ideafor a future question? Let us know that, too! —Randi, editor

Hello and welcome to the 2008 Sum-mer edition of the DI News. This issueof the News contains many articles thatwe hope you will find both informativeand interesting.

We have all embraced Zig Engel-mann’s so eloquently stated “mantra”that “if the children aren’t learning,the teacher isn’t teaching.” In a 2001interview, originally published inSchool Reform News, we have the oppor-tunity to read a concise explanation tosupport this way of thinking. It alsoserves to remind us of the critical roleof the educator.

Additionally, in an early (1993) article,Zig points out how “mis-learning” andinadequate practice often occur due toweak curriculum. In his own words,Zig offers the following prologue tothe article:

Geoff Colvin is a behaviorist whois also a good teacher and trainer.He understands the role ofinstruction in shaping behavior. Aweek before I posted this article,Geoff asked me for permission toreproduce and present it at aseminar. Sure. (In fact, I forgotthat I had written this paper.)Geoff presented it to graduatestudents. Some of them laterindicated that they were bothshocked and insulted becausethis was the first time they hadheard anything about the rela-tionship between curriculum andfailure, particularly the notionthat you could observe studentbehavior and infer the flaws in

the curriculum they wentthrough from the kind of mis-takes they make.

After I heard Geoff ’s report, Iread the article and concludedthat it is as timely today as it wasin 1993, when I wrote it. Thefield still hasn’t learned thatpoorly designed curricula gener-ate poor performance in bothteacher and students.

We are offering a (2005) piece fromZig, “A Litmus Test for Urban SchoolDistricts.” Zig notes that large districtsimplement innovations, such as DI, intheir own manner, according to theirown previously established policies andprocedures. These district rules oftengreatly distort the innovation. Then,when the innovation is not successful,the district assumes the innovation wasinadequate, rather than blaming theirinternal policies and procedures. Zigsuggests that districts try an unfettered“litmus test” of innovations accordingto the developers’ guidelines in two orthree schools as a way to determineboth the potential of the innovation aswell as what needs to be changed inthe way of district policies.From Martin Kozloff and MonicaCampbell we have an article entitled“Cognition, Logic, and Instruction.”The authors skillfully explain the fourkinds of cognitive knowledge as well asthe logical structure and the logicaloperations, how to attain them, andhow to use them. The “finale” of thisarticle contains a critical conclusion for

Effective School Practices

Direct InstructionDON CRAWFORD and RANDI SAULTER, Editors

newsOld DI Advice Still Rings True

SUMMER 2008, Volume 8, Number 2In this issue

educators. We know you will find thisarticle important and useful.We are happy to include several articlesthat exemplify the kinds of success thatwe all know is possible with soundinstruction utilizing DI curricula. RobertHarris of J/P Associates and Classical

continued on page 3

3 Challenge and Be Surprised byYour Students

6 Ohio Elementary School on Trackto ‘Achieve Greatness’

8 The Curriculum as the Cause ofFailure

14 Litmus Test for Urban SchoolDistricts

17 Direct Instruction ReducesSpecial Education Referrals inLouisiana School District by Half

19 Miami Elementary School BoostsFCAT Scores with Reading Mastery

20 If the Children Aren’t Learning,We’re Not Teaching: SiegfriedEngelmann

23 Cognition, Logic, and Instruction

28 Reading Mastery Helps FloridaStudents Advance Two GradeLevels in Reading

29 California Blue Ribbon SchoolCloses Achievement Gap withReading Mastery

Direct Instruction News 11

The National Institute for DirectInstruction (NIFDI) recently askedDirect Instruction (DI) researchersand those interested in research tocomplete a brief survey regarding theirexperience and interests surroundingDI. The primary purpose of the surveywas to connect researchers and pro-mote collaboration within the field.Therefore, the survey asked respon-dents questions regarding their back-ground, current research projects,courses and grade levels taught, andthe extent to which they would like tobe involved in building this researchcommunity.

To date, 40 DI enthusiasts haveresponded to the survey, all with vary-ing backgrounds and interests. Themajority of respondents gained experi-ence with Direct Instruction throughresearch; however, many also have

experience teaching at all levels fromelementary to the collegiate level.About one-third of survey respondentshave experience with DI through con-sultation or coaching.

The respondents have a range of inter-ests, from DI at the preschool level tothe high school level, as well as inter-ests in all subject areas including read-ing, math, language, writing, spelling,and science. However, over three-fourths of the respondents agreed onone area of interest in particular: spe-cial education.

Respondents also indicated a variety ofeducational experiences and employ-ment statuses. Many of these fellunder the fields of special educationand educational leadership. Two-thirdssaid they were currently employed bya college or university. However, a

large number also noted that theywere affiliated with or have been affili-ated with a consulting firm or non-profit organization. The DI researchersrepresented many different professionsincluding professors, special educationteachers, literacy coaches, curriculumspecialists, research scientists, andeducational consultants.

Over four-fifths of the respondentsindicated that they were interested incollaborating with others on DIresearch projects. NIFDI is helping tofacilitate communication and collabo-ration through distributing a directoryto those who have indicated interest.Researchers who would like to beincluded in these communications canjoin the list by visiting the NIFDIwebsite at www.nifdi.org/15/researchand following the link on the righthand side of the page. NIFDI willupdate its directory of researchers reg-ularly. Researchers and others inter-ested in research on DI may contactNIFDI’s Department of Evaluationand Research at 877.485.1973 orresearch@nifdi.org.

CAITLIN RASPLICA, Assistant Director of Research, NIFDI

Results of the National Institute for DirectInstruction’s (NIFDI) Researcher Survey

This article presents 10 research-basedprinciples of instruction, along withsuggestions for classroom practice.These principles come from threesources: (a) research in cognitive sci-ence, (b) research on master teachers,and (c) research on cognitive supports.Each is briefly explained below.

A. Research in cognitive science: Thisresearch focuses on how our brainsacquire and use information. Thiscognitive research also provides sug-gestions on how we might overcomethe limitations of our working mem-ory (i.e., the mental “space” inwhich thinking occurs) when learn-ing new material.

B. Research on the classroom practices ofmaster teachers: Master teachers arethose teachers whose classroomsmade the highest gains on achieve-ment tests. In a series of studies, awide range of teachers wereobserved as they taught, and theinvestigators coded how they pre-sented new material, how andwhether they checked for studentunderstanding, the types of supportthey provided to their students,and a number of other instructionalactivities. By also gathering studentachievement data, researchers wereable to identify the ways in whichthe more and less effective teach-ers differed.

C. Research on cognitive supports to helpstudents learn complex tasks: Effectiveinstructional procedures—such asthinking aloud, providing studentswith scaffolds, and providing stu-dents with models—come from thisresearch.

Even though these are three very dif-ferent bodies of research, there is noconflict at all between the instructionalsuggestions that come from each ofthese three sources. In other words,these three sources supplement andcomplement each other. The fact thatthe instructional ideas from three dif-ferent sources supplement and com-plement each other gives us faith inthe validity of these findings.

Principles of Instruction: Research-BasedStrategies That All Teachers Should Know

Reprinted with permission from the Spring 2012issue of American Educator, the quarterly journalof the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.

BARAK ROSENSHINE, Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Education involves helping a novicedevelop strong, readily accessiblebackground knowledge. It’s importantthat background knowledge be readilyaccessible, and this occurs whenknowledge is well rehearsed and tiedto other knowledge. The most effec-tive teachers ensured that their stu-dents efficiently acquired, rehearsed,and connected background knowledgeby providing a good deal of instruc-tional support. They provided thissupport by teaching new material inmanageable amounts, modeling, guid-ing student practice, helping studentswhen they made errors, and providingfor sufficient practice and review.Many of these teachers also went on toexperiential, hands-on activities, butthey always did the experiential activi-ties after, not before, the basic materialwas learned.

The following is a list of some of theinstructional principles that have comefrom these three sources. These ideaswill be described and discussed in thisarticle:

• Begin a lesson with a short reviewof previous learning.1

• Present new material in small stepswith student practice after eachstep.2

• Ask a large number of questions andcheck the responses of all students.3

• Provide models.4

• Guide student practice.5

• Check for student understanding.6

• Obtain a high success rate.7

• Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks.8

• Require and monitor independentpractice.9

• Engage students in weekly and

monthly review. 10

1. Begin a lesson with a shortreview of previous learning:Daily review can strengthen pre-vious learning and can lead tofluent recall.

Research findings

Daily review is an important compo-nent of instruction. Review can help

us strengthen the connections amongthe material we have learned. Thereview of previous learning can helpus recall words, concepts, and proce-dures effortlessly and automaticallywhen we need this material to solveproblems or to understand new mate-rial. The development of expertiserequires thousands of hours of prac-tice, and daily review is one compo-nent of this practice.

For example, daily review was part of asuccessful experiment in elementaryschool mathematics. Teachers in theexperiment were taught to spend eightminutes every day on review. Teachersused this time to check the homework,go over problems where there wereerrors, and practice the concepts and

points on which the students had diffi-culty or made errors. These reviewsensured that the students had a firmgrasp of the skills and concepts thatwould be needed for the day’s lesson.

Effective teachers also reviewed theknowledge and concepts that were rel-evant for that day’s lesson. It is impor-tant for a teacher to help studentsrecall the concepts and vocabulary thatwill be relevant for the day’s lessonbecause our working memory is verylimited. If we do not review previouslearning, then we will have to make aspecial effort to recall old materialwhile learning new material, and thismakes it difficult for us to learn thenew material.

Daily review is particularly importantfor teaching material that will be usedin subsequent learning. Examplesinclude reading sight words (i.e., anyword that is known by a reader auto-matically), grammar, math facts, mathcomputation, math factoring, andchemical equations.

When planning for review, teachersmight want to consider which words,math facts, procedures, and conceptsneed to become automatic, and whichwords, vocabulary, or ideas need to bereviewed before the lesson begins.

In addition, teachers might considerdoing the following during their dailyreview:

• Correct homework.

• Review the concepts and skills thatwere practiced as part of the home-work.

• Ask students about points wherethey had difficulties or made errors.

• Review material where errors weremade.

• Review material that needs over-learning (i.e., newly acquired skillsshould be practiced well beyond thepoint of initial mastery, leading toautomaticity).

2. Present new material in smallsteps with student practice aftereach step: Only present smallamounts of new material at any

12 Fall 2012

skills that needed to become auto-matic. As a result, students in theseclassrooms had higher achievementscores than did students in other class-rooms.

In the classroom

The most effective teachers in thestudies of classroom instruction under-stood the importance of practice, andthey began their lessons with a five- toeight-minute review of previously cov-ered material. Some teachers reviewedvocabulary, formulae, events, or previ-ously learned concepts. These teach-ers provided additional practice onfacts and skills that were needed forrecall to become automatic.

Effective teacher activities alsoincluded reviewing the concepts andskills that were necessary to do thehomework, having students correcteach others’ papers, and asking about

Daily review is animportant component ofinstruction. Review canhelp us strengthen theconnections among the

material we have learned.

Direct Instruction News 13

time, and then assist students asthey practice this material.

Research findings

Our working memory, the placewhere we process information, issmall. It can only handle a few bits ofinformation at once—too much infor-mation swamps our working memory.Presenting too much material at oncemay confuse students because theirworking memory will be unable toprocess it.

Therefore, the more effective teachersdo not overwhelm their students bypresenting too much new material atonce. Rather, these teachers only pres-ent small amounts of new material atany time, and then assist the studentsas they practice this material. Onlyafter the students have mastered thefirst step do teachers proceed to thenext step.

The procedure of first teaching insmall steps and then guiding studentpractice represents an appropriate wayof dealing with the limitation of ourworking memory.

In the classroom

The more successful teachers did notoverwhelm their students by present-ing too much new material at once.Rather, they presented only smallamounts of new material at one time,and they taught in such a way thateach point was mastered before thenext point was introduced. Theychecked their students’ understandingon each point and retaught materialwhen necessary.

Some successful teachers taught bygiving a series of short presentationsusing many examples. The examplesprovided concrete learning and elabo-ration that were useful for processingnew material.

Teaching in small steps requires time,and the more effective teachers spentmore time presenting new materialand guiding student practice than didthe less effective teachers. In a studyof mathematics instruction, forinstance, the most effective mathe-matics teachers spent about 23 min-

utes of a 40-minute period in lecture,demonstration, questioning, and work-ing examples. In contrast, the leasteffective teachers spent only 11 min-utes presenting new material. Themore effective teachers used this extratime to provide additional explana-tions, give many examples, check forstudent understanding, and providesufficient instruction so that the stu-dents could learn to work independ-ently without difficulty. In one study,the least effective teachers asked onlynine questions in a 40-minute period.Compared with the successful teach-ers, the less effective teachers gavemuch shorter presentations and expla-nations, and then passed out work-sheets and told students to solve the

strategy of summarizing a paragraphwas divided into smaller steps, andthere was modeling and practice ateach step.

3. Ask a large number of questionsand check the responses of allstudents: Questions help stu-dents practice new informationand connect new material totheir prior learning.

Research findings

Students need to practice new mate-rial. The teacher’s questions and stu-dent discussion are a major way ofproviding this necessary practice. Themost successful teachers in these stud-ies spent more than half of the classtime lecturing, demonstrating, andasking questions.

Questions allow a teacher to deter-mine how well the material has beenlearned and whether there is a needfor additional instruction. The mosteffective teachers also ask students toexplain the process they used toanswer the question, to explain howthe answer was found. Less successfulteachers ask fewer questions andalmost no process questions.

In the classroom

In one classroom-based experimentalstudy, one group of teachers wastaught to follow the presentation ofnew material with lots of questions.11

They were taught to increase thenumber of factual questions andprocess questions they asked duringthis guided practice. Test resultsshowed that their students achievedhigher scores than did students whoseteachers did not receive the training.

Imaginative teachers have found waysto involve all students in answeringquestions. Examples include having allstudents:

• Tell the answer to a neighbor.

• Summarize the main idea in one ortwo sentences, writing the summaryon a piece of paper and sharing thiswith a neighbor, or repeating theprocedures to a neighbor.

problems. The less successful teacherswere then observed going from stu-dent to student and having to explainthe material again.

Similarly, when students were taught astrategy for summarizing a paragraph,an effective teacher taught the strat-egy using small steps. First, theteacher modeled and thought aloud asshe identified the topic of a paragraph.Then, she led practice on identifyingthe topics of new paragraphs. Then,she taught students to identify themain idea of a paragraph. The teachermodeled this step and then supervisedthe students as they practiced bothfinding the topic and locating the mainidea. Following this, the teacher taughtthe students to identify the support-ing details in a paragraph. The teachermodeled and thought aloud, and thenthe students practiced. Finally, thestudents practiced carrying out allthree steps of this strategy. Thus, the

Questions allow a teacherto determine how well thematerial has been learned

and whether there is aneed for additional

instruction.

• Write the answer on a card and thenhold it up.

• Raise their hands if they know theanswer (thereby allowing theteacher to check the entire class).

• Raise their hands if they agree withthe answer that someone else hasgiven.

Across the classrooms that researchersobserved, the purpose of all these pro-cedures was to provide active partici-pation for the students and also toallow the teacher to see how many stu-dents were correct and confident. Theteacher may then reteach some mate-rial when it was considered necessary.An alternative was for students towrite their answers and then tradepapers with each other.

Other teachers used choral responsesto provide sufficient practice whenteaching new vocabulary or lists ofitems. This made the practice seemmore like a game. To be effective,however, all students needed to starttogether, on a signal. When studentsdid not start together, only the fasterstudents answered.

In addition to asking questions, themore effective teachers facilitatedtheir students’ rehearsal by providingexplanations, giving more examples,and supervising students as they prac-ticed the new material.

The following is a series of stems12 forquestions that teachers might askwhen teaching literature, social sci-ence content, or science content totheir students. Sometimes, studentsmay also develop questions from thesestems to ask questions of each other .

How are ________and________alike?

What is the main idea of ___________?

What are the strengths and weak-nesses of ________________________?

In what way is______related to _____?

Compare________and________withregard to ________________________.

What do you think causes __________?

How does __________tie in with whatwe have learned before?

Which one is the best _____, and why?

What are some possible solutions forthe problem of ___________________?

Do you agree or disagree with thisstatement: ______________________?

What do you still not understandabout __________________________?

4. Provide models: Providing stu-dents with models and workedexamples can help them learn tosolve problems faster.

prompts that the students could use toask themselves questions about a shortpassage. In one class, students weregiven words such as “who,” “where,”“why,” and “how” to help them begina question. Then, everyone read a pas-sage and the teacher modeled how touse these words to ask questions.Many examples were given.

Next, during guided practice, theteacher helped the students practiceasking questions by helping themselect a prompt and develop a ques-tion that began with that prompt. Thestudents practiced this step manytimes with lots of support from theteacher.

Then, the students read new passagesand practiced asking questions ontheir own, with support from theteacher when needed. Finally, studentswere given short passages followed byquestions, and the teacher expressedan opinion about the quality of thestudents’ questions.

This same procedure—providing aprompt, modeling, guiding practice,and supervising independent prac-tice—can be used for many tasks.When teaching students to write anessay, for example, an effective teacherfirst modeled how to write each para-graph, then the students and teacherworked together on two or more newessays, and finally students worked ontheir own with supervision from theteacher.

Worked examples are another form ofmodeling that has been used to helpstudents learn how to solve problemsin mathematics and science. A workedexample is a step-by-step demonstra-tion of how to perform a task or how tosolve a problem. The presentation ofworked examples begins with theteacher modeling and explaining thesteps that can be taken to solve a spe-cific problem. The teacher also identi-fies and explains the underlyingprinciples for these steps.

Usually, students are then given aseries of problems to complete at theirdesks as independent practice. But inresearch carried out in Australia, stu-dents were given a mixture of prob-

14 Fall 2012

Research findings

Students need cognitive support tohelp them learn to solve problems.The teachers modeling and thinkingaloud while demonstrating how tosolve a problem are examples of effec-tive cognitive support. Worked exam-ples (such as a math problem forwhich the teacher not only has pro-vided the solution but has clearly laidout each step) are another form ofmodeling that has been developed byresearchers. Worked examples allowstudents to focus on the specific stepsto solve problems and thus reduce thecognitive load on their working mem-ory. Modeling and worked exampleshave been used successfully in mathe-matics, science, writing, and readingcomprehension.

In the classroom

Many of the skills that are taught inclassrooms can be conveyed by provid-ing prompts, modeling use of theprompt, and then guiding students asthey develop independence. Whenteaching reading comprehensionstrategies, for example, effectiveteachers provided students with

Students need cognitivesupport to help them

learn to solve problems.

Direct Instruction News 15

lems to solve and worked examples.So, during independent practice, stu-dents first studied a worked example,then they solved a problem; then theystudied another worked example andsolved another problem. In this way,the worked examples showed studentshow to focus on the essential parts ofthe problems. Of course, not all stu-dents studied the worked examples.To correct this problem, the Australianresearchers also presented partiallycompleted problems in which studentshad to complete the missing steps andthus pay more attention to the workedexample.

5. Guide student practice: Success-ful teachers spend more timeguiding students’ practice of newmaterial.

Research findings

It is not enough simply to present stu-dents with new material, because thematerial will be forgotten unless thereis sufficient rehearsal. An importantfinding from information-processingresearch is that students need tospend additional time rephrasing, elab-orating, and summarizing new materialin order to store this material in theirlong-term memory. When there hasbeen sufficient rehearsal, the studentsare able to retrieve this material easilyand thus are able to make use of thismaterial to foster new learning and aidin problem solving. But when therehearsal time is too short, studentsare less able to store, remember, or usethe material. As we know, it is rela-tively easy to place something in a fil-ing cabinet, but it can be very difficultto recall where exactly we filed it.Rehearsal helps us remember wherewe filed it so we can access it withease when needed.

A teacher can facilitate this rehearsalprocess by asking questions; goodquestions require students to processand rehearse the material. Rehearsal isalso enhanced when students areasked to summarize the main points,and when they are supervised as theypractice new steps in a skill. The qual-ity of storage in long-term memory willbe weak if students only skim thematerial and do not engage in it. It is

also important that all studentsprocess the new material and receivefeedback, so they do not inadvertentlystore partial information or a miscon-ception in long-term memory.

In the classroom

In one study, the more successfulteachers of mathematics spent moretime presenting new material andguiding practice. The more successfulteachers used this extra time to pro-vide additional explanations, givemany examples, check for studentunderstanding, and provide sufficientinstruction so that the students couldlearn to work independently without

teachers spent more time in guidedpractice, more time asking questions,more time checking for understanding,more time correcting errors, and moretime having students work out prob-lems with teacher guidance.

Teachers who spent more time inguided practice and had higher successrates also had students who were moreengaged during individual work attheir desks. This finding suggests thatwhen teachers provided sufficientinstruction during guided practice, thestudents were better prepared for theindependent practice (e.g., seatworkand homework activities), but whenthe guided practice was too short, thestudents were not prepared for theseatwork and made more errors duringindependent practice.

6. Check for student understand-ing: Checking for student under-standing at each point can helpstudents learn the material withfewer errors.

Research findings

The more effective teachers fre-quently checked to see if all the stu-dents were learning the new material.These checks provided some of theprocessing needed to move new learn-ing into long term memory. Thesechecks also let teachers know if stu-dents were developing misconcep-tions.

In the classroom

Effective teachers also stopped tocheck for student understanding.They checked for understanding byasking questions, by asking studentsto summarize the presentation up tothat point or to repeat directions orprocedures, or by asking studentswhether they agreed or disagreed withother students’ answers. This check-ing has two purposes: (a) answeringthe questions might cause the stu-dents to elaborate on the materialthey have learned and augment con-nections to other learning in theirlong-term memory, and (b) alertingthe teacher to when parts of thematerial need to be retaught.

difficulty. In contrast, the less success-ful teachers gave much shorter presen-tations and explanations, and thenthey passed out worksheets and toldstudents to work on the problems.Under these conditions, the studentsmade too many errors and had to beretaught the lesson.

The most successful teachers pre-sented only small amounts of materialat a time. After this short presentation,these teachers then guided studentpractice. This guidance often con-sisted of the teacher working the firstproblems at the blackboard andexplaining the reason for each step,which served as a model for the stu-dents. The guidance also included ask-ing students to come to theblackboard to work out problems anddiscuss their procedures. Through thisprocess, the students seated in theclassroom saw additional models.

Although most teachers provided someguided practice, the most successful

It is not enough simply topresent students with new

material, because thematerial will be forgottenunless there is sufficient

rehearsal.

16 Fall 2012

In contrast, the less effective teacherssimply asked, “Are there any ques-tions?” and, if there were no ques-tions, they assumed the students hadlearned the material and proceeded topass out worksheets for students tocomplete on their own.

Another way to check for understand-ing is to ask students to think aloud asthey work to solve mathematical prob-lems, plan an essay, or identify themain idea in a paragraph. Yet anothercheck is to ask students to explain ordefend their position to others. Havingto explain a position may help stu-dents integrate and elaborate theirknowledge in new ways, or may helpidentify gaps in their understanding.

Another reason for the importance ofteaching in small steps, guiding prac-tice, and checking for understanding(as well as obtaining a high successrate, which we’ll explore in principle7) comes from the fact that we allconstruct and reconstruct knowledgeas we learn and use what we havelearned. We cannot simply repeatwhat we hear word for word. Rather,we connect our understanding of thenew information to our existing con-cepts or “schema,” and we then con-struct a mental summary (i.e., the gistof what we have heard). However,when left on their own, many stu-dents make errors in the process ofconstructing this mental summary.These errors occur, particularly, whenthe information is new and the stu-dent does not have adequate or well-formed background knowledge. Theseconstructions are not errors so muchas attempts by the students to be log-ical in an area where their backgroundknowledge is weak. These errors areso common that there is a research lit-erature on the development and cor-rection of student misconceptions inscience. Providing guided practiceafter teaching small amounts of newmaterial, and checking for studentunderstanding, can help limit thedevelopment of misconceptions.

7. Obtain a high success rate: It isimportant for students to achievea high success rate during class-room instruction.

Research findings

In two of the major studies on theimpact of teachers, the investigatorsfound that students in classrooms withmore effective teachers had a highersuccess rate, as judged by the qualityof their oral responses during guidedpractice and their individual work. In astudy of fourth-grade mathematics, itwas found that 82 percent of students’answers were correct in the classroomsof the most successful teachers, butthe least successful teachers had a suc-cess rate of only 73 percent. A highsuccess rate during guided practicealso leads to a higher success ratewhen students are working on prob-lems on their own.

The research also suggests that theoptimal success rate for fostering stu-dent achievement appears to be about80 percent. A success rate of 80 per-cent shows that students are learningthe material, and it also shows that thestudents are challenged.

In the classroom

The most effective teachers obtainedthis success level by teaching in smallsteps (i.e., by combining short presen-tations with supervised student prac-tice), and by giving sufficient practiceon each part before proceeding to thenext step. These teachers frequentlychecked for understanding andrequired responses from all students.

It is important that students achieve ahigh success rate during instructionand on their practice activities. Prac-tice, we are told, makes perfect, butpractice can be a disaster if studentsare practicing errors! If the practicedoes not have a high success level,there is a chance that students arepracticing and learning errors. Onceerrors have been learned, they are verydifficult to overcome.

As discussed in the previous section,when we learn new material, we con-struct a gist of this material in ourlong-term memory. However, manystudents make errors in the process ofconstructing this mental summary.These errors can occur when theinformation is new and the student

17 Principles ofEffective InstructionThe following list of 17 principlesemerges from the research dis-cussed in the main article. Itoverlaps with and offers slightlymore detail than the 10 principlesused to organize that article.

• Begin a lesson with a shortreview of previous learning.

• Present new material in smallsteps with student practiceafter each step.

• Limit the amount of materialstudents receive at one time.

• Give clear and detailed instruc-tions and explanations.

• Ask a large number of ques-tions and check for under-standing.

• Provide a high level of activepractice for all students.

• Guide students as they beginto practice.

• Think aloud and model steps.

• Provide models of worked-outproblems.

• Ask students to explain whatthey have learned.

• Check the responses of all stu-dents.

• Provide systematic feedbackand corrections.

• Use more time to provideexplanations.

• Provide many examples.

• Reteach material when neces-sary.

• Prepare students for independ-ent practice.

• Monitor students when theybegin independent practice.

-Barak Rosenshine

Direct Instruction News 17

gradually withdrawn as learnersbecome more competent, althoughstudents may continue to rely on scaf-folds when they encounter particularlydifficult problems. Providing scaffoldsis a form of guided practice.

Scaffolds include modeling the stepsby the teacher, or thinking aloud bythe teacher as he or she solves theproblem. Scaffolds also may be tools,such as cue cards or checklists, thatcomplete part of the task for the stu-dents, or a model of the completedtask against which students can com-pare their own work.

Skim the article to find four to sixmain ideas.

Write each main idea in a box belowthe central box.

Find and write two to four importantdetails to list under each main idea.

Another form of scaffolding is thinkingaloud by the teacher. For example,teachers might think aloud as they tryto summarize a paragraph. Theywould show the thought processesthey go through as they determine thetopic of the paragraph and then usethe topic to generate a summary sen-tence. Teachers might think aloudwhile solving a scientific equation orwriting an essay, and at the same timeprovide labels for their mentalprocesses. Such thinking aloud pro-vides novice learners with a way toobserve “expert thinking” that is usu-ally hidden from the student. Teach-ers also can study their students’thought processes by asking them tothink aloud during problem solving.

One characteristic of effective teachersis their ability to anticipate students’errors and warn them about possibleerrors some of them are likely to make.For example, a teacher might have stu-dents read a passage and then givethem a poorly written topic sentenceto correct. In teaching division or sub-traction, the teacher may show anddiscuss with students the mistakesother students have frequently made.

In some of the studies, students weregiven a checklist to evaluate theirwork. Checklist items included “HaveI found the most important informa-tion that tells me more about the mainidea?” and “Does every sentence startwith a capital letter?” The teacherthen modeled use of the checklist.

In some studies, students were pro-vided with expert models with whichthey could compare their work. Forexample, when students were taughtto generate questions, they could com-pare their questions with those gener-ated by the teacher. Similarly, whenlearning to write summaries, studentscould compare their summaries on a

did not have adequate or well-formedbackground knowledge. These con-structions are not errors so much asattempts by the students to be logicalin an area where their backgroundknowledge is weak. But students aremore likely to develop misconcep-tions if too much material is pre-sented at once, and if teachers do notcheck for student understanding. Pro-viding guided practice after teachingsmall amounts of new material, andchecking for student understanding,can help limit the development ofmisconceptions.

I once observed a class where aneffective teacher was going from deskto desk during independent practiceand suddenly realized that the stu-dents were having difficulty. Shestopped the work, told the studentsnot to do the problems for homework,and said she would reteach this mate-rial the next day. She stopped thework because she did not want thestudents to practice errors.

Unless all students have mastered thefirst set of lessons, there is a dangerthat the slower students will fall fur-ther behind when the next set of les-sons is taught. So there is a need for ahigh success rate for all students.“Mastery learning” is a form of instruc-tion where lessons are organized intoshort units and all students arerequired to master one set of lessonsbefore they proceed to the next set. Inmastery learning, tutoring by otherstudents or by teachers is provided tohelp students master each unit. Varia-tions of this approach, particularly thetutoring, might be useful in manyclassroom settings.

8. Provide scaffolds for difficulttasks: The teacher provides stu-dents with temporary supportsand scaffolds to assist themwhen they learn difficult tasks.

Research findings

Investigators have successfully pro-vided students with scaffolds, orinstructional supports, to help themlearn difficult tasks. A scaffold is atemporary support that is used toassist a learner. These scaffolds are

The process of helping students solvedifficult problems by modeling andproviding scaffolds has been called“cognitive apprenticeship.” Studentslearn strategies and content duringthis apprenticeship that enable themto become competent readers, writers,and problem solvers. They are aidedby a master who models, coaches, pro-vides supports, and scaffolds them asthey become independent.

In the classroom

One form of scaffolding is to give stu-dents prompts for steps they mightuse. Prompts such as “who,” “why,”and “how” have helped students learnto ask questions while they read.Teaching students to ask questions hasbeen shown to help students’ readingcomprehension.

Similarly, one researcher developed thefollowing prompt to help studentsorganize material.13

Draw a central box and write the titleof the article in it.

One characteristic ofeffective teachers is their

ability to anticipatestudents’ errors and warn

them about possibleerrors some of them are

likely to make.

18 Fall 2012

tice (overlearning) is needed in orderto become fluent and automatic in askill. When material is overlearned, itcan be recalled automatically and does-n’t take up any space in working mem-ory. When students become automaticin an area, they can then devote moreof their attention to comprehensionand application.

Independent practice provides stu-dents with the additional review andelaboration they need to become flu-ent. This need for fluency applies tofacts, concepts, and discriminationsthat must be used in subsequentlearning. Fluency is also needed inoperations, such as dividing decimals,conjugating a regular verb in a foreignlanguage, or completing and balancinga chemical equation.

In the classroom

The more successful teachers providedfor extensive and successful practice,both in the classroom and after class.Independent practice should involvethe same material as the guided prac-tice. If guided practice deals withidentifying types of sentences, forexample, then independent practiceshould deal with the same topic or,perhaps, with a slight variation, likecreating individual compound andcomplex sentences. It would be inap-propriate if the independent practiceasked the students to do an activitysuch as “Write a paragraph using twocompound and two complex sen-tences,” however, because the stu-dents have not been adequatelyprepared for such an activity.

Students need to be fully prepared fortheir independent practice. Some-times, it may be appropriate for ateacher to practice some of the seat-work problems with the entire classbefore students begin independentpractice.

Research has found that students weremore engaged when their teacher cir-culated around the room, and moni-tored and supervised their seatwork.The optimal time for these contactswas 30 seconds or less. Classroomswhere the teachers had to stop at stu-dents’ desks and provide a great deal

of explanation during seatwork werethe classrooms where students weremaking errors. These errors occurredbecause the guided practice was notsufficient for students to engage pro-ductively in independent practice.This reiterates the importance of ade-quately preparing students before theybegin their independent practice.

Some investigators14 have developedprocedures, such as cooperative learn-ing, during which students help eachother as they study. Research hasshown that all students tend toachieve more in these settings than dostudents in regular settings. Presum-ably, some of the advantage comesfrom having to explain the material tosomeone else and/or having someoneelse (other than the teacher) explainthe material to the student. Coopera-tive learning offers an opportunity forstudents to get feedback from theirpeers about correct as well as incorrectresponses, which promotes bothengagement and learning. These coop-erative/ competitive settings are alsovaluable for helping slower students ina class by providing extra instructionfor them.

10. Engage students in weekly andmonthly review: Students needto be involved in extensivepractice in order to developwell-connected and automaticknowledge.

Research findings

Students need extensive and broadreading, and extensive practice inorder to develop well-connected net-works of ideas (schemas) in their long-term memory. When one’s knowledgeon a particular topic is large and wellconnected, it is easier to learn newinformation and prior knowledge ismore readily available for use. Themore one rehearses and reviews infor-mation, the stronger these intercon-nections become. It is also easier tosolve new problems when one has arich, well-connected body of knowl-edge and strong ties among the con-nections. One of the goals of educationis to help students develop extensiveand available background knowledge.

passage with those generated by anexpert.

9. Require and monitor independ-ent practice: Students needextensive, successful, independ-ent practice in order for skillsand knowledge to become auto-matic.

Research findings

In a typical teacher-led classroom,guided practice is followed by inde-pendent practice—by students work-ing alone and practicing the newmaterial. This independent practice isnecessary because a good deal of prac-

Teaching NeedyKids in OurBackward SystemThe Association for DirectInstruction is proud to publishSiegfried “Zig” Engelmann’snewest book, Teaching Needy Kids inOur Backward System. This bookchronicles Zig’s history ineducation. More than just amemoir, the book details how oureducational system has failed toembrace solutions to problemsthe establishment claims it wantsto solve. You will find this afascinating read as well asshockingly revealing.

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Direct Instruction News 19

Knowledge (even very extensiveknowledge) stored in long-term mem-ory that is organized into patterns onlyoccupies a tiny amount of space in ourlimited working memory. So havinglarger and better-connected patternsof knowledge frees up space in ourworking memory. This available spacecan be used for reflecting on newinformation and for problem solving.The development of well-connectedpatterns (also called “unitization” and“chunking”) and the freeing of spacein the working memory is one of thehallmarks of an expert in a field.

Thus, research on cognitive processingsupports the need for a teacher toassist students by providing for exten-sive reading of a variety of materials,frequent review, and discussion andapplication activities. The research oncognitive processing suggests thatthese classroom activities help stu-dents increase the number of pieces ofinformation in their long-term memoryand organize this information into pat-terns and chunks.

The more one rehearses and reviewsinformation, the stronger the inter-connections between the materialsbecome. Review also helps studentsdevelop their new knowledge intopatterns, and it helps them acquirethe ability to recall past learningautomatically.

The best way to become an expert isthrough practice—thousands of hoursof practice. The more the practice, thebetter the performance.

In the classroom

Many successful programs, especiallyin the elementary grades, provided forextensive review. One way of achiev-ing this goal is to review the previousweek’s work every Monday and theprevious month’s work every fourthMonday. Some effective teachers alsogave tests after their reviews.Research has found that even at thesecondary level, classes that hadweekly quizzes scored better on finalexams than did classes with only oneor two quizzes during the term. Thesereviews and tests provided the addi-tional practice students needed to

become skilled, successful performerswho could apply their knowledge andskills in new areas.

Teachers face a difficult problem whenthey need to cover a lot of materialand don’t feel they have the time forsufficient review. But the researchstates (and we all know from personalexperience) that material that is notadequately practiced and reviewed iseasily forgotten.

ing in Reading,” Cognitive Psychology 6, no.2 (1974): 293–323.

2. Suggested readings: Carolyn M. Evertson,Charles W. Anderson, Linda M. Anderson,and Jere E. Brophy, “Relationshipsbetween Classroom Behaviors and Stu-dent Outcomes in Junior High Mathemat-ics and English Classes,” AmericanEducational Research Journal 17, no. 1(1980): 43–60; and Thomas L. Good andJere E. Brophy, Educational Psychology: ARealistic Approach, 4th ed. (New York:Longman, 1990).

3. Suggested readings: Thomas L. Good andDouglas A. Grouws, “The Missouri Math-ematics Effectiveness Project,” Journal ofEducational Psychology 71, no. 3 (1979):355–362; and Alison King, “GuidingKnowledge Construction in the Class-room: Effects of Teaching Children Howto Question and How to Explain,” Ameri-can Educational Research Journal 31, no. 2(1994): 338–368.

4. Suggested readings: John Sweller, “CognitiveLoad Theory, Learning Difficulty, andInstructional Design,” Learning and Instruc-tion 4, no. 4 (1994): 295–312; BarakRosenshine, Carla Meister, and Saul Chap-man, “Teaching Students to GenerateQuestions: A Review of the InterventionStudies,” Review of Educational Research 66,no. 2 (1996): 181–221; and Alan H.Schoenfeld, Mathematical Problem Solving(New York: Academic Press, 1985).

5. Suggested readings: Evertson et al., “Rela-tionships between Classroom Behaviorsand Student Outcomes”; and Paul A.Kirschner, John Sweller, and Richard E.Clark, “Why Minimal Guidance duringInstruction Does Not Work: An Analysis ofthe Failure of Constructivist, Discovery,Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching,” Educational Psychologist41, no. 2 (2006): 75–86.

6. Suggested readings: Douglas Fisher andNancy Frey, Checking for Understanding:Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Class-room (Alexandria, VA: Association forSupervision and Curriculum Develop-ment, 2007); and Michael J. Dunkin,“Student Characteristics, ClassroomProcesses, and Student Achievement,”Journal of Educational Psychology 70, no. 6(1978): 998–1009.

7. Suggested readings: Lorin W. Anderson andRobert B. Burns, “Values, Evidence, andMastery Learning,” Review of EducationalResearch 57, no. 2 (1987): 215–223; andNorman Frederiksen, “Implications ofCognitive Theory for Instruction in Prob-lem Solving,” Review of Educational Research54, no. 3 (1984): 363–407.

8. Suggested readings: Michael Pressley andVera Woloshyn, Cognitive Strategy Instruction

The 10 principles in this article comefrom three different sources: researchon how the mind acquires and usesinformation, the instructional proce-dures that are used by the most suc-cessful teachers, and the proceduresinvented by researchers to help stu-dents learn difficult tasks. The researchfrom each of these three sources hasimplications for classroom instruction,and these implications are described ineach of these 10 principles.

Even though these principles comefrom three different sources, theinstructional procedures that are takenfrom one source do not conflict withthe instructional procedures that aretaken from another source. Instead, theideas from each of the sources overlapand add to each other. This overlapgives us faith that we are developing avalid and research-based understandingof the art of teaching.

Endnotes1. Suggested readings: George A. Miller, “The

Magical Number Seven, Plus or MinusTwo: Some Limits on Our Capacity forProcessing Information,” PsychologicalReview 63, no. 2 (1956): 81–97; and DavidLaBerge and S. Jay Samuels, “Toward aTheory of Automatic Information Process-

Review also helps studentsdevelop their new

knowledge into patterns,and it helps them acquirethe ability to recall pastlearning automatically.

that Really Improves Children’s Academic Per-formance, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Brook-line Books, 1995); and Barak Rosenshineand Carla Meister, “The Use of Scaffoldsfor Teaching Higher-Level CognitiveStrategies,” Educational Leadership 49, no. 7(April 1992): 26–33.

9. Suggested readings: Barak Rosenshine, “TheEmpirical Support for Direct Instruction,”in Constructivist Instruction: Success or Fail-ure? ed. Sigmund Tobias and Thomas M.Duffy (New York: Routledge, 2009),201–220; and Robert E. Slavin, Education

for All (Exton, PA: Swets and Zeitlinger,1996).

10.Suggested readings: Good and Grouws, “TheMissouri Mathematics Effectiveness Proj-ect”; and James A. Kulik and Chen-Lin C.Kulik, “College Teaching,” in Research onTeaching: Concepts, Findings, and Implications,ed. Penelope L. Peterson and Herbert J.Walberg (Berkeley, CA: McCutchan,1979).

11.Good and Grouws, “The Missouri Mathe-matics Effectiveness Project.”

12.These stems were developed by King,

“Guiding Knowledge Construction in theClassroom.”

13. Sandra J. Berkowitz, “Effects of Instruc-tion in Text Organization on Sixth-GradeStudents’ Memory for Expository Read-ing,” Reading Research Quarterly 21, no. 2(1986): 161–178. For additional strategiesto help students organize material, seeWisconsin Department of Public Instruc-tion, Strategic Learning in the Content Areas(Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department ofPublic Instruction, 2005).

14. Slavin, Education for All.

20 Fall 2012

Anyone familiar with Direct Instruc-tion (DI) usually knows Zig. For read-ers of DI News, you most likely knowimmediately to whom I am referringwhen I say “Zig” – Siegfried “Zig”Engelmann – and you know he is thecreator of DI and the senior author ofDI programs. You may even know atleast some of the history of bringing

DI to life and, if you’re lucky, to aschool near you! But, alas, not every-one knows Zig’s story from advertisingexecutive to educational genius.

At 80 years old, Zig still writes awayeach day, like clockwork, in a modestoffice tucked away in the basement ofan old building in the middle ofEugene, Oregon. With sincere focus on

writing curriculum designed to provideall children an opportunity to learnand be successful, Zig works relent-lessly to produce tools to help teachersand administrators ensure that all chil-dren learn.

Jon Palfreman and crew with the Pal-freman Film Group captured Zig’sstory of trials and tribulations in bring-ing DI to life in a video biographyreleased earlier this summer. Check itout for yourself. It’s a treasure withmany surprises in store for you. See itnow at www.zigsite.com.

CHRISTINA COX, Public Relations and Marketing Manager, National Institute for Direct Instruction

Zig Engelmann: More than a Teacher’s Guide

Every effort to improve the outcomesof public education has been a flop.Consider the achievement gap. It’sbeen an achievement chasm for 30years, and it’s growing wider. Yet insome places, schools with a high pro-portion of minority and poor kids havethe highest achievement scores. Howcome? There are several reasons—none pretty.

First, persons and groups that tout one oranother “reform” appear not to see intercon-nections among the elements of the educationenterprise. When you stand back from

all the “reforms,” it’s tempting to seethem as a comic endeavor.

“Let’s hold (teachers, schools,districts) accountable for stu-dent outcomes. It’s not clearhow making teachers feel morevulnerable will produce higherstudent achievement. But whosaid we were rational?”

“Let’s revise the state curricu-lum every couple of years.We’ll throw in so many new stan-dards that teachers will spend all

year on phonemic awarenessalone.”

“What’s the first sound in dumb?What’s the middle sound innuts? What’s the last sound infail?”

“How’s this? We’ll give kidsend of grade and end ofcourse tests. The tests won’thave much to do with the cur-riculum materials that teachersuse. This violates the core prin-ciple of validity (‘Tests shouldmeasure what they are supposedto measure’), but we don’t knowwhat validity means! The idea oftesting is just SO compelling.Then, when teachers teach ‘tothe test,’ we’ll get on their casefor that, too.

MARTIN KOZLOFF, University of North Carolina

The Road to Teaching Proficiency

Direct Instruction News 21

“Sure, schools could use curricu-lum-based mastery tests throughoutthe year and at the end. Thesetests would have face validityAND they would say exactlywhat the students learned anddidn’t learn. But can we reallytrust teachers to make valid mas-tery tests?”

“Here’s a hot idea. We’ll haveschools infuse their curriculawith globalism. It’ll be ‘globalcitizenship,’ ‘global understand-ing,’ ‘global economy,’ and‘global awareness’ 24/7. Ofcourse, we’ll pay no attention tothe pathological patriarchies thatsystematically exploit and vic-timize and children, the geno-cides that have been going onfor decades, nuclear weapons inthe hands of madmen, or thekleptocracies that sustain con-trol via torture and murder. Afterall, who are we to judge? Wewouldn’t want to offend. And weneed the oil. So what if kidscan’t read or think, as long asthey believe the world will befine if they sing ‘Kumbaya’?”

“Teacher assessment! That’sthe ticket. Our inventories ofproficiencies will include almostnothing of what teachers needto KNOW in order to design anddeliver effective instruction. Thedefinitions of ‘proficiencies’ willbe subjective, vague, conflated,and grandiose. Measurement willbe via pseudo-ordinal scales thatdon’t represent actual levels ofanything. Measure will not be ofactivities (e.g., how teachers planlessons or evaluate and improvematerial) but on minutia thatdon’t add up to any whole. Andof course, teachers will be sub-ject to aversive consequencesdepending on our subjectivejudgments.”

Second, the field of education has no sharedstock of knowledge from which one canderive well-designed curricula, curricu-lum materials, instructional methods,teacher preparation, and in-service

training. Instead, the field of educa-tion has

1. A shared stock of empirically-empty jar-gon—“best practices,” “holistic,”“authentic,” “empowerment,”“democratic,” “research-based”—that is used to promote and justifywhatever the advocates of one oranother “pedagogy” or “practice”dream up.

2. Endless “innovative methods” based onlevel 1 research—small samples,unvalidated measurement, no relia-bility checks, no comparison groups,no replication. Are teachers sup-posed to read all this and synthesizeit into effective curricula andinstruction?

3. A split between groups that advocate withequal passion (1) systematic, explicit,focused (direct) instruction, vs. (2)inquiry, discovery (constructivist)instruction. The two could be inte-grated in 15 minutes if it wereunderstood that:

a. All learning is done throughinductive reasoning, and allapplication of knowledge is donethrough deductive reasoning.

b. The best way to design teacher-student and student-studentcommunication and instructionalmaterials (example, projects)

depends NOT on anyone’s phi-losophy, but on (1) the nature ofthe knowledge system taught(e.g., beginning reading vs.poetry), (2) the phase of instruc-tion (acquisition of knowledgevs. independent or group appli-cation of knowledge), and (3)student characteristics—howmuch background knowledgestudents have, how many exam-ples students need to induce (orconstruct) the right generaliza-tion, how much practice stu-dents need for fluency andretention, how small the steps(e.g., in a math routine) must befor students to “get it.”

I don’t expect that representatives ofall components of public education(departments of public instruction,curriculum organizations, schools ofeducation, curriculum designers, certi-fying organizations, and consumergroups) will get together with thegood of the whole in mind. Nor do Ithink that leaders of “instructivism”and “constructivism” will get togetherand integrate their principles andmethods. After all, the main lessons ofhistory are that human nature doesn’tchange; human beings are fatheads; everyoneis certain that the other guys are the fatheads;human beings use their big brains to developpreposterous, idiotic, delusional and phan-tasmagorical visions for which they are ever

Rubric for IdentifyingAuthentic DirectInstruction ProgramsSiegfried Engelmann & Geoff ColvinThe purpose of this document is to articulateand illustrate most of the major principles oraxioms that are followed in the developmentof Direct Instruction programs.

Direct Instruction programs have an impressivetrack record for producing significant gains instudent achievement for all children. This bookprovides the reader with an understanding of thecritical details involved in developing these effectiveand efficient programs. — Doug Carnine, Ph.D.,Professor, University of Oregon To order, see page 32.

Cost: $15.00 list$12.00 member price

ready to defend to the death—often someoneelse’s.

This paper is not an effort to solve anyproblems or to provide a vision of com-prehensive school reform. It’s simplymy effort to bring together the best ofwhat I’ve learned from persons a wholelot smarter than I am. Maybe it will beof use to someone.

It seems wise to start at the end. Whatdo proficient teachers do? And thenuse knowledge analysis of thoseactivities to develop a logical progres-sion by which teachers become profi-cient at those activities.

What Do ProficientTeachers Do? FourActivitiesThese four activities are about 90 per-cent of teaching. [See Part III at theend.]

1. Planning instruction and teachingdaily lessons from textbooks andsupplementary materials (such asinternet documents) to use in theircurriculum.

2. Evaluating, improving, and teachingfrom programmed curriculum mate-rials, which (in contrast to text-books) are a set of pre-writtenlessons in, for instance, beginningreading, arithmetic, and spelling.

3. Planning, teaching, and evaluating asemester or a year-long curriculumfor (a) a grade level (such as grade4) in elementary school, or (b) asubject (such as algebra or history)in middle or high school.

4. Planning and running the class as asocial group.

As I see it, becoming a skilled teacher(at the four activities) involves inte-grating knowledge elements into largerwholes. What knowledge?

Part I. How Human BeingsConstruct and OrganizeKnowledge.Teachers don’t simply pass on knowl-edge to students—as if teachers were

like pipelines connecting textbooks tostudents’ brains. No, it’s much morethan that. Teachers help students toUSE textbooks, demonstrations, lec-tures, lesson-based programs, originaldocuments, discussions, the internet,and their own inquiry to develop aconception of reality—what’s outthere, what’s going on, how things areconnected, how things change—sothat students can participate compe-tently in society, make rational deci-sions, and pass on the best of theirculture to the next generation. Whenteachers design a curriculum (whatto teach and the sequence in whichthey will teach new knowledge) andinstruction (how they will communi-cate with students), teachers are beingapplied philosophers. They are usingprinciples of logic to make it easy forstudents to “get” and apply knowl-edge. The first part of the route toproficiency is knowledge and howhumans get it and use it.

Part II. Using Principles ofKnowledge [from Part I] andMore Ideas to DesignCurriculum [What to Teach]and Instruction [How to Teach]Part I shows the logical routines thathumans use to construct knowledge(inductive reasoning) and to apply,test, and revise knowledge (deductivereasoning). It makes sense to designcurriculum and instruction so that it’seasy for students’ “learning mecha-nism” (Engelmann, S. and Carnine, D.1991. Theory of Instruction. ADI Press.)to perform the logical routines ofinductive and deductive reasoning—inthe same way that it makes sense todesign a physical fitness program thatis consistent with how the body movesand develops. Otherwise—in the caseof education, physical fitness, and anyother activity—you will produceinjuries, errors, and confusion.

Part III. Destination:Proficiency at Four MainTeaching Activities. A rational teacher preparation programwould systematically help candidatesto integrate knowledge identified inParts I and II into the four activitiesthat are most of what teachers do.

22 Fall 2012

Everyone likesgetting mail…ADI maintains a listservdiscussion group called DI. Thisfree service allows you to send amessage out to all subscribers tothe list just by sending onemessage. By subscribing to the DIlist, you will be able to participatein discussions of topics of interestto DI users around the world.There are currently 500+subscribers. You will automaticallyreceive in your email box allmessages that are sent to the list.This is a great place to ask fortechnical assistance, opinions oncurricula, and hear about successesand pitfalls related to DI.

To subscribe to the list, sendthe following message fromyour email account:

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The list is retro-moderated,which means that some messagesmay not be posted if they areinappropriate. For the most partinappropriate messages are onesthat contain offensive language orare off-topic solicitations.

Direct Instruction News 23

Part 1

How

Hum

an B

eings

Con

struc

t and

Org

aniz

e Kno

wled

ge

→→

→→

→→

→1.

What is Reality,

or Nature? It is

indepen-dent of

what or how we

think of it.

2.Knowledge is a

representation of

Reality, or

Nature, con-

structed by

human beings.

3.How do humans

construct knowl-

edge—a repre-

sentation of

reality?

Hum

ans use:

a.Inductive reason-

ing to acquire

new knowledge.

b.Deductive rea-

soning to apply,

test, and revise

knowledge.

4.There are only

five kinds of

knowledge in our

representation of

reality.

a.We know that a

thing exists.

b.We know the fea-

tures of things.

[Fact knowledge]

c.We invent classes

or categories of

things that have

common fea-

tures. [Concept

knowledge]

d.We discover how

classes of things

are related to

each other. [Rule

or proposition

knowledge]

e. We know that

performing a

sequence of

steps has an out-

come. [Routine

or strategy

knowledge]

There is an effec-

tive procedure for

teaching each kind

of knowledge.

5.Hum

ans con-

struct, save,

store, and com

-municate knowl-

edge (our

representation of

reality) with lan-

guage and other

forms of com

mu-

nication, such as

music, dance,

painting, and

sculpture.

6.Hum

ans organize

knowledge into

knowledge sys-

tems, such as

math, science,

history, religion,

econom

ics, liter-

ature, farming,

building, medi-

cine, law, educa-

tion, m

any

others.

7.Some ways of

acquiring (con-

structing) and

applying knowl-

edge are logical,

and lead to valid

beliefs (sound

reasoning).

Other ways of

acquiring (con-

structing) and

applying knowledge

are illogical, and

lead to invalid and

false beliefs (falla-

cious reasoning).

Teachers need to

know this and teach

it to their students.

24 Fall 2012

Part 2Using Principles Of Knowledge [Part I] and More Ideas To Design Curriculum

[What To Teach] and Instruction [How To Teach]

→ →Principles of Well-designed Curriculum1. What is a curriculum? What is taught and the

sequence in which it is taught.

2. Some curricula teach tool skills (reading, math, lan-guage, and reasoning). Other curricula teach contentor subject matter knowledge systems (literature, his-tory).

3. Develop a curriculum by considering:

a. Scientific research, experts in the subject, and yourown knowledge.

b. Curriculum strands main kinds of knowledge to betaught; e.g., in literature, poems, plays, religiouswriting, and fiction of different periods.

d. The sample of knowledge to be taught in eachstrand.

e. Curriculum standards, goals, or objectives—and theknowledge students need to achieve the objec-tives—for (1) the whole curriculum, (2) units(sequences of lessons) in the curriculum, (3) les-sons, and (4) short tasks in each lesson.

f. Use knowledge analysis to identify all the elemen-tary (component) skills in a complex skill.

e. Teach in a logically progressive sequence in which:

(1) Component skills or elements (pre-skills) aretaught before teaching complex skills thatUSE these elements.

(2) Big ideas (e.g., theory of revolution) are taughtfirst and future instruction shows the big ideain, for instance, a sequence of historicalevents. (deductive sequence).

(3) Students are taught the routines of inductivereasoning (inquiry, knowledge construction).Then student are taught or find facts. Thenstudents apply inductive reasoning to the factsand draw conclusions. (inductive sequence)

Principles of Well-designed Instruction1. When and how to use (1) explicit, systematic,

focused, teacher-directed instruction; and (2) dis-cussion, inquiry, and independent student learningand application.

2. How to collect information from student perform-ance (assessment), and use it to make decisionsabout curriculum and instruction.

3. How to use the proper for procedure for teachingthe different kinds of knowledge: facts, concepts,rules, routines.

4. How to work systematically on all five phases oflearning: (a) acquisition of new knowledge; (b) gen-eralization of knowledge to new examples andmaterials; (c) fluent use of knowledge; (d) strategicintegration of knowledge elements into largerwholes: (e) ) retention of knowledge.

5. How to correct errors, firm up weak knowledge ele-ments, reteach as needed, and provide intensiveinstruction as needed.

6. How to design lessons as a sequence of logicallyprogressive tasks, each serving a clear instructionalfunction: review and firming, acquisition, expansion(more examples), generalization, fluency, integra-tion.

7. How to teach at a brisk pace.

8. How to give frequent opportunities for group(choral) and individual responses to test/checklearning.

9. How to use pre-corrections, or reminders, to pre-vent errors.

Parts I and II). This information wouldbe used to assist the teacher—and col-lectively the whole school—to achievegreater proficiency.

The diagrams below show how the

more elemental knowledge aboutknowledge (Part I) can be integratedinto a body of knowledge on curricu-lum and instruction (Part II) that canbe integrated into the four teachingactivities (Part III).

Likewise, a rational system of teacherassessment and support would BEGINby examining (with teachers) theirperformance of the four activities, andwould identify the stronger andweaker knowledge elements (from

Direct Instruction News 25

Part 3Destination—Four Teaching Activities

1. Planning instruction and teaching daily lessons from textbooks and other materials, such as internet documents.

2. Evaluating, improving, and teaching from programs.

Programs are curriculum materials that are alreadyorganized into a sequence of lessons. Programs might befor teaching beginning reading, math, spelling, remedialreading, and writing (tool skills). However, many pro-grams are poorly designed. Therefore, skilled teacherscarefully examine how the programs are designed; theyfind the strong and weak features; they decide if theprograms are good enough to use at all; and then theyuse knowledge of good design to make pretty good orvery good programs more effective for all students.Specifically, skilled teachers:

1. Determine whether programs (a) are consistent withscientific research on instruction (this is called“research based”); and (b) have been field tested andshown to be effective with scientific research (this iscalled “evaluation research.” Level 3 is preferred).

2. Determine whether programs provide a comprehensiveand varied sample of knowledge (e.g., equations tosolve, poems to analyze, words to decode).

The sample should be adequate to permit generaliza-tion to new examples.

3. Determine whether programs have scope and sequencecharts (or at least subject matter outlines) showing howknowledge is organized—what is covered, and when.

4. Determine whether lessons are built consistently fromknowledge items selected from important strands(groups of knowledge) as suggested by scientificresearch and expert opinion.

5. Determine whether lessons and tasks in lessons focusinstruction on specific objectives— what students willdo.

6. Determine whether programs teach knowledge items ina logical sequence. Specifically,

a. The materials teach elements or parts (necessarypre-skills and background knowledge) before teach-ing new material that requires skill with the parts.

b. Pre-skills and background knowledge are taught earlyenough and continually, so that students are firm.

c. What is more general and more frequent is taughtbefore what is irregular or uncommon.

d. Instruction on similar and confusing knowledgeitems is separated.

e. What is more useful is taught before what is less use-ful.

f. Complex skills (e.g., math routines) are taught witha sequence of procedures or formats from more toless scaffolded and from more to less teacherdirected.

7. Determine whether lessons are organized as a series ofsmaller, knowledge-rich units (chunks), such as tasks.Each chunk serves a clear instructional function.

a. Teach something new (facts, concepts, rules, cogni-tive routines). [acquisition]

b. Summarize.continued on next page

This is a routine that consists of the following steps.

1. Develop clear and concrete course objectives using statecurriculum, research, and teacher’s own knowledge.

2. Improve textbooks with supplements, glossaries, out-lines, big ideas, and guided notes.

3. Divide materials into units (sequences of lessons on atopic).

4. Identify exactly what you want students to learn ineach unit (terminal objectives).

5. Divide each unit into a logical sequence of lessonsbased on the principles of (1) teaching pre-skill ele-ments first and strategically integrating elements intowholes (e.g., descriptions, explanations, analyses); (2)teaching big ideas and then examining materials thatreveal the big idea; (3) teach students to apply induc-

tive reasoning to facts, and to discover (construct) gen-eralizations.

6. Plan exactly how to communicate TO students(instruction), and how to help students THEM-SELVES to get and apply knowledge.

7. Plan how to work on all phases of learning: acquisitionof new knowledge, generalization of knowledge to newexamples, fluent use of knowledge, integration ofknowledge, and retention of knowledge

8. Plan assessment of student learning and instruction atthe end of lessons and unit using, for instance, curricu-lum-based mastery tests. Use assessment to firm weakknowledge elements, reteach, provide intensiveinstruction, obtain more supplemental material,improve details of instruction (e.g., proper formats forteaching concepts, rules, and routines).

26 Fall 2012

Part 3, continuedDestination—Four Teaching Activities

3. Planning, teaching, and evaluating a semester or a year-long curriculum.

In elementary schools, or in special education classes, thecurriculum is many subjects. In secondary schools, the cur-riculum is usually one subject. Either way, a proficientteacher:

1. Identifies what the state curriculum, district curricu-lum, and scientific research say students should learn(curriculum objectives, or standards).

2. Determines what students should DO at the end (finalobjectives) that shows whether the learned.

3. Identifies exactly what to teach in each subject of thecurriculum. Displays this with a curriculum map.

4. Determines whether textbooks, programs, and supple-mental materials contain the knowledge students need

to learn. Supplements as needed.

5. Organizes the knowledge in textbooks, programs, andsupplements into a logical sequence of units and les-sons within units.

6. Plans to use the proper procedures for teaching stu-dents to acquire the knowledge during each lesson(instruction), depending on the kind of knowledge.

7. Assesses student learning and the adequacy of curricu-lum and instruction with immediate and delayed acqui-sition tests (within lessons) and periodic curriculumbased mastery tests. Uses assessment to improve cur-riculum, materials, and instruction if students are notlearning easily or quickly enough (remediation).

c. Build fluency.

d. Review and probes/tests (retention).

e. Expand—add more to existing facts, examples, con-cepts.

f. Generalize knowledge to new examples.

g. Strategically integrate—combine information into alarger whole, such as an explanatory essay, or aresearch project.

8. Determine whether programs teach essential knowledge(e.g., pre-skills needed for future learning) in a system-atic and explicit (focused) way. Specifically, lessons

a. Review and firm prior knowledge, or pre-skills.

b. Regarding new knowledge, gain attention, frame newtask, model, lead, test/check, verification; correcterrors; more examples; delayed acquisition test.

c. Review and firm what was just taught.

9. Determine whether programs adequately cover (teach,assess) all phases of mastery: acquisition, generaliza-tion, fluency, integration, retention.

For each phase, there are stated objectives, instruc-tional procedures, assessment of progress, and sug-gested remediation (if there is too little progress)based on assessment data.

10. Determine whether programs provide scaffolding; i.e.,various kinds of assistance to help teachers communi-cate information, and to help students acquire, organ-ize, retrieve, and apply information/knowledge.

Examples are stated objectives, highlighting,reminders and hints, wait time, big ideas, advanceorganizers (lesson and unit outlines, guided notes,concept/proposition maps), summaries, glossaries.

11. Determine whether programs have periodic masterytests or check-outs (e.g., every 10 lessons in a readingprogram; after every new skill in a math program) toassess acquisition, fluency, generalization, and reten-tion. Materials also provide guidelines for decidingwhen students’ performance on assessment meansthat they (1) are firm and can move ahead; (2) needfirming on certain knowledge; (3) need re-teaching; or(4) need intensive instruction. Materials also provideplans and procedures for such remediation.

4. Planning and running the class as a social group.

The teacher turns a number of individuals into a team or“learning community,” who are fluent (accurate and fast)at doing the class business (getting ready to learn, doingand handing in assignments, taking notes) by:

1. Communicating high expectations.

2. Always correcting errors, firming knowledge, andreteaching until students reach (and see that theyreach) proficiency.

3. Providing frequent opportunities for students to showoff class and individual achievement.

4. Establishing and sustaining (by reminders and verifica-tion/reinforcement) rules and procedures of civility andresponsibility (ready to learn, turn taking, voice, com-ments, property).

5. Teaching and sustaining routines for quality, timeliness,and handing in assignments

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28 Fall 2012

Keynotes From the 2012 National Direct Instruction Conference AvailableCouldn’t make it the National Direct Instruction Conference in July, or were you there and want to share part ofyour experience with others?

Copies of the opening remarks by Zig Engelmann, the opening keynote by Eric Mahmoud, and Zig’s closingkeynote are available from ADI on DVD.

Mr. Mahmoud is Founder and CEO of 4 schools that are grounded in Direct Instruction programs: Seed Academy,Harvest Preparatory School, Best Academy, and Sister Academy. Under his leadership, Harvest Preparatory and BestAcademy are two of the best schools in the state of Minnesota at closing the academic achievement gap betweenwhite and African American children. In 2011, Harvest Preparatory School was recognized by the Star Tribune asthe number one school in the state of Minnesota that is “Beating the Odds.” Best Academy 8th grade all-boys pro-gram tied for first place in the state for 8th grade reading. Best Academy 3rd grade all-boys program tied for firstplace in the state of Minnesota for 3rd grade math. In 2011, Best Academy all-boys program closed the achieve-ment gap by outperforming the state white student average in reading and math.

Mr. Mahmoud has recently developed “The Five-Gap Analysis,” which parses the achievement gap into five gapsthat schools must address in order to close the education gap. He has also developed the “Gap-Closing Frame-work,” which provides a coherent and aligned educational model to accelerate student learning.

His inspiring presentation discusses his history of educational success, as well as how the “Five-Gap Analysis” andthe “Gap-Closing Framework” can be used to change the odds for traditionally underserved children.

To order, fill out the form below or order online.

Please charge my q Visa q Mastercard q Discover in the amount of $ _______________________________

Card #__________________________________________________________Exp Date ______________________

Signed_________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________

City: _________________________________________________State:______________Zip: ___________________

Phone: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Title Price Quantity Total

2012 National Conference OpeningKeynotes and Closing Bundle

$20.00

Make payment or purchase orders payable to the Association for Direct Instruction.

Subtotal

Postage & Handling ($3.50)

Total (U.S. Funds)

Association for Direct InstructionP.O. Box 10252, Eugene, Oregon 97440 • www.adihome.org541.485.1293 (voice) • 541.868.1397 (fax)

Now Available from ADI…

Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model

ADI has an extensive collection of videos on Direct Instruction. These videos are categorized as informational, training, ormotivational in nature. The informational tapes are either of historical interest or were produced to describe Direct Instruc-tion. The training tapes have been designed to be either stand-alone training or used to supplement and reinforce live train-ing. The motivational tapes are keynote presentations from past years of the National Direct Instruction Conference.

Informational TapesWhere It All Started—45 minutes. Zig teaching kindergarten children for the Engelmann-Bereiter pre-school in the 60s.

These minority children demonstrate mathematical understanding far beyond normal developmental expectations. Thisacceleration came through expert teaching from the man who is now regarded as the “Father of Direct Instruction,” ZigEngelmann. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Challenge of the 90s: Higher-Order thinking—45 minutes, 1990. Overview and rationale for Direct Instruction strate-gies. Includes home-video footage and Follow Through. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Follow Through: A Bridge to the Future—22 minutes, 1992. Direct Instruction Dissemination Center, Wesley Elemen-tary School in Houston, Texas, demonstrates approach. Principal, Thaddeus Lott, and teachers are interviewed and class-room footage is shown. Created by Houston Independent School District in collaborative partnership with Project FollowThrough. Price: $10.00 (includes copying costs only).

Direct Instruction—black and white, 1 hour, 1978. Overview and rationale for Direct Instruction compiled by Haddox forUniversity of Oregon College of Education from footage of Project Follow Through and Eugene Classrooms. Price: $10.00(includes copying costs only).

Training DVDsThe Elements of Effective Coaching—3 hours, 1998. Content in The Elements of Effective Coaching was developed by Ed

Schaefer and Molly Blakely. The video includes scenarios showing 27 common teaching problems, with demonstrations ofcoaching interventions for each problem. A common intervention format is utilized in all scenarios. Print material thatdetails each teaching problem and the rationale for correcting the problem is provided. This product should be to used tosupplement live DI coaching training and is ideal for Coaches, Teachers, Trainers. Price…$395.00 MemberPrice…$316.00

Reading Mastery 1, 2, 3 and Fast-Cycle Preservice and Inservice Training—The first videos of the Level I andLevel II series present intensive preservice training on basic Direct Instruction teaching techniques and classroom man-agement strategies used in Reading Mastery and the equivalent lesson in Fast-Cycle. Rationale is explained. Critical tech-niques are presented and demonstrated. Participants are led through practical exercises. Classroom teachingdemonstrations with students are shown. The remaining videos are designed to be used during the school year as inser-vice training. The DVDs are divided into segments, which present teaching techniques for a set of of upcoming lessons.Price: $229.00.

Conference KeynotesThese videos are keynotes from the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene. These videos are professional qual-ity, two-camera productions suitable for use in meetings and trainings.

Direct Instruction News 29

Keynotes From the 2005 National DI Conference, July 2005, Eugene, OregonCarefully Designed Curriculum: A Key to Success. For the past 31 years Zig Engelmann has delivered the open-ing keynote of the National DI Conference, and this year was no exception. Zig focuses on the careful design of theDirect Instruction programs that make them effective in the classroom versus other programs that have some of thecomponent design elements, but not all and are therefore less effective than DI. Pioneering author Doug Carninedescribes some of the challenges we face in educating our children to compete on a world class level. Doug also goesinto detail of how to create a school improvement plan and how to implement it. As a bonus, the conference closing isincluded. Price: Videotape $30.00, DVD $40.00

continued on next page

Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model...continued

30 Fall 2012

Keynotes From the 2004 National DI Conference, July2004, Eugene, Oregon—Conference attendees rated thekeynotes from the 30th National Direct Instruction Confer-ence and Institutes as one of the best features of the 2004conference. Chris Doherty, Director of Reading First fromthe U.S. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education inWashington, DC, delivered a humorous, informative, andmotivating presentation. Chris has been an advocate ofDirect Instruction for many years. In his capacity with thefederal government he has pushed for rules that insist onstates following through with the mandate to use programswith a proven track record. The way he relates his role as aspouse and parent to his professional life would make this anideal video for those both new to DI as well as veteran users.In the second opening keynote, Zig Engelmann outlinescommon misconceptions that teachers have about teachingand learning. Once made aware of common pitfalls, it is eas-ier to avoid them, thereby increasing teacher effectivenessand student performance. Price: $30.00

To the Top of the Mountain—Giving Kids the EducationThey Deserve—75 minutes. Milt Thompson, Principal of21st Century Preparatory School in Racine, Wisconsin givesa very motivational presentation of his quest to dramaticallychange the lives of all children and give them the educationthey deserve. Starting with a clear vision of his goal, Thomp-son describes his journey that turned the lowest performingschool in Kenosha, Wisconsin into a model of excellence. Inhis keynote, Senior Direct Instruction developer Zig Engel-mann focuses on the four things you have to do to have aneffective Direct Instruction implementation. These are:work hard, pay attention to detail, treat problems as infor-mation, and recognize that it takes time. He provides con-crete examples of the ingredients that go into DirectInstruction implementations as well as an interesting histor-ical perspective. Price: $30.00

No Excuses in Portland Elementary, The Right Choice Isn’tAlways the Easiest, and Where Does the Buck Stop? 2tapes, 1 hour, 30 minutes total. Ernest Smith is Principal ofPortland Elementary in Portland, Arkansas. The February 2002issue of Reader’s Digest featured Portland Elementary in an arti-cle about schools that outperformed expectations. Smith giveshuge credit to the implementation of DI as the key to his stu-dent’s and teacher’s success. In his opening remarks, ZigEngelmann gives a summary of the Project Follow Throughresults and how these results translate into current educationalpractices. Also included are Zig’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00

Lesson Learned…The Story of City Springs, Reaching forEffective Teaching, and Which Path to Success? 2tapes, 2 hours total. In the fall of 2000 a documentary wasaired on PBS showing the journey of City Springs Elemen-tary in Baltimore from a place of hopelessness to a place ofhope. The principal of City Springs, Bernice Whelchel,addressed the 2001 National DI Conference with an updateon her school and delivered a truly inspiring keynote. Shedescribes the determination of her staff and students toreach the excellence she knew they were capable of.Through this hard work City Springs went from being one ofthe 20 lowest schools in the Baltimore City Schools systemto one of the top 20 schools. This keynote also includes a 10-minute video updating viewers on the progress at City

Springs in the 2000–2001 school year. In the second keynoteZig Engelmann elaborates on the features of successfulimplementations such as City Springs. Also included areZig’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00

Successful Schools…How We Do It—35 minutes. Eric Mah-moud, Co-founder and CEO of Seed Academy/HarvestPreparatory School in Minneapolis, Minnesota presentedthe lead keynote for the 1998 National Direct InstructionConference. His talk was rated as one of the best features ofthe conference. Eric focused on the challenges of educatingour inner city youth and the high expectations we must com-municate to our children and teachers if we are to succeedin raising student performance in our schools. Also includedon this video is a welcome by Siegfried Engelmann, SeniorAuthor and Developer of Direct Instruction Programs. Price:$15.00

Commitment to Children—Commitment to Excellenceand How Did We Get Here…Where are We Going?—95 minutes. These keynotes bring two of the biggest namesin Direct Instruction together. The first presentation is byThaddeus Lott, Senior. Dr. Lott was principal at Wesley Ele-mentary in Houston, Texas from 1974 until 1995. Duringthat time he turned the school into one of the best in thenation, despite demographics that would predict failure. Heis an inspiration to thousands across the country. The secondpresentation by Siegfried Engelmann continues on thetheme that we know all we need to know about how toteach—we just need to get out there and do it. This tape alsoincludes Engelmann’s closing remarks. Price: $30.00

State of the Art & Science of Teaching and Higher Pro-file, Greater Risks—50 minutes. This tape is the openingaddresses from the 1999 National Direct Instruction Con-ference at Eugene. In the first talk Steve Kukic, formerDirector of Special Education for the state of Utah, reflectson the trend towards using research based educationalmethods and research validated materials. In the secondpresentation, Higher Profile, Greater Risks, SiegfriedEngelmann reflects on the past of Direct Instruction andwhat has to be done to ensure successful implementation ofDI. Price: $30.00

Fads, Fashions, & Follies—Linking Research to Prac-tice—25 minutes. Dr. Kevin Feldman, Director of Readingand Early Intervention for the Sonoma County Office ofEducation in Santa Rosa, California presents on the need toapply research findings to educational practices. He suppliesa definition of what research is and is not, with examples ofeach. His style is very entertaining and holds interest quitewell. Price: $15.00

Aren’t You Special—25 minutes. Motivational talk by LindaGibson, Principal at a school in Columbus, Ohio, successfulwith DI, in spite of minimal support. Keynote from 1997National DI Conference. Price: $15.00

Effective Teaching: It’s in the Nature of the Task—25minutes. Bob Stevens, expert in cooperative learning fromPenn State University, describes how the type of task to betaught impacts the instructional delivery method. Keynotefrom 1997 National DI Conference. Price: $15.00

continued on next page

Moving from Better to the Best—20 minutes. Closingkeynote from the National DI Conference. Classic ZigEngelmann doing one of the many things he doeswell…motivating teaching professionals to go out into thefield and work with kids in a sensible and sensitive manner,paying attention to the details of instruction, making surethat excellence instead of “pretty good” is the standard westrive for and other topics that have been the constanttheme of his work over the years. Price $15.00

One More Time—20 minutes. Closing from 1997 National DIConference. One of Engelmann’s best motivational talks.Good for those already using DI, this is sure to make themknow what they are doing is the right choice for teachers,students, and our future. Price: $15.00

An Evening of Tribute to Siegfried Engelmann—2.5 hours.On July 26, 1995, 400 of Zig Engelmann’s friends, admirers,colleagues, and protégés assembled to pay tribute to the“Father of Direct Instruction.” The Tribute tape featuresCarl Bereiter, Wes Becker, Barbara Bateman, Cookie Bruner,Doug Carnine, and Jean Osborn—the pioneers of DirectInstruction—and many other program authors, paying trib-ute to Zig. Price: $25.00

Keynotes from 22nd National DI Conference—2 hours.Ed Schaefer speaks on “DI—What It Is and Why It Works,”an excellent introductory talk on the efficiency of DI andthe sensibility of research based programs. Doug Carnine’s

talk “Get it Straight, Do it Right, and Keep it Straight” is acall for people to do what they already know works, and notto abandon sensible approaches in favor of “innovations”that are recycled fads. Siegfried Engelmann delivers theclosing “Words vs. Deeds” in his usual inspirational manner,with a plea to teachers not to get worn down by the weightof a system that at times does not reward excellence as itshould. Price: $25.00

Keynotes from the 1995 Conference—2 hours. Titles andspeakers include: Anita Archer, Professor Emeritus, SanDiego State University, speaking on “The Time Is Now”(An overview of key features of DI); Rob Horner, Professor,University of Oregon, speaking on “Effective Instruction forAll Learners”; Zig Engelmann, Professor, University of Ore-gon, speaking on “Truth or Consequences.” Price: $25.00

Keynote Presentations from the 1994 20th AnniversaryConference—2 hours. Titles and speakers include: JeanOsborn, Associate Director for the Center for the Study ofReading, University of Illinois, speaking on “Direct Instruc-tion: Past, Present & Future”; Sara Tarver, Professor, Uni-versity of Wisconsin, Madison, speaking on “I Have a DreamThat Someday We Will Teach All Children”; Zig Engelmann,Professor, University of Oregon, speaking on “So Who NeedsStandards?” Price: $25.00

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Videotapes on the Direct Instruction Model...continued

Direct Instruction News 31

32 Fall 2012

Books Price ListThe Association for Direct Instruction distributes the following Direct Instruction materials. Members of ADI receive a20% discount on these materials. To join ADI and take advantage of this discount, simply fill out the form and include yourannual dues with your order.

Title & Author Member Price List Price Quantity Total

Send to ADI, PO Box 10252, Eugene, OR 97440You may also phone in your order with VISA or Mastercard. Phone 1.800.995.2464. Order online at www.adihome.org

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Preventing Failure in the Primary Grades (1969 & 1997)Siegfried Engelmann

$19.95 $24.95

Theory of Instruction (1991) Siegfried Engelmann & Douglas Carnine

$32.00 $40.00

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (1983) Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, & Elaine Bruner

$17.50 $22.00

Structuring Classrooms for Academic Success (1983)S. Paine, J. Radicchi, L. Rosellini, L. Deutchman, & C. Darch

$14.50 $18.00

War Against the Schools’ Academic Child Abuse (1992)Siegfried Engelmann

$14.95 $17.95

Research on Direct Instruction (1996)Gary Adams & Siegfried Engelmann

$24.95 $29.95

Managing the Cycle of Acting-Out Behavior in the ClassroomGeoff Colvin

$24.00 $28.00

Rubric for Identifying Authentic Direct Instruction ProgramsSiegfried Engelmann & Geoff Colvin

$12.00 $15.00

Teaching Needy Kids in Our Backward SystemSiegfried Engelmann

$25.00 $32.00

Corrective Reading Sounds DVD $5.00 $7.00

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Association for Direct InstructionP.O. Box 10252, Eugene, Oregon 97440 • www.adihome.org • 541.485.1293 (voice) • 541.868.1397 (fax)

What is ADI, the Association for Direct Instruction?ADI is a nonprofit organization dedicated primarily to providing support for teachers and other educators who use DirectInstruction programs. That support includes conferences on how to use Direct Instruction programs, publication of The Jour-nal of Direct Instruction (JODI), Direct Instruction News (DI News), and the sale of various products of interest to our members.

Who Should Belong to ADI?Most of our members use Direct Instruction programs, or have a strong interest in using those programs. Many people whodo not use Direct Instruction programs have joined ADI due to their interest in receiving our semiannual publications, TheJournal of Direct Instruction and Direct Instruction News. JODI is a peer-reviewed professional publication containing new andreprinted research related to effective instruction. Direct Instruction News focuses on success stories, news and reviews ofnew programs and materials and information on using DI more effectively.

Membership Options

$60.00 Regular Membership (includes one year subscription to ADI publications, a 20% discount on ADI sponsored events and on materials sold by ADI).

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$100.00 Sustaining Membership (includes Regular membership privileges and recognition of your supportin Direct Instruction News).

$200.00 Institutional Membership (includes 5 subscriptions to ADI publications and regular membership privileges for 5 staff people).

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Direct Instruction News 33

34 Fall 2012

These useful pre-printed Post-It® notes are used to help convey important teaching skills to users of the Direct Instruc-tion Reading programs. Instead of having to write out the proper presentation of the correction or procedure, one simplypeels a sheet off the pad and puts it in the next lesson or two where the correction/procedure would be used.

The primary set, for use primarily with Reading Mastery I and II and Decoding A containscorrection procedures for

• Reading Vocabulary/Sounding Out (Words in Columns)• Individual Turns• Comprehension Questions• Reading Vocabulary (Sound Identification Errors)• Looping for Sound-It-Out Words• Word Identification Errors (Group Reading)

The upper level set, for use primarily with Reading Mastery III–VI and Corrective Readingcontains correction procedures for

• Individual Turns• Comprehension Questions• Word Identification Errors (Word Attack)• Word Identification Errors (Group Reading)

The two come together as a kit and are priced at $30.00 per kit ($24.00 for ADI members). ContactADI for quantity pricing.

Now Available from ADI…

COACHES TOOL KIT

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Coaches Tool Kit $24.00 $30.00

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Association for Direct InstructionP.O. Box 10252, Eugene, Oregon 97440 • www.adihome.org • 541.485.1293 (voice) • 541.868.1397 (fax)

NEW!

Thank you to our Sustaining Members

The ADI Board of Directors acknowledges the financial contributions made by the following individuals. Their generosityhelps our organization continue to promote the use of effective, research-based methods and materials in our schools.

Anayezuka Ahidiana

Anita Archer

Jason Aronoff

Tamie Bebee

Anne Berchtold

Jim Berchtold

Almitra Berry

Elaine C. Bruner

Cathy Burner

Linda Carnine

Maria Collins

Jim Cowardin

Don Crawford

Mary Damer

Laura Doherty

Cindy Dosier

Donna Dressman

Janet Fender

Terri Getty

Richard Gifford

David Giguere

Dick Glatzmaier

Jane Greer

Ray Hall

Linda Haniford

Lee Hemenway

Meralee Hoffelt

Daniel Hursh

Debbie & Ken Jackson

Gary Johnson

Dr. Kent Johnson

Kathleen Jungjohan

John & Pat Lloyd

Janet Lopez

Ann Moore

Lakysha Mosley

Jean Osborn

Steve Osborn

Cathy Redelberger

Jan Reinhardtsen

Jan Richardson

Patrice Riggin

Thomas Rollins

Randi Saulter

Ed Schaefer

Carolyn Schneider

Rhonda Schultz

Frank Smith

Pam Smith

Sara G Tarver

Mary Taylor

Judith Towns

Vicci Tucci

Maria Vanoni

Tricia Walsh-Coughlan

Rose Wanken

Cathy Watkins

Charles Wood

Linda Youngmayr

Association for Direct InstructionPO Box 10252Eugene, OR 97440