Technical Report # 2008-1
This study compares students’ achievement in BCPSS schools that 1) implemented Direct Instruction with support from NIFDI, 2) implemented DI without NIFDI support, and 3) used a traditional curriculum (Open Court) from 1998 through 2003. Students in the NIFDI supported schools had significantly higher levels of achievement than students in the other schools. Achievement scores of all first grade students in the BCPSS were higher in 2003 than in 1998, but the increases in the NIFDI supported schools were more than twice as great as in the other schools.
Full Report Improving First Grade Reading Achievement in a Large Urban District: The Effects of NIFDI-Supported Implementation of Direct Instruction in the Baltimore City Public School System, Technical Report # 2008-1, Eugene, Oregon: National Institute for Direct Instruction, September, 2008.
Technical Report # 2008-2
This report examines the impact of receiving Direct Instruction in first grade on reading achievement in fifth grade. Results indicate that students who received Direct Instruction had significantly higher reading scores in fifth grade than other students. On average, students in NIFDI-supported schools had a 25 percent gain in composite reading achievement scores from first grade to fifth grade compared to a gain of only 5 percent for students in control schools.
Technical Report # 2008-3
This report examines the impact of receiving Direct Instruction on mathematics achievement. Results indicate that students who received Direct Instruction had significantly higher mathematics achievement than other students. The differences in achievement between DI schools and other schools became larger over time. In addition, students who had DI in first grade had significantly greater change in their achievement scores from first grade to fifth grade than students in the Control schools.
