In Education Week's January 22nd article, Florida Pushes Longer Day, More Reading in Some Schools, Springfield Elementary School in Springfield, Florida struggled with student performance and was Bay County's only school on the state's list of 100 worst performing schools with a 'D' grade in 2012-13. The school, as part of the inclusion on the list, was required to add an additional hour to the school day and dedicate the time specifically to reading.

Districts were allowed a lot of freedom to determine how they wanted to handle the extra hour, as long as it was approved by the state department of education. Springfield Elementary allowed staff to determine the program students would be offered and opted to switch to Reading Mastery Signature Edition for their core English Language Arts program. In just one year, the 470-student school raised its grade from a 'D' to a 'C' using Direct Instruction and has not only kept the program, but added another DI program this year - Connecting Math Concepts!