Proponents of DI often request programs in content areas such as science and social studies to use with their students. Academic Core, published by NIFDI Press, has been designed as a supplement to help teach students important science facts and information.

Academic Core is a highly structured three-level program (A through C; Levels B and C forthcoming in 2014) that ensures mastery of sophisticated information and includes a built-in reward system to motivate and reinforce students. Some of the units in Level A include: measurement, time, the solar system, rocks, body systems and U.S. geography, among many others.

Academic Core is available exclusively through NIFDI for only $129.00 + S&H. Help your students master fundamental concepts in science! Learn more or purchase Academic Core Level A here.

NIFDI's Assistant Director of Research, Caitlin Rasplica, will be a discussant at a symposium being held as part of the Association for Behavior Analysis International's (ABAI) 40th Annual Conference in Chicago this May. The symposium, Improving Reading and Writing Repertoires in Students With and Without Disabilities, will address Direct Instruction's evidence-based procedure that has resulted in academic gains for students.

Two papers will be addressed:

(The following is an excerpt from ABAI's description of the symposium)

In the first paper, the implementation of an Accelerated Independent Learner model coupled with Direct Instruction Corrective Reading program resulted in educationally and statistically significant outcomes in students in grades 3-5 that were identified as performing below grade level in reading.

In the second paper, the participants were students diagnosed with emotional disturbances and autism respectively. The experimenters found that the use of general case instruction resulted the mergence of metaphorical production responses for all participants.

The symposium will be held on May 26, 2014 in the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois at 10:00 am. For more information, visit ABAI's website at http://www.abainternational.org/events/annual-2014.aspx.

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!

The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) has developed a two-part, self-paced online tutorial describing the fundamental tenets of a Direct Instruction implementation. The goal of the tutorial is to provide school and district leaders a solid understanding of what’s involved in implementing Direct Instruction successfully. The tutorial can also be a helpful tool in explaining DI to external constituents, such as school board members, community members, district officials and more.

Part One of the tutorial covers what to do before school starts in preparation for an implementation of DI, while Part Two covers what to do to maximize student performance with DI once school starts. Each part is composed of nine smaller segments, about five minutes in length, followed by a “Check Your Understanding” component that presents questions on key points made in the video. Users should allocate approximately three hours time to review both parts of the tutorial and complete the “Check Your Understanding” components. You don't have to do the tutorial in one sitting. You can stop it at any time and log in again later at your convenience.

Feel free to share this resource with others who might benefit from its content. The tutorial is completely free and can be easily located on NIFDI’s homepage.

Contact us at info@nifdi.org if you have any questions. We hope this tutorial will provide you with background information that will help you ensure that all of your students will be successful with the DI approach!