Co-authors Siegfried Engelmann and Douglas Carnine are foundational 20th and 21st century thinkers on the subject of instructional best practices. Engelmann shaped and codified Direct Instruction, the most effective method of teaching reading, math, and other subjects, as validated by more than 100 experimental studies. The authors' contention is that if the details of instruction are in place well designed sets of examples and adequate practice student learning can be accelerated far beyond what is currently being achieved in schools.

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RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS
Oct. 14, 2011

IDEA Public Schools congratulates the Engelmann Family and the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) for their commitment to excellence in training and execution of IDEA’s new core curriculum, Better IDEA, powered by Direct Instruction (DI).

The “Award for Leadership in Education” is IDEA’s most prestigious award for sustained commitment to academic excellence. In granting the award, IDEA recognized the Engelmann Family and NIDFI for its support in providing high-level and ongoing support in implementing the DI model.

“The Engelmann family and NIFDI have helped create an ecosystem at IDEA that ensures all students succeed and achieve," says Tom Torkelson, Founder and CEO of IDEA Public Schools.

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Direct Instruction (DI) is often used to help students who are struggling academically. DI can be used to accelerate the learning of higher performing students, too. This 16-minute video, "Helping Kids Soar: Children Reaching Their Full Potential with Direct Instruction," portrays two schools in different parts of the country that have used DI successfully with all children, including high performing students: Emerson Elementary in Alliance, NE and Ficket Elementary in Atlanta, GA.

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Gering Public Schools, a small district in northeast Nebraska, used to suffer from an achievement gap in reading.  In 2004, 36 percent of all Hispanic students in second grade met fluency benchmarks compared to 59 percent of all white students in the district's three elementary schools.  Low literacy performance was also a problem at the district's sole junior high school.

That was before the district implemented the comprehensive Direct Instruction model with the support of the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI).  Now the achievement gap in reading has been closed.  Over three-fourths of all students meet second grade fluency benchmarks, with a higher percentage of Hispanic students meeting benchmarks than white students!  At the junior high school, the need for remedial reading programs has declined drastically as students are much more able to comprehend content area texts.

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