The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to:
NIFDI is uniquely qualified for these tasks as its founding members include the creators of DI. NIFDI's implementation support consultants are experienced teachers with advanced degrees and 5 to 25 years teaching experience in DI. Many of the senior consultants are co-authors of the DI programs. NIFDI's leaders have more than 30 years experience with school and district implementations of DI in all types of environments.
NIFDI has extensive experience providing support for implementing DI in a wide variety of settings. NIFDI has its roots in the University of Oregon Direct Instruction Follow Through model, which was conceived at the University of Illinois in the late 1960s and implemented in schools around the country from 1967 to 1995. NIFDI began as the Accelerated Student Achievement Project (ASAP) in 1993. ASAP negotiated with the state of Utah's State Department of Education and the Utah Learning Resource Center to implement DI in four elementary schools. The positive acceleration of student achievement as a result of the ASAP implementations led to its adoption in Baltimore and elsewhere.
Since its formal creation in 1997, NIFDI has supported DI implementations in 22 states (Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin), the territory of Guam, and Australia. In Guam, NIFDI implemented the comprehensive Direct Instruction model in 24 elementary schools and all middle schools for several years. In Texas, NIFDI works with IDEA Schools, Inc. to implement the comprehensive Direct Instruction model in 22 elementary schools and a Special Education DI intervention in IDEA secondary schools. In Australia, NIFDI partnered with Good to Great Schools Australia (GGSA), a non-profit organization that supports the implementation of DI in 24 schools in Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia. NIFDI has supported DI implementations in different parts of England and has provided remote training to teachers in India.
NIFDI offers open enrollment training throughout the year. The National DI Conference (Eugene, Oregon) is held annually in the summer and has been attended by educators from around the world. During the school year, NIFDI also conducts Leadership and Coaching Academies. These events have been held in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, and North Carolina. NIFDI open enrollment training helps develop the skills of over 600 educators annually.
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Siegfried Engelmann
What is DI?
Direct Instruction (DI) is a model for teaching that emphasizes well-developed and carefully planned lessons designed around small learning increments and clearly defined and prescribed teaching tasks. It is based on the theory that clear instruction eliminating misinterpretations can greatly improve and accelerate learning.
Its creators, Siegfried Engelmann and Dr. Wesley Becker, and their colleagues believe, and have proved, that correctly applied DI can improve academic performance as well as certain affective behaviors. It is currently in use in thousands of schools across the nation as well as in Canada, the UK and Australia. Schools using DI accept a vision that actually delivers many outcomes only promised by other models.
Direct Instruction operates on five key philosophical principles:
Why does DI work?
There are four main features of DI that ensure students learn faster and more efficiently than any other program or technique available:
Students are placed in instruction at their skill level.
When students begin the program, each student is tested to find out which skills they have already mastered and which ones they need to work on. From this, students are grouped together with other students needing to work on the same skills. These groups are organized by the level of the program that is appropriate for students, rather than the grade level the students are in.
The program’s structure is designed to ensure mastery of the content.
The program is organized so that skills are introduced gradually, giving children a chance to learn those skills and apply them before being required to learn another new set of skills. Only 10% of each lesson is new material. The remaining 90% of each lesson’s content is review and application of skills students have already learned but need practice with in order to master. Skills and concepts are taught in isolation and then integrated with other skills into more sophisticated, higher-level applications. All details of instruction are controlled to minimize the chance of students' misinterpreting the information being taught and to maximize the reinforcing effect of instruction.
Instruction is modified to accommodate each student’s rate of learning.
A particularly wonderful part about DI is that students are retaught or accelerated at the rate at which they learn. If they need more practice with a specific skill, teachers can provide the additional instruction within the program to ensure students master the skill. Conversely, if a student is easily acquiring the new skills and needs to advance to the next level, students can be moved to a new placement so that they may continue adding to the skills they already possess.
Programs are field tested and revised before publication.
DI programs are very unique in the way they are written and revised before publication. All DI programs are field tested with real students and revised based on those tests before they are ever published. This means that the program your student is receiving has already been proven to work.
The implementation of Direct Instruction and the five key philosophical principles will introduce a crucial element in the school system: change. Teachers will generally be required to behave differently than before and schools may need an entirely different organization than they previously employed. Even staff members will be called upon to alter some operations. The popular valuing of teacher creativity and autonomy as high priorities must give way to a willingness to follow certain carefully prescribed instructional practices. Remaining the same, however, are the importance of hard work, dedication and commitment to students. And, it is crucial that all concerned adopt and internalize the belief that all students, if properly taught, can learn.
The number one key to a successful schoolwide Direct Instruction (DI) implementation is the building administrator. Active and knowledgeable administrative support is essential to implementing the comprehensive DI model effectively. Principals as well as district-level administrators set the tone and convey to staff the commitment of the school to implement the model with fidelity. Administrators ensure that the schedule and other key aspects of the implementation are established properly and adhered to. Administrators ensure that sufficient personnel are in place to implement the model with fidelity, including a full-time building coordinator dedicated to supporting the DI implementation. They also ensure that training and practice sessions are arranged and attended by the teaching staff.
For an overview of the DI model:
ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
The principal is the school's leader of the NIFDI accountability system. The principal attends weekly conference calls between NIFDI and the school’s leadership team, during which the progress of each instructional group is discussed. A summary of the call describes the actions to be taken before the next call and designates who will take which actions. Principals can greatly facilitate the implementation by ensuring that the actions described are in fact taken before the next conference call.
For information on the NIFDI accountability system:
OBSERVING CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION
Regular administrator classroom observations focused on student performance are critical for a successful DI implementation. The administrator's presence in the classroom communicates a strong message to the staff concerning the importance of the DI implementation. Direct observation by administrators also provides another set of eyes to identify possible instructional problems and assess the status of past problems. NIFDI trains principals and other administrators on conducting five-minute observations that provide quick, comprehensive and powerful assessments of classroom instruction and setup.
For information on five-minute observations:
FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT THE DI MODEL
To find out more about the full immersion (comprehensive) DI model, you can attend the session for administrators that is part of the annual National Training Institute. The session runs for four full days and is led by NIFDI personnel. The session discusses the changes in time management, student assessment, problem solving, behavior management, and capacity building that accelerates student performance. The National Training Institute will be held this August in San Antonio. For more information on the institute, visit the institute's home page.
NEXT STEPS WITH NIFDI
In addition to attending the session for administrators that is part of the annual National Training Institute, administrators interested in implementing DI can call Dr. Kurt Engelmann, President of NIFDI, 1.877.485.1973 toll-free to discuss implementation options with NIFDI. Fill out the data form (below) with the number of students, aides and teachers for all grades in the school and fax the form to Dr. Engelmann's attention at 541.683.7543. This information will be used to help assess the school's needs and to put together a budget on the expenses of NIFDI services.
For arranging next steps with NIFDI:
Intro to DI Video Series
Authentic Direct Instruction Videos
Implementing Direct Instruction Successfully: An Online Tutorial
Webinars
Video In-Services
Distance Learning Videos
Videos About Schools Receiving NIFDI Support
Reading Mastery Format Practice Series
Palfreman Reading Mastery Setup and Training Series
20/20 Report on Direct Instruction
Project Follow Through and Its Relevance Today
Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann Videos
Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann on Instruction
Selected Writings Discussion with Zig
National DI Conference Keynotes
Video Supplements
The Video In-service support materials are available to the general public. However, the videos are restricted to NIFDI partners unless purchased through the NIFDI Store.
The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) has also developed video guides to accompany the training and support videos available on this website. These guides were initially developed to help viewers focus on critical aspects of the full immersion model of Direct Instruction (DI) presented in the videos.
