Providing placement test training to staff and conducting placement testing of students in the Direct Instruction (DI) programs are important first steps in implementing any model of DI. The individual assessment results allow students to be placed and grouped in specific DI programs. Placing and grouping students in late spring allows DI instruction to start on the first day of school. This initial assessment also provides a basis for ordering specific levels of the DI programs in reading, language, writing, math, and spelling, and the results from the initial assessment are used to determine which levels of the programs teachers need to be trained to teach. Since the instructional skills used to teach DI programs and levels are highly different, it is vital that teachers be trained in the specific program levels that they are going to teach.
Student testing is usually scheduled in the late spring and takes anywhere from three to five days, depending on the number of students to test and the number of tests to administer. Staff members are trained to administer placement tests and record test results. This testing team needs to be excused from school duties to have time to test students during the school day. After the initial training, the NIFDI trainer monitors individual testing to ensure that results are reliable and to answer questions about unique student responses. Testers continue to administer the tests until all students have been tested—even if the trainer from the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) has departed. The size of the testing team will depend on the number of students to test. Initial placement test training can be provided in-person or remotely, with in-person training and monitoring of student testing as the preferred model. The amount of time needed for placement test training will vary according to how many program level tests will need to be used in identifying the appropriate program placement for students. The time for training ranges from one to two hours per program level.
The placement tests appear in the Teacher’s Guides that are available through McGraw-Hill Education. Most tests take approximately 10-15 minutes to administer, although there’s a great deal of variation based on student skill level. Students may need to complete multiple tests in order to find the correct placement. Tests are administered to individuals and/or groups depending on the program and level being tested. For example, the Level 1 Reading Mastery test is administered to individuals only, while the Level 3 Reading Mastery Test has both an individual and a group component.
NIFDI supplies materials for the trainer (slides and handouts) and a master set of placement tests for all levels of the DI programs to be used at the school. The school makes the appropriate copies from the master set for each student continuing at the school. A record of placement test results and placement test protocols is shared with NIFDI, which analyzes the protocols and creates student lists for the initial, homogeneous instructional groupings.
IMPORTANT: Lack of an accurate initial assessment can prevent a Direct Instruction implementation from getting off to a strong start. If students are initially misplaced in a program, teachers may not receive training in the appropriate levels of the program, and the school may not start the school year with the materials it needs for all students. Starting students in a lesson that is too difficult can be discouraging for students and may result in less-than-optimal progress and disruptive behaviors. Starting students in a lesson that is too easy can be boring for students and may result in less-than-optimal progress and withdrawal or other negative behaviors. Placing students at their current skill level is an important step to ensure that students feel good about themselves, their abilities and their school while they progress through the Direct Instruction sequence!
For additional information, including the administration instructions and the placement tests, see:
In-class coaching helps prepare teachers to become master Direct Instruction (DI) teachers. It is intended to improve teachers’ mastery of DI techniques at the same time that it builds teachers’ confidence in their abilities to effect positive changes in student performance. Coaching involves observing teachers instructing groups, providing specific feedback on what was observed, demonstrating parts of lessons, and modeling entire lessons.
Two levels of consultants from the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) provide the bulk of coaching during the first year of implementation: an Implementation Manager (IM), who comes on-site between two and four days a month (depending on the size of the school) and a Project Director (PD), a senior DI expert who comes on site less frequently. Both consultants participate in the weekly phone conference calls. Teachers who participate in the NIFDI coaches training series assume coaching duties in subsequent years.
The NIFDI coaching visits are non-evaluative. The focus is on student performance and student behavior. Coaching visits are designed to provide useful feedback to teachers and the building coordinator about what’s working well for students and what needs improvement. NIFDI consultants reinforce what’s working well and ask staff to change only those teaching behaviors that make a difference with children. The orientation of the coaching visits is that learning problems should be solved jointly between NIFDI and the school. Click here to view a short video you can use to inform staff on what to expect when a NIFDI coach comes on site.
By its very nature, the coaching process has the potential to be disruptive to the classroom. NIFDI strives to minimize interruptions and thereby maintain the flow of teaching as much as possible. Before entering the classroom for the first time, NIFDI consultants meet with teachers to explain the coaching process. When possible, the process is also explained to the students. After each visit, NIFDI consultants provide written feedback on what they observe and what they recommend. Common problems that NIFDI consultants observe become the focus of in-service training sessions.
IMPORTANT: Preservice and in-service training sessions provide teachers with critical skills needed to implement DI in the classroom, but training and practice cannot completely simulate the classroom experience. Students can make a wide variety of responses to instruction. Every classroom situation is different, and every instructional group is unique. Only through several years of regular, ongoing, in-class coaching can teachers learn how to respond effectively to the full range of student behaviors.
Assessment training of staff and placement testing of students in the Direct Instruction (DI) programs are important first steps in implementing any model of DI. The individual assessment results allow students to be placed and grouped in specific DI programs. Placing and grouping students in late spring allows DI instruction to start on the first day of school. This initial assessment also provides a basis for ordering specific levels of the DI programs in reading and language, and the results from the initial assessment are used to determine which levels of the programs teachers need to be trained to teach. Since the instructional skills used to teach different DI levels and programs are highly different, it is vital that teachers be trained in the specific program levels that they are going to teach.
Based on the size of the school, assessment training and student testing is usually scheduled for three to five days in the late spring. A group of six to 10 staff members are trained to administer and record the placement test results. This testing staff needs to be excused from school duties to have time to test students during the school day. After the initial training, the NIFDI trainer monitors individual testing to ensure that results are reliable and to answer questions about unique student responses. School staff members continue to administer the tests until all students have been tested—even if the trainer from the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) has departed.
The placement tests appear in the Teacher’s Guides that are available through SRA/McGraw-Hill. Most tests take approximately five minutes to administer although there’s a great deal of variation based on student skill level. Tests are administered to individuals and/or groups depending on the program and level being tested. For example, the Level 1 Reading Mastery test is administered to individuals only while the Level 3 Reading Mastery Test has both an individual and a group component.
NIFDI supplies materials for the trainer (overheads and handouts) and a master set of placement tests for all levels of the DI programs to be used at the school. The school makes the appropriate copies from the master set for each student continuing at the school. Completed placement tests are shipped to NIFDI, which analyzes the protocols and forms student lists for the initial, homogeneous instructional groupings.
In addition to working with school personnel at school sites, NIFDI personnel continuously monitor implementations even when they are off-site. Using written records, they conduct a weekly analysis of how every student performs in every subject every day. They discuss their findings on weekly conference calls with on-site school personnel. Conference call participants (usually the principal, building coordinator, coaches and NIFDI personnel) identify and describe student problems and strategize solutions to be carried out prior to the next call or site visit.
See also: Virtual Visits
