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Coaching Instructors on How to Deliver Direct Instruction Lessons via Remote Platform

 

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Concerned about how to deliver Direct Instruction (DI) effectively to your students through distance learning?

In addition to our webinar series on effective distance learning with DI, the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) provides customized coaching to instructors and school leaders as they provide DI to students remotely. Through NIFDI coaching, you can ensure your students’ success during this challenging time!

Our highly experienced DI coaches and trainers can help make sure that the next few months of distance learning are very productive for firming and advancing students’ skills. The NIFDI coaches can provide remote support by:

  • assisting with the formation of small groups based on student performance and scheduling group and one-on-one instruction with students;
  • forming packets – identifying specific materials to send home, customized for individual students and groups, and identifying the exercises that are best done through one-on-one or group instruction;
  • identifying the exercises that are best done through one-on-one or group instruction;
  • conducting in-services and other types of training sessions to meet the specific needs of your staff;
  • joining live distance learning sessions and providing feedback to coaches and teachers in real time;
  • reviewing recordings of distance learning sessions and providing feedback to coaches and teachers on how to make the lessons more effective;
  • providing data analysis and problem-solving sessions modified for distance learning; 
  • helping with End-of-Year procedures remotely to set up homogeneous groups for next year that are at mastery at the same place in the programs. 

 

For only $165 per hour, you can guide your students to success with NIFDI support!

 

Get started this week so you can make every day of the rest of this school year productive for your students!

The process is quick and easy. Click here to complete the information form. Once received, our team will be in touch within 48 hours to talk to you about your specific needs.

If you have any questions, please contact us at training@nifdi.org.

Critical Phrasing Webinar

When delivering instruction, the pausing and punching of keywords to convey skills and content is an integral component of effective instruction.  Emphasizing a critical phrase or word helps students focus on the pivotal part of the presentation. In a distance learning situation, the skillful application of this technique is vital to helping maintain student engagement.

This webinar is based on our popular video in-service Delivering an Effective Lesson: Critical Phrasing.

Participants in this webinar will learn

  • the general guidelines for delivering an effective DI lesson using critical phrasing;
  • how to emphasize bold words in the script;
  • how to identify where pause and punch would be beneficial, even if not bold or otherwise indicated in the script
  • how practicing critical phrasing before teaching to students positively impacts student performance and progress.

Participants will need internet access and the ability to view a PDF on a separate device (tablet, iPad) or print the 6-page participant handout. 

The $40 session fee includes materials and ongoing access to the video presentation.

If you are interested in scheduling a customized webinar for your staff, contact Bryan Wickman at bwickman@nifdi.org.  
Return to the Webinars & Forums page. 

Excellence in Education Awards

Nominations for the 2026 Awards are now closed! 

Thank you for all the submissions! Stay tuned for the announcements of the winners.

An important feature of Direct Instruction (DI) is to celebrate success–the success of students, teachers, and entire schools. For many years, the National Direct Instruction Conference in Eugene, Oregon, has recognized individual and group achievements. The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) will continue this tradition at the 51st National DI Conference through the Excellence in Education Awards this summer! An awards ceremony will take place at the National DI Conference in Eugene, and the recipients of the following awards will be recognized:  

  • Siegfried Engelmann Excellence in Education Award – This award is named after Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann, co-creator of Direct Instruction, senior author of the DI programs, and founder of NIFDI. The recipient of this award can be anyone – a teacher, paraprofessional, administrator, college professor, etc. – who has provided a significant contribution to the field of education and/or student achievement.
  • Wes Becker Excellent School Award – This award is named after Wesley Becker, co-creator of Direct Instruction and longtime Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Oregon. This award is given to a school for exemplary implementation of Direct Instruction.
  • The Carnine-McRoberts Student Improvement Award – This award is named in memory of the parents of Doug and Linda Carnine. It is given to a student who has demonstrated remarkable academic success with DI. Teachers submit nominations. The winner, selected by Doug and Linda Carnine, will be presented with a plaque and $1,000. The winner's school will also receive $1,000.  

An independent committee will review nominations from the field and honor individuals and schools that have made a significant difference in the educational achievement of children. Please take time to think about and nominate a student, colleague, and/or school. Perhaps it is someone who worked with a child after a parent had been told the child "has a learning disability" and will never learn to read. Or a classroom teacher whose students have consistently shown notable performance gains. Your nominee may be a principal who stood by what was right and implemented DI successfully. Or a college professor who taught a methods class centered around DI. Or a student who made amazing progress this current school year. There are many more examples out there.

2024 Excellence in Education Awards

2024 Hall of Fame Induction

Evidence of Direct Instruction Effectiveness

Direct Instruction has received the highest rating in recent meta-analyses and assessments of the scientific research basis for models of comprehensive school reform (CSR):

  • The Effectiveness of Direct Instruction: A Meta-Analysis of a Half-Century of Research (2018) published by The Review of Education Research and authored by Jean Stockard, Tim Wood, Cristy Coughlin, and Caitlin Rasplica Khoury. The meta-analysis examines the research published from 1961-2016 on the effectiveness of Direct Instruction. Analyses were based on 318 studies involving 431 study designs and almost 4000 effects. Among the findings, the abstract for the article reports, "All of the estimated effects were positive, and all were statistically significant except results from metaregressions involving affective outcomes. Effects showed little decline during maintenance, and effects for academic subjects were greater when students had more exposure to the programs."
  • Comprehensive School Reform and Student Achievement (2003), a meta-analyses of 29 Comprehensive School Reform models conducted by Dr. Geoffrey Borman (U Wisconsin-Madison) and colleagues. Direct Instruction was one of only three models found to have the “strongest evidence of effectiveness.” Models were categorized according to quality and quantity of evidence of effectiveness and according to whether that evidence indicated “statistically significant and positive results.
  • John Hattie's Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement (2009) summarizes the results of four meta-analyses that examined Direct Instruction. These analyses incorporated 304 studies of over 42,000 students. Across all of these studies, the average effect size was .59. This effect is significantly larger than those of any other curriculum Hattie studied and was similar for studies of general education students, special education students, and low-performing students. Results were also similar in mathematics and reading.
  • An Educator’s Guide to Schoolwide Reform (1999), a study of 24 instructional models of schoolwide reform sponsored by five national associations of educators (AASA, AFT, NAESP, and NEA). Direct Instruction was only one of two models for elementary and middle schools that received a “strong” rating for evidence of positive effects on student achievement. This report was the first that systematically evaluated and rated each of the most prominent CSR models “based on what the research shows about the model’s effects on student achievement.”
  • Research on Direct Instruction: 25 Years Beyond DISTAR (1996) by Gary L. Adams and Siegfried Engelmann. Adams conducted a meta-analyses of 34 research articles after screening over 350 publications for appropriate features (e.g., pretest scores, comparison group research designs, use of formal DI curricula, and use of statistical measures). Effect sizes were calculated for each of the articles included in the analysis that met these criteria. Thirty-two of the 34 effect size scores were positive, with a mean effect size per individual variable of 0.97 and a mean effect size per study of 0.87.

To learn more about the research behind DI, visit our DI Research Database. This database includes the most current contributions to the field of DI research and is searchable by keywords, subject areas, year of publication, and more!

  1. Routines and Expectations
  2. Zig’s Web
  3. Siegfried Engelmann 1931-2019
  4. Direct Instruction Coaching Institute

Implementing Direct Instruction Successfully

When implemented fully, Direct Instruction (DI) is unparalleled in its ability to improve student performance and enhance students’ self-esteem. In order to implement DI effectively, much more is required than simply purchasing instructional materials. The following two-part tutorial guides administrators, teachers, and coaches through the key features of a successful DI implementation. Part I provides an overview of the steps schools need to take in preparation for a DI implementation before school starts, while Part II provides an overview of the steps schools need to take after school has started.

IMPORTANT: This tutorial is an intensive video series comprised of 18 segments, each followed by a series of questions. Users should allow approximately three hours to watch the videos and complete the questions. NIFDI recognizes the high demand for time placed on school officials and, for this reason, has structured the tutorial so users may stop at any time and later resume where they left off.

Enroll in the tutorial here. 

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New to Direct Instruction? Watch the Introduction to Direct Instruction Video Series before taking the online tutorial.

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In Memory of
Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann

Latest News

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