The support materials below are available to the general public. However, access to the videos is restricted to NIFDI partners unless purchased through the NIFDI Store. NIFDI partners should contact their NIFDI implementation manager for the current password or email training@nifdi.org. Once you have the password, click on one of the green titles below. Then use one of the options listed below to access a video.
These video in-services are designed to support school leaders in charge of managing Direct Instruction (DI) implementations. Through the guidance of the videos, participants will view demonstrations and receive information by expert DI trainers. Participants will also practice the skills being taught and receive feedback from the on-site facilitator, who will follow a facilitator’s guide. In addition, these video in-services will provide a model for district and building-level coaches, APIs (assistant principals of instruction) and building coordinators on how to sequence examples and focus on critical issues when training, as well as demonstrate the type of activities to include that promote mastery of the targeted skills.
Option one is to download the video to a computer for off-line viewing. After you type in the password, click on the download button on the lower right of the screen and select HD720P. Allow up to five minutes for the video to completely download to the computer. This option is recommended for all users to ensure that the videos can be viewed without interruption due to a slow Internet connection.
Option two is to view the video directly from the web via online streaming. Simply click the link and then type in the password. This option is only recommended for schools with very reliable and quick Internet connections.
Be advised that NIFDI will change the password every August.
If you are not currently a NIFDI partner, but are interested in exploring how NIFDI can help your school, contact info@nifdi.org.
When delivering instruction, the pausing and punching of key words to convey new 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. This video in-service incorporates a series of activities that provide systematic practice on using the pause and punch strategy when teaching a variety of DI lessons.
All students make errors. The errors students make provide important information about what they know and what they have yet to master. How an instructor responds to an error is critical. In fact, the major difference between the instructor who teaches most of her students and the instructor who successfully teaches all of her students is the ability to correct each and every error as it occurs. Thus, correcting all errors is an important part of teaching to mastery. This video in-service provides practice with effectively applying the full, seven-step error correction procedure to discrimination errors.
An important aspect of correcting errors is to identify “the part” of the exercise that a task belongs to. If a teacher can identify “the part” quickly, she can make a seamless error correction. If a teacher has difficulty identifying “the part”, the error correction can confuse students and lead to a loss of student’s attention. Dissecting an exercise in a DI lesson to locate the parts can sometimes feel like a daunting task. This video in-service provides information and practice on how to identify the parts.
The purpose of a signal is to prompt students to answer simultaneously as a group. These choral responses actively engage all students which increases efficiency and allows many more opportunities for the instructor to assess mastery. Choral responses also reduce the likelihood of behavior problems.
A signal violation (i.e., behavioral error) occurs when students answer before or after the signal, do not answer at all or answer in a loud and/or draggy manner. If an instructor accepts these types of responses, the instructor will have to resort to giving many individual turns to assess the mastery levels of each student in the group. Thus, correcting all types of errors is an essential part of teaching to mastery. This video in-service provides practice in identifying and then correcting signal violations.
When students are working independently in the classroom, it is important that they stay engaged with their work and are motivated to do their best. In many classrooms, an adult might not be available to devote his/her attention to independent workers. NIFDI’s Thermometer Chart is an independent work management system that does not require much attention from instructors, yet when implemented correctly, is very reinforcing to the students. The Thermometer Chart Video In-service provides comprehensive instruction on how to implement this positive behavior management system effectively.
In this series, Siegfried Engelmann and interviewer Evan Haney discuss the essays contained in the book Engelmann’s Direct Instruction: Selected Writings from the Past Half Century.
This segment covers Section 1, “Theoretical Understandings of Learning and Instruction."
This segment covers Section 2, "Developing Effective Curricular Material."
This segment covers Section 3, "Promoting Reform and Change in Education."
This segment covers Section 4, "Responding to Criticisms and Roadblocks."
This timeline highlights many of the milestones in the history of Direct Instruction. It draws heavily from the chronology of Siegfried Engelmann’s career as printed in Engelmann’s Direct Instruction: Selected Writings from the Past Half Century.
1960–1964: Siegfried Engelmann worked in different advertising agencies and began analyzing techniques for marketing to children in order to determine what type of input was necessary to induce retention.
1963: Engelmann filmed his teaching sessions with his twin sons in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of his techniques and theories of instruction to education departments in various universities.
1964–1966: Engelmann began working with Carl Bereiter as a research associate for the Institute for Research on Exceptional Children, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
1964: Creation of the Bereiter Engelmann preschool.
1966: Give Your Child a Superior Mind is published.
1966: Teaching Disadvantaged Children in the Preschool is published.
1968: Project Follow Through begins.
1969: First DISTAR instructional programs are released. Initially DISTAR Reading and Language.
1969: Engelmann-Becker Corp., Eugene, Oregon founded.
1969: Preventing Failure in the Primary Grades is published.
1970: Direct Instruction Follow Through Model moves to the University of Oregon.
1970: DISTAR Arithmetic I instructional program is published.
1974: Engelmann’s first study using tactual vocoders with deaf subjects is published.
1975: Your Child Can Succeed: How to Get the Most Out of School for Your Child is published.
1975: Corrective Reading instructional program is published.
1975: First DI Conference is held, Eugene, Oregon.
1976: Spelling Through Morphographs instructional program is published.
1980: Spelling Mastery instructional program is published.
1981: Corrective Mathematics instructional program is published.
1982: Theory of Instruction is published.
1983: Generalized Compliance Training: A Direct-Instruction program for managing severe behavior problems is published.
1983: Reading Mastery instructional program is published (First revision of DISTAR Reading).
1983: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is published.
1984: Engelmann receives honorary doctorate degree from the Psychology Department of Western Michigan University.
1985: Mastering Fractions instructional program is published, the first in a series of videodisc programs.
1985: Expressive Writing instructional program is published.
1987: Understanding Chemistry and Energy instructional videodisc program is published.
1988: Earth Science instructional videodisc program is published.
1991: Reasoning & Writing instructional program is published.
1991: Engelmann sues the California State Board, Department of Education and Curriculum Commission for failure to follow administrative rules related to textbook adoptions.
1991: Theory of Instruction is revised and republished.
1992: Connecting Math Concepts instructional program is published.
1992: War Against the Schools’ Academic Child Abuse is published.
1994: Engelmann receives American Psychological Association Fred Keller Award of Excellence.
1996: Sponsor Findings from Project Follow Through is published.
1996: Research on Direct Instruction: 25 Years Beyond DISTAR is published.
1997: National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) is founded with Engelmann as the director.
1997: Horizons Learning to Read instructional program is published.
2000: Zigsite.com is launched.
2000: Engelmann is named one of the 54 “most influential people” in the history of special education by Remedial and Special Education.
2000: Journeys Direct Instruction Reading program is published.
2001: Funnix Beginning Reading instructional program is published.
2001: Español to English (Language for Learning) instructional program is published.
2002: Engelmann receives the Council of Scientific Society Presidents 2002 Educational Research Award (Award of Achievement in Education Research).
2002: Funnix Reading 2 instructional program is published.
2003: Engelmann retired, granted Professor Emeritus of Special Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.
2004: Inferred Functions of Performance and Learning is published.
2007: Teaching Needy Kids in Our Backward System: 42 Years of Trying is published.
2008: Socrates and Education: Bussing is published on zigsite.com (first in Socrates series).
2008: Reading Mastery Signature Edition program is published.
2010: Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE) instructional program is published.
2010: Could John Stuart Mill Have Saved Our Schools? is published.
2011: Funnix Beginning Math instructional program is published.
2014: Connecting Math Concepts Comprehensive Edition is published.
NIFDI staff have prepared bibliographies and summaries of DI related research in a variety of areas ( pdf Reading Mastery and learning disabled students , pdf Corrective Reading with adult students , pdf outside the elementary school setting , pdf ELL students , and pdf African American students ) and the relationship of Direct Instruction to pdf mathematics achievement , pdf language achievement , and pdf school attendance . Other bibliographies list citations to research on pdf Project Follow Through and pdf research syntheses of efficacy studies of DI.