Decades of research document that children learn more when their instruction is systematic, explicit, and efficient. Effective instruction is accelerated instruction, with students learning more within a shorter period of time. Siegfried Engelmann and Wesley Becker, the founders of Direct Instruction, pioneered the research in explicit instructional techniques. All of the Direct Instruction curricula are based on the elements that they and their followers derived through years of careful research.
Even though many curricula include elements of effective instructional programs, this does not mean that they are necessarily effective. Specialists in the field distinguish Direct Instruction (capitalized), the programs developed by Engelmann and his colleagues, from direct instruction (no capitals), curricula that incorporate only some of the effective elements.
Click on the links below to learn more about how Direct Instruction is effective instruction and how it differs from other programs:
The Research Base for Reading Mastery, SRA by Bonnie Grossen, Ph.D. (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adiep/rdgtxt.htm)
A Rubric for Identifying Authentic Direct Instruction Programs, by Siegfried Engelmann, the founder of Direct Instruction, and Geoff Colvin, Ph.D. (www.zigsite.com/PDFs/rubric.pdf)
Student-Program Alignment and Teaching to Mastery, by Siegfried Engelmann (www.zigsite.com/PDFs/StuPro_Align.pdf)
Siegfried “Zig” Engelmann’s personal website provides much information on the theory and research behind DI. (www.zigsite.com)
An article by Cheryl Schieffer and colleagues, published in 2002, analyses DI’s Reading Mastery program and shows how it embodies the elements of effective instruction. [Schieffer et al, JODI, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 87-119]
