“Our principals have all agreed that NIFDI support is the single most changing professional development experience they have experienced in their careers.”
* Admission to the Academy on Becoming an Effective DI Trainer by approved application only.
**Note to Participants: Participants in all program sessions will receive information on the rationale of the program being trained, placement testing and scheduling. Video examples and simulations of real-life teaching situations will also be incorporated, as appropriate. Practice on delivery of lessons and error corrections will be a main focus of each session.
Placement testing your students in preparation for conference
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU ARE REGISTERING FOR PROGRAM TRAINING: We strongly recommend that you administer DI placement tests to your students before registering for program training.
Because the DI programs are oriented toward students’ skill proficiency rather than their age or grade level, it is critical that teachers use the level of the DI programs that corresponds to their students’ current skill level. You can determine which level of the program matches your students’ current instructional needs by administering the placement tests contained in all DI programs.
Please register for the program level your students place into, not the level necessarily associated with the grade you teach. For example, if you are a third grade teacher and your placement test results for reading indicate your students should be placed into level 2, you would register for the level 2 program session, not the grade 3 level.
Test Administration Procedure
You can find the placement tests linked below. Here is the procedure to follow when administering the placement tests:
1. Give students the test that corresponds to their grade level. 2a. If students pass the grade-level test, give them the test for the next-highest level of the DI Program. Continue testing up a level until students don’t pass the test. 2b. If students fail the grade-level test, give them the test for the next lowest level. Continue testing down a level until students pass the test. 3. Record the highest level that each student passes on a pdf
summary spreadsheet
. 4. Register for the session that meets most of your students’ needs.
Leadership Institutes Presenter: Dr. Kathy Madigan
Dr. Kathy Madigan has been a teacher, principal, college professor and curriculum coordinator. She co-founded the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence and served as the Executive Director for the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Previously, she worked as the Vice President for Advantage Schools where she was responsible for curriculum, behavior management, staff development and principal supervision in 16 start-up charter schools using DI across the US. Dr. Madigan currently works as an Implementation Manager for schools working with NIFDI in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Training Institute DRAFT
Are you new to Direct Instruction or wanting to improve your skills? Are you a teacher, administrator or paraprofessional interested in gaining specific training in all levels of Direct Instruction programs?
Join the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) and expert Direct Instruction (DI) trainers for the first annual Training Institute at the Marriott Plaza in San Antonio, TX!
The training sessions at the Training Institute offers:
placement test materials provided to registrants prior to the institute to ensure that all participants attend the session that corresponds to their students' performance level;
detailed, field-tested training plans and support materials for each session;
trainers who have coached teachers successfully in the specific programs covered in the sessions; and,
on-site support provided to trainers by the NIFDI Coordinator of Training.
Placement testing your students in preparation for Institute:
In order to determine which training session is most appropriate to register for, you will need to conduct placement testing with your students. You will register for the program level your students place into, not the level necessarily associated with the grade you teach. For example, if you are a third grade teacher and your placement test results indicate your students should be placed into level 2, you would register for the level 2 program session, not the grade 3 level. You can find the placement tests linked below.
Has your district received extensive training and follow-up support for implementing Direct Instruction (DI), and is now looking at ways of maintaining the implementation with a high level of fidelity? The academy on "Becoming an Effective DI Trainer" at NIFDI’s First Annual Training Institute in San Antonio, TX (August 4-9, 2013), can help your school or district expand its capacity for providing training and support to the DI implementation by developing on-site trainers. For more information on this 5 and a 1/2 day training and to view the application, click here.
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.
