An important feature of successful Direct Instruction implementations is to celebrate success—the success of students, teachers, and entire schools. Each year, we recognize individuals and schools that have made a significant difference in the educational performance of children through the following awards:

• The Carnine-McRoberts Student Improvement Award – This award honors the parents of Doug and Linda Carnine. It is given to a student who has demonstrated outstanding improvement, academic or behavioral. 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.

• 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.

Please take the opportunity to honor a member of the DI “family.” The nomination process is simple and means so much to the individuals and our profession. Please identify and nominate a colleague and/or school that has made a difference. Nomination applications are short (1-2 pages) and are due in our office by June 3rd. Download the application packet today or click the award titles above to complete the online applications.

NIFDI has released two new videos describing the success experienced when Dixons Manningham (DM) Primary School in Bradford, England, partnered with NIFDI in 2019. While students in many schools experienced a decline in performance during the COVID pandemic, students at DM achieved dramatic success in the primary grades.

In the first video, DM leaders Terri Leighton, Yasmin Ali, and Abigail Burrow discuss the school’s journey from implementing Corrective Reading to implementing Reading Mastery Signature Edition reading and language tracks as core instruction for all primary-grade students. They describe the remarkable changes in students’ ability to read and understand grade-level texts. Clips of students receiving instruction and participating in other activities are interspersed throughout the video.

In the second video, NIFDI Implementation Manager Kris Althoff tells the story of Dixons Manningham from an implementor’s perspective. She details the steps taken to support staff and leadership, which led to tremendous student success.

Click here to learn about Dixon Manningham’s story.

The newest episode of the DI podcast has been released! It features Randi Saulter and Ann Baum. In his introduction, host Zach Groshell says, "Randi and Ann are two passionate special education teachers who will take us through what Zig Engelmann called the 'picky, picky' details of implementing DI in special education classrooms." Click here to listen to this interesting 50-minute interview.

Doug Carnine, University of Oregon Professor Emeritus and DI program co-author, recently appeared on the Progressively Incorrect podcast to highlight the Evidence Advocacy Center (EAC). The EAC's website states, "The EAC is a clearinghouse of research-based resources and research-based practices to be used by all stakeholders in the U.S. education system. The EAC provides research-based resources for each of the essential components of the U.S. education system."

Click here to hear more about the exciting and important work this amazing group of educators is pursuing.