City Springs Elementary/Middle School has been granted a 5-year charter renewal by the Baltimore City Schools Board of School Commissioners from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021. City Springs is operated by the Baltimore Curriculum Project and has partnered with NIFDI for implementation support since 1996.

Charter renewals are made every 3 to 5 years, and to receive a 5-year renewal is exceptional. Please join NIFDI in congratulating the staff and students at City Springs on their continued success! 

The fifth edition of Direct Instruction Reading (Carnine, Silbert, Kame'enui and Tarver,) has been released by Pearson Higher Ed.

Thoroughly integrating the latest guidelines from the National Reading Panel, this is a practical guide to teaching reading via the direct instruction reading approach, a proven program that's especially powerful with the most vulnerable learners - those at-risk because of poverty, disability/limited English. Rather than simply list method after method, these nationally known and respected authors provide a specific repertoire of carefully sequenced, highly prescriptive procedures for teaching decoding, comprehension, content reading, and study skills. For each skill to be taught, they recommend strategies, discuss optimal timing, offer examples, and explain how to correct errors. In addition, they thoughtfully examine the relationships among different reading skills. 

An important feature of successful Direct Instruction implementations is to celebrate success--success of students, teachers and entire schools. For many years, there has been a tradition of recognizing excellence in education at the National DI Conference and this year is no exception. Individuals and schools that have made a significant difference in the educational performance of children will be recognized through the following awards:

• Siegfried Engelmann Excellence in Education Award
• Wes Becker Excellent School Award
• The Wayne Carnine Student Improvement Award

Please take this opportunity to identify and nominate a colleague and/or school that has made a difference. Nomination applications are short (1-2 pages) and are available on our website.

Nominations are due in our office by June 3rd, so download the application packet today! 

IDEA Public Schools is a K-12 Public Charter school that predominantly serves low income students and ensures that 100% of their students get accepted to college. IDEA currently has 44 schools in Austin, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley serving more than 24,000 students. IDEA schools are consistently rated in the top of the rankings for public schools in Texas. It starts with building a solid foundation by using Direct Instruction in their K-2 classrooms.

As IDEA opens up two more academies in San Antonio and one more in Austin, they are looking for more amazing DI leaders and teachers to carry out the mission of 100% to college. Please take a brief moment to check out some quick links and important information about leadership opportunities for the upcoming school year with IDEA Public Schools.

See who IDEA is here.

2016-17 vacancies include Assistant principal of instruction in San Antonio and Austin, and teacher vacancies in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio and Austin.

Submit your Assistant Principal of Instruction Application:

Click here for the Central Texas Region
Click here for the Rio Grande Valley Region.