School districts in Texas and Washington are partnering with Oregon Research Institute (ORI) to learn more about what middle school teachers are doing to teach English learners (EL) in the 6th and 7th grades how to speak English, and to find out what's working for their students, within the context of an evaluation of Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE). The study is being conducted by Drs. Barbara Gunn, Erin Chaparro, Keith Smolkowski and Patricia Vadasy at Oregon Research Institute, and is funded by the United States Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Grant #R305A150325.

The four year project is now mid-way through Year 01, with 10 middle schools in Laredo Texas, and 2 middle schools in Sunnyside, Washington working with ORI researchers. The teachers who are implementing DISE are receiving training and coaching support from NIFDI. Their students were tested in the fall on English oral language skills, with follow-up testing this winter and spring. The research team is recruiting more schools to join the study in the fall of 2016. Participating districts and teachers will be provided with incentives including stipends, curriculum, and professional development. If you think your district might be interested in participating, or for more information, please contact Erin Chaparro echaparro@ori.org, or Barbara Gunn barbarag@ori.org. 

McGraw-Hill, the primary publisher of the DI family of programs, has released the 2016 Price List. Print versions of the catalog will no longer be distributed.

The following DI programs are included in the price list:

• Reading Mastery
• Horizons
• Corrective Reading
• Language for Learning, Language for Thinking & Language for Writing
• Reasoning and Writing
• Essentials for Writing
• Expressive Writing
• Spelling Mastery
• Connecting Math Concepts
• Corrective Mathematics
• Essentials for Algebra

To view or download the catalog, visit McGraw-Hill's website.

As a complement to the forthcoming catalog, the National Institute for Direct Instruction has also created a spreadsheet DI Materials Cost Worksheet  that will aid administrators and other decision makers in determining program material costs. Constructed as a Microsoft Excel document, users can simply enter the quantities for each title and component into the worksheet, and the total estimated cost is automatically calculated at the bottom of the sheet. This document is updated regularly to reflect current pricing from the publisher, but users need to verify actual pricing from the publisher or through their sales representative. Note that the material cost spreadsheet includes price information for Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE), published by Sopris Learning. NIFDI does not sell these programs directly and recommends this worksheet as a tool
for estimating only. 

NIFDI sends congratulations to Bancroft-Rosalie School, in Bancroft, Nebraska, for their 2015 Blue Ribbon School Recognition as an Exemplary High Performing School by the US Department of Education (USDOE). Additional congratulations to Superintendent/Principal Dr. Jon Cerny, 2015 recipient of the Terrell Bell Award for Outstanding Leadership.

Bancroft-Rosalie school has been utilizing Reading Mastery, Connecting Math Concepts and Spelling Mastery as their Core Academic curriculum for over 9 years. They began their implementation by partnering with NIFDI for implementation assistance. Over a five year period of training and support provided by NIFDI, internal capacity was developed and they now have had a self-sustained DI implementation for 4 years. Dr. Cerny credits the strong foundation built in the early years, coupled with consistency in personnel and keeping a strong team together as major ingredients in the success their students experience. He notes that, "...the DI curriculum allows us to accelerate our students, both the ones that are behind and the ones that are ready to move faster."

Dr. Cerny has been with the district for 23 years and is a strong instructional leader. He speaks proudly of the success his teachers and students are experiencing through DI. The USDOE website states, "[Recipients of the Terrell H. Bell Award] are principals who do whatever it takes to help their students meet high standards and are committed to the notion that in educating America's children, failure is no option." Only a handful of principals, nominated by their school staff, are selected for recognition each year.

Please join us in wishing this model school ongoing success! 

Proponents of DI often request programs in content areas such as science and social studies to use with their students. Academic Core, published by NIFDI Press, has been designed as a supplement to help teach students important science facts and information.

Academic Core is a highly structured four-level program that ensures mastery of sophisticated information. Lessons are short... 15-20 minutes. The program includes a reward system to motivate and reinforce students. Level A has been available for purchase for some time, now Level B is available. Units in level B include: geological eras and dinosaurs, measurement of volume, pressure, muscles of the human body, units of speed, density, circulatory system, the nervous system and water cycles.

Academic Core is available exclusively through NIFDI for only $129.00 plus shipping and handling. Help your students master fundamental concepts in science! Learn more or purchase Academic Core Level B here.