It's Official! NIFDI launched the Members Only area on our website! 

Members of NIFDI have exclusive access to several print and video resources such as a 5-part video sequence where Zig Engelmann gives us his take on topics such as individual learning styles, the role of rote teaching, individualizing instruction and more. There is also an excellent interview with Jean Osborn and Elaine "Cookie" Bruner on the early days of Direct Instruction development and the Berieter-Engelmann Preschool.

In the Members Only document section, there are several useful forms as well as suggestions for independent work, details on how to implement duet reading, assessment guidelines for students placing in Corrective Readingand other interesting, useful material.

If you are not currently a member of NIFDI, you can fill out and return the Membership Registration form or sign up online.

In February, NIFDI continued its on-going work in Australia, training 206 teachers and administrators in Direct Instruction programs. Twelve trainers from across the United States traveled Down Under to provide sessions over the course of a week. On some days, trainers and participants put in 12 long hours in order to get eight cohorts trained in NIFDI's Routines and Expectations module. 

Dignitaries such as Australia's Executive Director for the Northern Territory, Ken Davis, and Indigenous leader Noel Pearson joined educators in launching the latest projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, speaking at a banquet hosted on Tuesday, February 3rd, in honor of the education initiative to serve students in remote schools.

Following the week-long training, four of the 12 staff members stayed and two more arrived from the States to begin providing support on-site, such as NIFDI's Implementation Manager, Paula Bleakley (shown right). Join us on Facebook to see more pictures in our Australia photo album.

Curious about the day-to-day experiences of life Down Under? One of NIFDI's Implementation Managers, Dr. Sheri Wilkins, has been blogging about her time in Australia. Dr. Wilkins says her purpose in writing the blog is to share with educators in other regions some of the similarities and differences she's noticing while she's there. She also thought it would be fun to share a little bit about her activities and wonderings. Check out Sheri's Blog.

The National Institute for Direct Instruction is providing training and support in coordination with another non-profit organization, Good to Great Schools Australia (GGSA). Based Down Under, GGSA's mission is to transform low-performing schools through comprehensive school improvement, including utilizing Direct Instruction for the literacy component of their reform efforts. 

NIFDI and GGSA will be training instructors to provide Direct Instruction at 20 sites located throughout the Northern Territory and Western Australia, starting this month. Support for the implementations comes from federal funding focused on improving remote schools serving Australia's indigenous population.  

For more information on how NIFDI can help your school ensure success for every student with DI, visit us online to learn how to get started. 

In this newly released edition of Managing the Cycle of Acting-Out Behavior in the Classroom, authors Geoff Colvin and Terrance M. Scott present a system for understanding acting-out behavior in terms of seven phases and correcting it before it gets in the way of student engagement and learning.

This newly updated edition draws on the latest research to deliver a clear roadmap for educators to assess acting-out behavior and to design effective interventions in a clear, systematic, and achievable manner. The book includes a number of checklists, tools, resources and templates to help educators bring these practices into the classroom. 

First grade teacher Amy Owsley at Clear Creek Elementary in Shelbyville, Kentucky says: 

"This book is a must-have resource for any classroom teacher in today's school setting. The authors have translated decades of behavioral research into teacher relevant language and provided real-world examples of how the behavioral support concepts and strategies work."